You can look for stickers on these whole fruits or on packages of dried fruit and juices. You probably know what an important role bees play in producing our food.

But bee populations have decreased and suffered for years now. Fortunately, small-scale beekeepers, like those working with fair trade organizations, can help revitalize these numbers if enough consumers purchase fair trade certified honey products.

A post shared by Diaspora Co. Spices diasporaco. Whether you cook at home daily or just every now and then, you probably know herbs and spices can make or break a meal.

But did you know you can actually choose to purchase fair trade certified spices from companies like Diaspora Co. From vanilla and turmeric to cardamom and saffron, keep an eye out for these labels on herbs and spices in fresh, dry or liquid form.

There are more than 20 different varieties of edible nuts around the world. Whether you like snacking on almonds, turning cashews into dairy-free milk or topping your banana bread with crushed walnuts, you can make a small shift in your shopping habit to support small-scale farmers in places like Fiji, Nicaragua and Pakistan.

A post shared by Lundberg Family Farms lundbergfarms. Almost all of us keep rice stocked in the pantry. But the farmers cultivating it often have a hard time making a living. Purchasing fair trade certified rice from companies like Lundberg Family Farms protects these farmers against highly subsidized rice competitors in more developed countries.

Most of us keep a bag of sugar in the pantry for baking. But would you have guessed that farmers around the world produce million tons of sugar each year? Purchasing a fair trade certified bag of sugar from a company like Wholesome is an easy way you can make an impact in the lives of small, often family-owned, farms.

Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. BROWSE LIFESTYLE. Share this View this post on Instagram. The Dominican Republic is the largest producer of fair trade bananas, followed by Mexico , Ecuador , and Costa Rica.

Producers in the Dominican Republic set up associations rather than cooperatives so that individual farmers can each own their own land, but meet regularly. Fundación Solidaridad was created in Chile to increase the earnings and social participation of handicraft producers.

These goods are marketed locally in Chile and internationally. The sale of fair trade handicrafts online has aided the development of female artisans in Latin America.

The Asia Fair Trade Forum aims to increase the competitiveness of fair trade organizations in Asia in the global market. Garment factories in Asian countries including China , Burma and Bangladesh are regularly accused of human rights violations, including the use of child labour.

In India , Trade Alternative Reform Action TARA Projects, formed in the s, worked to increase production capacity, quality standards, and entrance into markets for home-based craftsmen that were previously unattainable due to their lower caste identity.

The Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand FTAANZ supports two systems of fair trade: The first is as the Australia and New Zealand member of FLO International, which unites Fairtrade producer and labelling initiatives across Europe, Asia, Latin America, North America, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

The second is the World Fair Trade Organization WFTO , of more than worldwide members, of which FTAANZ is one. Fairtrade one word refers to FLO-certified commodities and associated products. Fair trade two words encompasses the wider fair trade movement, including the Fairtrade commodities and other artisan craft products.

Such organizations are typically overseen by Fairtrade International. Fairtrade International sets international fair trade standards and supports fair trade producers and cooperatives. Shima Baradaran of Brigham Young University suggests that fair trade techniques could be productively applied to products that might involve [ clarification needed ] child labor.

Coffee is the most well-established fair trade commodity. Most Fair Trade coffee is Coffea arabica , which is grown at high altitudes. Fair Trade markets emphasize the quality of coffee because they usually appeal to customers who are motivated by taste rather than price. The fair trade movement fixated on coffee first because it is a highly traded commodity for most producing countries, and almost half the world's coffee is produced by smallholder farmers.

The largest sources of fair trade coffee are Uganda and Tanzania, followed by Latin American countries such as Guatemala and Costa Rica. North American countries are not yet [ may be outdated as of March ] among the top importers of fair trade coffee.

Starbucks began to purchase more fair trade coffee in because of charges of labor rights violations in Central American plantations. Several competitors, including Nestlé, followed suit. Small growers dominate the production of coffee, especially in Latin American countries such as Peru.

