Band 6+: The tables below give information about sales of Fairtrade*-labelled coffee and bananas in 1999 and 2004 in five European countries. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. *Fairtrade: a category of products for which farmers from developing countries have been paid an officially agreed fair price. You should write at least 150 words.

The given tables provide information about the amount of money that people in Switzerland, UK, Belgium, Sweden and Denmark spent on Fairtrade-labeled coffee and bananas in 1999 and 2004.

Overall, it is evident that the sales of Fairtrade-labeled coffee in the five countries experienced an upward trend over the 5-year period, with a marked increase seen in the purchasing of this product in the UK. Regarding bananas, while its sales in Switzerland, UK, and Belgium significantly grew, that in Sweden and Denmark underwent a drop.

In particular, the sales of Fairtrade-labeled coffee in the UK substantially rose from 1.5 millions of Euros in 1999 to 20 millions of Euros in 2004. In Denmark, coffee’s sales doubled over the period, reaching 6 millions of Euros in 2004. The purchasing of this product in Denmark, Belgium and Sweden, however, witnessed more modest increases, growing by 0.2, 0,7 and 0,2 millions of Euros respectively.

In terms of Fairtrade-labeled bananas, its sales in 2004 were 47 millions of Euros, over tripled the figure in 1999. Similarly, the quantity of money that the British spent on this item climbed remarkably from 1 to 5.5 millions of Euros after five years. Also, the figure in Belgium rose by 3.4 millions of Euros, obtaining 4 millions of Euros in 2004. In stark contrast, the sales of bananas declined from 1.8 to 1 millions of Euros in Sweden, and from 2 to 0.9 millions of Euros in Denmark.