US: First Ever Fair Trade Certified™ Home Goods and New Apparel Items Hit Retail Stores

October is Fair Trade Month: Fair Trade USA Celebrates Expansion of New Product Categories
First Ever Fair Trade Certified Home Goods and New Apparel Items Hit Retail Stores.

Oakland, Ca. (October 1, 2014) – To kick off Fair Trade Month, Fair Trade USA, the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in North America, announces the launch of Fair Trade Certified™ products across new categories including home goods, apparel and coconut. 

2014 marked a milestone year with the launch of new Fair Trade Certified product categories: coconut, apparel and home goods, as well as the expansion of categories like chocolate, tea and fresh produce.

These products are made by more than 1.4 million farmers and workers in 70 countries across the globe who are working to fight poverty through better trade. Key highlights from 2014 include:

• Fair Trade is Welcomed Home: Home furnishings retailer West Elm introduces the first-ever Fair Trade Certified rugs, handcrafted in India and available this month. Known for their luxurious, organic bedding, Boll & Branch releases a collection of Fair Trade Certified sheets, pillowcase and cable knit throws.

• Fair Trade Closets Fill Up: Outdoor clothing company Patagonia introduces its inaugural line of 10 women’s yoga styles. prAna extends its line of Fair Trade Certified styles for both men and women. Oliberté expands its line of the first-ever shoes made in a Fair Trade Certified factory with new women’s styles. PACT launches an impressive 78 different items across 19 product styles including the first ever Fair Trade Certified™ baby clothes, and Mountain Equipment Co-Op brings Fair Trade fashion to stores in Canada with women’s tees.

• Coconut Boom: Fair Trade USA welcomes coconut into its offerings to help close the gap between skyrocketing sales in North America, and poverty-level incomes earned by coconut farmers in the Philippines. New products include Coco Libre Coconut Water, Naked Coconut Water, Nutiva Coconut Oil, Dang Chocolate Coated Coconut Chips, Nutiva O’Coconut Treats and Arrowhead Mills Organic Coconut Flour.

• Additional new products across Fair Trade USA’s robust food and beverage categories include: BJ’s Wellsley Farms® bakery products featuring Fair Trade Certified sugar, Green Mountain Coffee K-cup teas, Ito En green tea bags, Near East quinoa blends, Numi turmeric teas, TOMS Roasting Co. coffee and much more.

More information: http://fairtradeusa.org/