Coffee is the fastest expanding [ clarification needed ] fairly traded commodity, and an increasing [ may be outdated as of March ] number of producers are small farmers that own their own land and work in cooperatives. The incomes of growers of fair trade coffee beans depend on the market value of coffee where it is consumed, so farmers of fair trade coffee do not necessarily live above the poverty line or get completely fair prices [ clarification needed ] for their commodity.

Unsustainable farming practices can harm plantation owners and laborers. Unsustainable practices such as using chemicals [ clarification needed ] and unshaded growing are risky. Small growers who put themselves at economic risk by not having diverse farming practices [ clarification needed ] could lose money and resources due to fluctuating coffee prices, pest problems, or policy shifts.

The effectiveness of Fairtrade is questionable; workers on Fairtrade farms have a lower standard of living than on similar farms outside the Fairtrade system. As coffee becomes one of the most important export crops in certain regions such as northern Latin America, nature and agriculture are transformed.

Increased productivity requires technological innovations, and the coffee agroecosystem has been changing. In the nineteenth century in Latin America, coffee plantations began replacing sugarcane and subsistence crops.

Coffee crops became more managed; they were put into rows and unshaded, meaning diversity of the forest was decreased and Coffea trees shortened. As plant and tree diversity decreased, so did animal diversity. Unshaded plantations allow a higher density of Coffea trees, are less protected from wind and lead to more soil erosion.

Technified [ clarification needed ] coffee plantations also use chemicals such as fertilizers, insecticides, and fungicides. Fair trade certified commodities must adhere to sustainable agro-ecological practices, including reduction of chemical fertilizer use, prevention of erosion, and protection of forests.

Coffee plantations are more likely to be fair trade certified if they use traditional farming practices with shading and without chemicals.

This protects the biodiversity of the ecosystem and ensures that the land will be usable for farming in the future and not just for short-term planting.

Consumers typically have positive attitudes about products that are ethically made. These products may promise fair labor conditions, protection of the environment, and protection of human rights. Fair trade products meet standards like these.

Despite positive attitudes toward ethical products such as fair trade commodities, consumers often are not willing to pay higher prices for fair trade coffee.

Coffee consumers may say they are willing to pay a premium for fair trade coffee, but most consumers are more concerned with the brand, label, and flavor of the coffee.

However, socially conscious consumers with a commitment to buying fair trade products are more likely to pay the premium associated with fair trade coffee. Safeway Inc. began carrying fair trade coffee after individual consumers dropped off postcards asking for it.

The following coffee roasters and companies offer fair trade coffee or some roasts that are fair trade certified:.

Many countries that export cocoa rely on it as their single export crop. In Africa in particular, governments tax cocoa as their main source of revenue. Cocoa is a permanent crop, which means that it occupies land for long periods of time and does not need to be replanted after each harvest.

Cocoa is farmed in the tropical regions of West Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. In Latin America, cocoa is produced in Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. Much of the cocoa produced in Latin America is organic and regulated by an Internal control system.

Bolivia has fair trade cooperatives that permit a fair share of money for cocoa producers. African cocoa-producing countries include Cameroon, Madagascar, São Tomé and Príncipe, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and Côte d'Ivoire.

Major cocoa-producing countries are Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea. Africa and other developing countries received low prices for their exported commodities such as cocoa, which caused poverty to abound. Fair trade seeks to establish a system of direct trade from developing countries to counteract this unfair system.

These farms have little market access and so rely on middlemen to bring their products to market. Sometimes middlemen are unfair to farmers. Much of this money goes to community projects such as water wells rather than to individual farmers.

Nevertheless, cooperatives such as fair trade-endorsed Kuapa Kokoo in Ghana are often the only Licensed Buying Companies that will give farmers a fair price and not cheat them or rig sales.

These arrangements are not always assured and fair trade organizations can't always buy all of the cocoa available to them from cooperatives. Marketing of fair trade cocoa to European consumers often portrays cocoa farmers as dependent on western purchases for their livelihood and well-being.

