Around 70,000 consumers have signed up to Fairtrade Foundation's petition calling on the U.K government to intervene in supermarket banana price wars, which drive down the cost and keep growers, particularly from Latin America, in a cycle of poverty. At www.freshfruitportal.com, we take a look at what happens next, following a successful campaign earlier this year that highlighted the difficulties of banana production and how paying less for your banana has a direct effect on the farmers who grow them.

The 'make bananas fair' campaign asks the British government to step in and investigate how some of the country's largest retailers set prices for bananas.

Following the lengthy campaign, Fairtrade Foundation drummed up support from thousands of British consumers via an online petition requesting the government to scrutinize how supermarkets compete to sell off bananas.

Currently, many British supermarkets cut the price to such a low level the ripple effect means the farmer who grows the produce often loses out, putting a strain on the poorest part of the supply chain.

Fairtrade Foundation chief executive Michael Gidney said the petition was handed into the office of British Secretary of State for Business, Innovative and Skills, Vince Cable, last week.

"In the past ten years the U.K. supermarket sector has almost halved the shelf price of loose bananas, while the cost of producing them has doubled," Gidney told www.freshfruitportal.com in a statement.

"During Fairtrade Fortnight we exposed the real impact British supermarket price wars are having on banana farmers and workers and their families. Today, 70,000 people have supported us in saying this must stop.

"The poorest people are bearing the cost of our cheap bananas and as a result, a product that is worth billions of pounds in global trade relies on poverty-level income for the people who grow it."

In February, we interviewed Foncho Cantillo, the 'face' of the Fairtrade campaign 2014 who toured the country raising awareness about the struggles of growing and exporting from Colombia, where he said "unscrupulous landowners", limited water and rising fertilization costs were just a handful of the challenges faced on a daily basis.

He also spoke of the financial pressures that constantly threaten to put him out of business.

Later in March, we reported how three supermarkets - Waitrose, Sainsbury's and the Co-operative Group - had already made the switch to only sell 100% fairtrade bananas and covered the ethical reasons behind this decision.

"We are asking Vince Cable to coordinate across U.K. Government departments to investigate retailer pricing and evaluate its impact on the long-term interests of banana producers and U.K. consumers," Gidney's statement added.

www.freshfruitportal.com