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With Fairtrade Fortnight just around the bend, we're thinking about all things fair. It's evident that just a few years ago Fairtrade products were niche market and now they're in the supermarket, but according to a new poll, most people don't actually know what Fairtrade is.
A recent survey on the BBC Good Food website showed that most customers don't know how the Fairtrade certification works, or what it guarantees from a product. The name conjures up a range of images -- suited company executives shaking hands with rural workers, multi-national companies run by farmers -- but these are mostly inaccurate.
Four out of five people believed that Fairtrade brands work directly with the people who grow crops and raw materials, which is usually not the case. To become Fairtrade-certified, a brand simply has to pay a fair and stable price for crops. The amount should cover the cost of production, as well as a bit extra to fund community projects -- all of it stable so that growers know what income they can expect.
Coffee companies, for example, do not have to jet off around the world talking to coffee bean growers -- they usually just buy products from third, fourth or fifth parties, who themselves source goods from growers. It works just like any other trade does, but with more money trickling down to the source. There are companies that go a little bit further, like Cafédirect, which has growers on its board of directors actually making decisions about how the company is run, but this isn't the norm.
"In addition to paying above market prices, over the last three years we have invested on average 60 per cent of our profits into training and development programmes for our growers, to help build their expertise," says Zachary Dominitz, head of corporate affairs at Cafédirect.
"We believe that we have raised the bar for Fairtrade, and urge other brands to follow our lead and help guarantee a sustainable future for growers and communities around the world."
But despite the confusion over what Fairtrade is all about, nearly nine out of ten people said that they bought Fairtrade products every month. This rings true if you look at figures from the Fairtrade Foundation, which estimates that nearly half a billion pounds worth of Fairtrade products was sold last year.
This is set to grow even higher, with over half of people surveyed saying that they would be willing to pay a few pence more for Fairtrade products. More than 2,500 consumers took part in the survey, which was sponsored by Fairtrade coffee company Cafédirect.
Fairtrade is definitely a step forward from the exploitative practices which are still all too common in industry, but if we as consumers are to make an ethical shopping choice, then we should make an informed one.
Photo: The Fairtrade Foundation
22 February 2008 01:43pm
Fairtrade as the perfect name. And I like them - and I consume their products. But I have a few issues with them. They are not as perfect as their name implies. For instance, they do not work with the poorest of the poor, but only those organized in cooperatives. And farmers do not get the Fairtrade price, only a part of it and the rest goes to the cooperative. Don?t forget, farmers pay Fairtrade to be certified. More on my blog. But the quicker they come clean, the quicker we can address their reason for existence ? making the world a better place. More on My Beef with Fairtrade at www.angryafrican.wordpress.com
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