Students will be putting away their textbooks and turning their hand to chocolate tasting during a Fairtrade workshop from Midcounties Co-operative.

Pupils at Heath Park Business and Enterprise College in Wolverhampton will take part in a session teaching them about the benefits of buying Fairtrade products.

More than 30 students will get the opportunity to sample Fairtrade fruit and chocolate on Wednesday 3rd March.

The interactive workshop is one of the ways the leading supermarket supporter of Fairtrade, The Co-operative, is helping to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight (22 February – 7 March).

The Co-operative's ethical trading policies will be brought to life with an educational DVD about the cocoa growers in Ghana, which the Fairtrade partnership helps to benefit.

Pupils will then have the chance to put a range of Fairtrade products to the test as an assortment of chocolate and fruit products are laid out for students to try.

Midcounties Community Co-ordinator, Louise Brown will be on hand to explain what fair-trade means and explain the impact consumers can have on growers and producers in developing countries.

Louise said: “We are a community focussed business which has long been an enthusiastic supporter of Fairtrade.

“Trading ethically is a key commitment for the Co-operative and is integral to our values and principles.

“It is often surprising how many school pupils have not had the opportunity to sample Fairtrade goods and it's important they realise that by choosing Fairtrade goods they can make a real difference, whilst not compromising on taste.”

The theme of this year's nationwide Fairtrade Fortnight campaign is ‘The Big Swap' and organisers hope more people will swap everyday shopping basket items such as tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar and bananas for Fairtrade ones.

During the fortnight the Fairtrade Foundation will tot up product swaps on a special online swap-o-meter. Its aim is to get people in Britain to make one million and one swaps over the two-week period and change the lives of at least one million and one farmers and workers around the world.

Midcounties sells a wide range of Fairtrade products including fruit, wine, biscuits and chocolate. All Co-operative own-brand chocolate and hot drinks are Fairtrade. The Co-operative was also the first to produce a Fairtrade cotton carrier bag.

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