City firm spreads out with Fairtrade peanut butter

Published on Wednesday 25 April 2007 11:55

THE world's first Fairtrade peanut butter has been launched by an Edinburgh-based firm.

The spread is made from Nematil nuts, which are organically grown by a collective of 8500 small-scale farmers in Mozambique.

The nuts are roasted without blanching to retain all their natural flavour, and made into a spread that is 100 per cent natural, without the addition of chemical stabilisers and palm or vegetable oil, which are commonly found in other nut butters.

Working with the co-operative, called Ikuru, Edinburgh-based Equal Exchange is helping farmers get a fair price for their goods while giving them an opportunity to sell to the European market, normally not possible due to strict regulation.

Cotiha Mario, one of the peanut farmers who now works with Ikuru, said: "Selling my product to Ikuru means that I can send my kids to school and buy them medicine if they get sick. Before we could only sell them to traders who fixed the scales and gave us low prices."

The peanut butter will be on sale in Planet Organic, Fresh & Wild and independent healthfood stores across the UK from the beginning of May.