Fair Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Fair Trade - Essay Example From humble beginnings in the Netherlands with the Max Havelaar label, the concept of fair trade has now grown into an international movement that buys produce direct from farmers and cooperatives in 48 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. The promise of fair trade is simple: that the producer will be paid a fair price for his or her product over a guaranteed long-term period, protecting farmers in poor countries from the vagaries of a volatile world market. Fair-trade labelling schemes now operate in 19 countries. Growth has been so rapid that an international coordinating body -- the Fair-trade Labelling Organisation -- has been established to monitor and maintain standards. In the UK, the certification body is called the Fairtrade Foundation, which now gives its stamp of approval to hundreds of products, from snacks such as chocolate brownies to consumer desirables such as t-shirts and footballs. (Barrientos 2006) Growth rates in the fair-trade market would make even the most seasoned capitalist giddy -- sales were up 51 per cent in 2004, and an impressive 140million rang through shop checkouts under the Fairtrade label in the UK. According to the Fairtrade Foundation, three million fair-trade hot drinks are brewed in the UK every day. There is even a fair-trade lifestyle magazine, New Consumer. All this despite the fact that fair-trade products -- almost by definition -- are more expensive than their conventional competitors. This 'premium' is essentially the price Western consumers are prepared to pay to know that their purchasing decisions are ethically sound. Fair trade has become a major high-street brand, communicating certain ethical qualities about the product to the consumer in a same way that brands such as Gap and Nike sell themselves on beauty and celebrity. Not for nothing are fair-trade products often covered with pictures of smiling farmers explaining how their fair deal has become a lifeline for themselves and their families. Rather than simply giving money to charity, fair-trade consumers feel that they are participating in a less paternalistic, more sustainable two-way exchange. (Cooper 2005) In addition, fair trade is now going mainstream. The charity Oxfam is taking on the might of Starbucks with a new chain of coffee shops under the name Progreso, stocked entirely with fair-trade lattes, cappuccinos, teas and cakes. (Davies 2003) Tesco recently launched an own-label range of fair-trade products, including coffee, chocolate and fresh fruit, much to the consternation of some campaigners, who have accused the giant retailer of profiteering by marking up fair-trade produce by more than the premium that goes to producers. Even Starbucks, long a target for anti-globalisation protesters, now does a flourishing line in fair-trade coffees. Cafedirect, which pioneered fair-trade coffee in the UK, is now Britain's sixth-largest coffee brand, and recently launched a sizeable share issue on the open market. However, in financial terms, fair trade remains a niche market, concentrated on an