>>Fairtrade principles should apply to all goods from developing countries… Lorraine Brehme, director, clipper teas
This year marks a decade since the Fairtrade Mark was launched with an initial offering of three products - a tea, some chocolate and an instant coffee. Ten years on, Fairtrade is worth £92m in Britain, the world’s second biggest Fairtrade market, and it’s still growing. In fact, it’s one of the only areas of grocery to show such sustained growth. Fairtrade is still only in its infancy but this kind of support shows that the aims that gave rise to Fairtrade in the first place now matter more to consumers than they ever have. In recognition of this, some multiple retailers have introduced own label Fairtrade lines - Fairtrade is hitting the mainstream.
Since 1994 the lives and homes of thousands of producers have been vastly improved through Fairtrade premiums - the payments we make that they decide how to invest. But there are still thousands more in the queue waiting to get on the Fairtrade register and to find a market for their products. No market, no money.
So why don’t all retailers adopt the principles of Fairtrade on goods they buy from developing countries? It’s not difficult to adopt: the retailer pays a producer at least the equivalent market price for a product, plus a premium for investment. It needn’t be significantly more expensive than conventionally traded goods - hence still plenty of room for that margin - and they would enjoy some excellent PR about the substantial changes they’re helping to make in poor countries.
And there are no question marks over quality. Many Fairtrade producers are the very best in their field. This may be because it takes a co-operative or estate manager a long time to jump through all the required hoops to get on the register, so he’s got to be confident his product is good. Or it may be, as it is on one Sri Lankan tea estate I visited recently, that the manager is so determined to make quality the prime objective that he has established unprecedented lines of communication with workers to ensure a consistently good product. Consistent high quality is the secret of success for Fairtrade producers in the long term.
Mainstream Fairtrade is an easily achievable, mutually beneficial kind of capitalism. By switching conventional products to Fairtrade, new markets are immediately granted to Fairtrade producers, retailers look good to their customers and
business continues as usual, to the satisfaction of the shareholders. And of course there is a much brighter future assured for thousands of producers.
In return for such a commitment from retailers and consumers, there are countless benefits for the people who make the products. Fairtrade means previously powerless people can be sure of a secure living for years to come, improve their living conditions, educate their children and save lives with improved medical care.
The required committee of decision makers brings the workers and the managers closer together in a democratic system that is unheard of outside Fairtrade. Ten years ago I went to that tea estate I mentioned and the workers would not come near me or any of the managers - they were petrified of authority. I returned last month and sat in on a committee meeting. After discussing the proposed construction of an IT training centre for estate children, during which everyone had their say, the committee was to return and present the ideas to its communities.
But my colleague suggested we had a kick-about in the sun and a few minutes later a football was produced. For the next hour, men, women and children passed the ball about. They had never seen anything like it, but their exceptional confidence was plain to see.These producers in developing countries are no different from us, so why shouldn’t they have the same opportunities? Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International is waiting for your call.
>>p36 All’s fair in grocery
This year marks a decade since the Fairtrade Mark was launched with an initial offering of three products - a tea, some chocolate and an instant coffee. Ten years on, Fairtrade is worth £92m in Britain, the world’s second biggest Fairtrade market, and it’s still growing. In fact, it’s one of the only areas of grocery to show such sustained growth. Fairtrade is still only in its infancy but this kind of support shows that the aims that gave rise to Fairtrade in the first place now matter more to consumers than they ever have. In recognition of this, some multiple retailers have introduced own label Fairtrade lines - Fairtrade is hitting the mainstream.
Since 1994 the lives and homes of thousands of producers have been vastly improved through Fairtrade premiums - the payments we make that they decide how to invest. But there are still thousands more in the queue waiting to get on the Fairtrade register and to find a market for their products. No market, no money.
So why don’t all retailers adopt the principles of Fairtrade on goods they buy from developing countries? It’s not difficult to adopt: the retailer pays a producer at least the equivalent market price for a product, plus a premium for investment. It needn’t be significantly more expensive than conventionally traded goods - hence still plenty of room for that margin - and they would enjoy some excellent PR about the substantial changes they’re helping to make in poor countries.
And there are no question marks over quality. Many Fairtrade producers are the very best in their field. This may be because it takes a co-operative or estate manager a long time to jump through all the required hoops to get on the register, so he’s got to be confident his product is good. Or it may be, as it is on one Sri Lankan tea estate I visited recently, that the manager is so determined to make quality the prime objective that he has established unprecedented lines of communication with workers to ensure a consistently good product. Consistent high quality is the secret of success for Fairtrade producers in the long term.
Mainstream Fairtrade is an easily achievable, mutually beneficial kind of capitalism. By switching conventional products to Fairtrade, new markets are immediately granted to Fairtrade producers, retailers look good to their customers and
business continues as usual, to the satisfaction of the shareholders. And of course there is a much brighter future assured for thousands of producers.
In return for such a commitment from retailers and consumers, there are countless benefits for the people who make the products. Fairtrade means previously powerless people can be sure of a secure living for years to come, improve their living conditions, educate their children and save lives with improved medical care.
The required committee of decision makers brings the workers and the managers closer together in a democratic system that is unheard of outside Fairtrade. Ten years ago I went to that tea estate I mentioned and the workers would not come near me or any of the managers - they were petrified of authority. I returned last month and sat in on a committee meeting. After discussing the proposed construction of an IT training centre for estate children, during which everyone had their say, the committee was to return and present the ideas to its communities.
But my colleague suggested we had a kick-about in the sun and a few minutes later a football was produced. For the next hour, men, women and children passed the ball about. They had never seen anything like it, but their exceptional confidence was plain to see.These producers in developing countries are no different from us, so why shouldn’t they have the same opportunities? Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International is waiting for your call.
>>p36 All’s fair in grocery
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