E ach year, around this time, I write about the Fairtrade initiative, and this year is no exception.

It encompasses so many strands and projects and has grown massively since it was first launched, but this really is a good cause and does make a positive and real difference.

In a nutshell, it is about making sure some of the most disadvantaged people in the developing world are getting a better deal from trade, through fair prices, sustainable farming and community investment.

Fairtrade guarantees a minimum price to the producer for each project, on top of which money is invested in social, environmental and economic development projects, decided on democratically by a committee of producers or workers.

The Faitrade Foundation in the UK is a global umbrella organisation whose members include Oxfam, Traidcraft and the National Federation Of Women's Institutes. The first Fairtrade products appeared on shop shelves in the UK in 1964 and included Cafe Direct coffee, Clipper tea and Green & Black's Maya Gold chocolate.

Wine was soon embraced by the movement and has spread massively thanks to outlets such as the Co-op, who have always been strongly behind the Fairtrade movement.

Money raised from the sales of Fairtrade wine in the UK has, through the Fairhills project, gone towards a range of projects in the local community including a new community centre, childcare facilities and an adult educational programme.

In 2010, the last year for which figures were available, some 19 million glasses of Fairtrade wine were drunk in the UK, with Fairtrade wines now available in most major supermarkets and outlets, plus 137 Marston's pubs up and down the country.

Work and fundraising in the UK goes on throughout the year, but each year there is a special concentration of initiatives, known as Fairtrade Fortnight, which this year takes place from Monday, February 27, to Sunday, March 11. For more information about the Fairtrade movement, visit www.fairtrade.org.uk

Where: Waitrose.

When: From Wednesday to March 20.

Why: A Fairtrade wine from Argentina. Bonarda is an Italian grape but blends well with the Cabernet.

£5.99 (was £6.99)

Where: Waitrose.

When: From Wednesday to March 20.

Why: A crisp white wine, with lots of citrussy flavours. A great wine to pair with fish or pasta dishes.

£5.99 (was £6.99)

Where: Asda.

When: Now.

Why: A South African red that delivers aromas of ripe black fruits, pepper and spice with juicy red fruit flavours and hints of vanilla.

£6

Where: Waitrose.

When: From Wednesday to March 20.

Why: This quaff- able wine has a grassy, cassis- perfume and flavours of plum, chocolate and blackcurrant leaf.

£4.79 (was £5.99)