Table 2-15. Total gross sales in North America (US and Mexico) 2001-2003.

Source: Fair Trade Foundation, 2005.

     By contrast, in North America, strong national cam­paigns have allowed a significant growth and it is likely that in the US and Canada, fair trade coffee sales will reach a market ceiling similar to that in Europe (Murray et al., 2003). Fair Trade Certified coffee is now the fastest-growing segment of the US specialty coffee market. The retail value of TransFair USA certified coffee increased by 59% in 2003 for a total of $208 million and by 77% in 2004 for a total of $369 million.

Fair Trade bananas
Fair Trade bananas were introduced in Europe by Max Havelaar in 1996. Since then, Fair Trade bananas had grown 14,655 tonnes by 1998 (Murray and Raynolds, 2000). They have captured unprecedented market shares; sales have risen by over 25% per year since 1999, reaching a market share of over 45% in Switzerland (Fine, 2006).
          Alternatively, traded bananas have emerged in US in dif­ferent ways compared to Europe. In US the NGO Rainfor­est Alliance has certified bananas under its ECO-OK and "Better bananas" program in 1999. Instead of building an alternative trade that challenges the power of bananas multinational corporations, this NGO has fostered a close collaboration with those companies (Murray and Raynolds, 2000). Trainsfair USA began certifying Fair trade bananas only in January 2004. Data of market shares for FT labeled bananas are not available.

2.8.6 Changes in diet/consumption
The general context in NAE is that of a contrasted situ­ation between the food shortage post WWII, especially in Europe and the present situation of affluence and surplus in North America and Europe. This trend is attested by a number of key indicators of food provision (c.f. Wood et al., 2005). The average food production per capita in the world increased from 1961 to 2003 by around 25%. There were huge inequities between industrial and developing countries. This was accompanied by falling food prices, as there was a strong decline in the relative importance of food within to­tal consumption expenditure from above 40% after WWII to 12-20% in Europe in 1999 (Eurostat, 2001) and to 10% in the United States in 1996.
     According to 2001 estimates, 13% of the household budget in the EU15 was spent on food and non-alcoholic beverages, but the share of the budget spent on food fell between 1995 and 2001, mainly as a result of increasing available household income. Logically the share varies with GDP per head: the lower GDP per head of a country, the higher the share of money spent on food.

     In 2005, the consumption of food and drink represented on average 16% of total consumption expenditure per per­son in the EU-15 countries and 27% in the new Member States (EEA, 2005). Food and drink used to account for the largest share of household consumption, before being grad­ually overtaken by other necessities such as housing, trans­port and leisure (Table 2-16). Consumer patterns across the enlarged EU reflect income differences but also the avail­ability of goods and services.
     Significant  differences  persist  among member  states (Tables 2-17 and 2-18). The lowest share of expenditure is found in the United Kingdom (9.7%) and the highest in Portugal (18.5%). The share of food and drinks in house­hold expenses remains important in the new member states with an average of 22% against 12% in the EU 15 (Euro­stat, 2005). Consumers' habits vary substantially among the 25 Member States. In addition to income, factors such as culture, tradition, household composition and degree of ur­banization can influence habits in each country. The acces­sion of the 10 new Member States has made the differences even more apparent than before. The share of citizens' total expenditure on food is projected to continue decreasing. In­deed, food consumption expenditure in the EU is projected to increase by 17% between 2000 and 2020, while in the same period total household expenditure could increase by 57% (EEA, 2005).

Changes in food provision and food nutrients. Increased food availability was made possible by increases in produc­tion and labor productivity in all sectors of the agricultural and food chains (see data in previous parts of chapter 2). AKST has played a major role in this phenomenon, as in­tensive livestock and crop systems were developed in order to meet quantitative food demand. These changes in food provision resulted in increased amounts of food calories, as well as protein and fats available for consumption in Eu­rope and North America (Table 2-19).

Table 2-16. Household consumption expenditure in the EU-25 in 2003.

Source: Eurostat, 2005.