Fairtrade Fortnight was launched in Watford last night.

The Watford Fairtrade Steering Group held the launch in the Council Chamber, where supporters from churches, commerce and campaign groups attended.

Recently, the Fairtrade Foundation renewed Watford’s status as a Fairtrade Town.

There were speakers from Zaytoun Olive products in Palestine and Shared Interest.

Zaytoun, established in 2004, works with 3,500 producers in the West Bank, and supplies olive oil, dates, almonds and sun-dried tomatoes to UK and Irish markets. It was the first organisation to be licensed to sell Fairtrade Olive Oil in 2009.

Shared Interest is a Fair Trade Investment company that makes loans to small-holder producers and buyers in developing countries, to help the development of their businesses and achieve sustainability.

Sales of Fairtrade products in the UK have continued to increase by over 10 percent each year for the past four years.