Fair trade. Fair trade is an organized social movement whose stated goal is to help producers in developing countries achieve better trading conditions and to promote sustainability. Members of the movement advocate the payment of higher prices to exporters, as well as higher social and environmental standards. The movement focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries, most notably handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine,[1] fresh fruit, chocolate, flowers, and gold.[2] The movement seeks to promote greater equity in international trading partnerships through dialogue, transparency and respect. It promotes sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers in developing countries.[3] There are several recognized Fairtrade certifiers, including Fairtrade International (formerly called FLO/Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International), IMO and Eco-Social.
It's not fair to bash Fairtrade. Fairtrade is a controversial topic right now. A new study, conducted by the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, found that poor agricultural workers in Uganda and Ethiopia have not benefited as much as they should from working on Fairtrade certified farms. These small-scale growers of coffee beans, flowers, and tea receive extremely low wages that are, in some cases, even lower than those of non-Fairtrade certified growers. “Wages in other comparable areas and among comparable employers producing the same crops but where there was no Fairtrade certification were usually higher and working conditions better. In our research sites, Fairtrade has not been an effective mechanism for improving the lives of wage workers, the poorest rural people.” (Christopher Cramer, one of the study’s authors, The Guardian) To paint it in a bad light is a big deal.
It’s also unfair. It’s important to keep in mind that Fairtrade works within a very complex world. Fair trade (disambiguation) Fair trade is a consumer-driven movement to promote fair prices and reasonable conditions for producers of primary goods in developing regions. The expression may also denote: Fairtrade certification. In 2009, Fairtrade certified sales amounted to approximately €3.4 billion (US $4.9 billion) worldwide, a 15% increase from 2008.[2] Sales are further expected to grow significantly in the coming years: according to the 2005 Just-Food Global Market Review, Fairtrade sales should reach US$ 9 billion in 2012 and US$ 20-25 billion by 2020.[3] The Fairtrade industry does not reveal how much of this is extra profit to retailers and distributors in rich countries, how much is spent on Fairtrade’s own costs or how much reaches the farmer.
As of 2011, 827 producer organizations in 58 developing countries were Fairtrade certified.[2] How it works[edit] With Fairtrade coffee, and for instance, packers in developed countries pay a fee to The Fairtrade Foundation for the right to use the brand and logo, and nearly all the fee goes on marketing. Packers and retailers can charge as much as they want for the coffee. Fairtrade Standards[edit] A T-shirt made from Fairtrade certified cotton. History[edit] Making Sense of Certification — Fair Trade, Direct Trade, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ, Whole Trade, and Organic. — Cooperative Coffees. Confused yet? Walk into your neighborhood café or pick up a pound of coffee from your local grocer and you’ll no doubt be overwhelmed by the number of different coffees available to you. You’ll need to choose your coffee from a variety of roasts, origins, and blends as well as decide which trade relations model you’d like to support.
Here you are, juggling two bags of coffee; you’re committed to becoming a socially conscious coffee buyer (to respect human rights, to participate in an alternative economy, to protect the environment); still, you only have 30 minutes to do your grocery shopping. One bag, from Ethiopia, displays various certification labels. The other, from Brazil, states that the grower uses sustainable environmental practices and protects the rainforests. Coffee bags in hand, you realize that coffee buying is going to be more complicated than you had anticipated.
Both bags are doing their best to hook you with their outstanding coffee selection principles. Fairtrade 2007. Fairtrade International (FLO) It's not fair to bash Fairtrade. About. Have Sustainability Labels lost their way?. In their bid to build a brand, Sustainability Labeling organizations are sacrificing their mission. More and more consumers want to know that an outside, independent party confirms that the claims made by brands are true, that the products are safe, good for the environment and deliver on some core promises. In a world where it has become almost impossible to consistently deceive consumers about the attributes of a product, and where exaggerated claims are quickly deconstructed and ridiculed in Facebook and Twitter, the rise of the sustainability label confirming product claims seems inevitable. Because the rise of third party certification and product labeling has happened gradually, it has seeped into the collective consciousness slowly, and now it is simply part of the shopping landscape in many consumer markets.
According to the State of Sustainability Initiatives (SSI) 2014, growth has been spectacular. Case in point - cocoa Conclusion.