Campaigners have urged Sainsbury’s to reconsider its decision to replace the ‘Fairtrade’ label on its tea with one which has not been independently verified.

A delegation from the Harrow Fairtrade Campaign handed in a letter to the store manager of Stanmore Sainsbury’s to express their concern at the move, which it says will harm those who benefit from Fairtrade.

But Sainsbury’s argue that their new scheme will bring in even more for tea farmers and that people should focus on this as opposed to “which logo is on the packet”.

Tea stocked in the supermarket now reads ‘fairly traded’ as opposed to bearing the official ‘Fairtrade’ mark.

According to the campaign this “lesser scheme” enables Sainsbury’s to “pocket the difference” it would have foregone through the Fairtrade programme.

Jonathan Stevenson, of social justice organisation Global Justice Now, said: “Buying Fairtrade is a small step towards the kind of global economy we need.

“But if Sainsbury’s are allowed to get away with this, tea farmers will no longer be able to decide for themselves how to spend the money that they have earned through the Fairtrade premium – the heart of the Fairtrade scheme.

“For a big company like Sainsbury’s to take power away from farmers in the global South in this way is an outrage and it’s up to us to challenge it.”

But a spokesperson for Sainsbury's dismissed these claims as nonsense and said it is in fact a positive move for those who produce their tea.

They said: “Our Fairly Traded tea pilot will deliver even more benefits to farmers in Africa than the current Fairtrade model.

“We should be judged on the benefits we can bring to some of the most deprived communities in the world – not by which logo is on the packet of our tea.”

Fairtrade works with 1,411 certified producer organisations across at least 73 countries and a range of product categories, touching the lives of 1.6 million famers.

The Harrow Fairtrade Campaign noted how the scheme offers 7.5 million people in developing countries a more secure future.

It added how it is proud to support the Fairtrade movement and welcomes the push for the renewal of Harrow’s position as a Fairtrade Borough, which it first received in 2014.