Showing African cocoa producers in this way is problematic because it is reminiscent of the imperialistic view that Africans cannot live happily without the help of westerners.

It portrays the balance of power as being in favor of the consumers rather than the producers. Consumers often aren't willing to pay the extra price for fair trade cocoa because they do not know what fair trade is.

Activist groups can educate consumers about the unethical aspects of unfair trade and thereby promote demand for fairly traded commodities.

Activism and ethical consumption not only promote fair trade but also act against powerful corporations such as Mars, Incorporated that refuse to acknowledge the use of forced child labor in the harvesting of their cocoa.

Smallholding farmers frequently lack access not only to markets but also to resources for sustainable cocoa farming practices. Lack of sustainability can be due to pests, diseases that attack cocoa trees, lack of farming supplies, and lack of knowledge about modern farming techniques. A solution is to change the type of cocoa tree being farmed.

In Ghana, a hybrid cocoa tree yields two crops after three years rather than the typical one crop after five years. The Harkin-Engel Protocol , also commonly known as the Cocoa Protocol, is an international agreement meant to end some of the world's worst forms of child labor, as well as forced labor in the cocoa industry.

It was first negotiated by Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Eliot Engel after they watched a documentary that showed the cocoa industry's widespread issue of child slavery and trafficking.

The parties involved agreed to a six-article plan:. Fair trade textiles are primarily made from fair trade cotton.

By , nearly 75, cotton farmers in developing countries had obtained fair trade certification. The minimum price that Fair trade pays allows cotton farmers to sustain and improve their livelihoods. India, Pakistan, and West Africa are the primary exporters of fair trade cotton, although many countries grow fair trade cotton.

Labour is different for textile production than for agricultural commodities because textile production takes place in a factory, not on a farm.

Children are a source of cheap labor, and child labor is prevalent in Pakistan, India, and Nepal. Fair trade cooperatives ensure fair and safe labor practices, and do not allow child labor. They struggle to meet consumer tastes in North America and Europe.

In Nepal, textiles were originally made for household and local use. In the s, women began joining cooperatives and exporting their crafts for profit. Now [ may be outdated as of March ] handicrafts are Nepal's largest export.

It is often difficult for women to balance textile production, domestic responsibilities, and agricultural work.

Cooperatives foster the growth of democratic communities in which women have a voice despite being historically in underprivileged positions. Making cotton and textiles "fair trade" does not always benefit laborers.

Burkina Faso and Mali export the largest amount of cotton in Africa. Although many cotton plantations in these countries attained fair trade certification in the s, participation in fair trade strengthened existing power relations and inequalities that cause poverty in Africa rather than challenging them.

Fair trade does not do much for farmers when it does not challenge the system that marginalizes producers. Despite not empowering farmers, the change to fair trade cotton has positive effects including female participation in cultivation.

Textiles and garments are intricate and require one individual operator [ clarification needed ] , in contrast to the collective farming of coffee and cocoa beans. Textiles are not a straightforward commodity because to be fairly traded, there must be regulation in cotton cultivation, dyeing, stitching, and every other step in the process of textile production.

Forced or unfair labor in textile production is not limited to developing countries. Charges of use of sweatshop labor are endemic in the United States. Immigrant women work long hours and receive less than minimum wage. In the United States, there is more of a stigma against child labor than forced labor in general.

Consumers in the United States are willing to suspend the importation of textiles made with child labor in other countries but do not expect American exports to be suspended by other countries, even when produced using forced labor.

With increasing media scrutiny of the conditions of fishermen, particularly in Southeast Asia, the lack of transparency and traceability in the seafood industry prompted new fair trade efforts. In , Fair Trade USA created its Capture Fisheries Program that led to the first instance of Fair Trade fish being sold globally in The program "requires fishermen to source and trade according to standards that protect fundamental human rights, prevent forced and child labor, establish safe working conditions, regulate work hours and benefits, and enable responsible resource management.

Fair trade flowers have been recognised as "an important niche product", with Kenya noted as a significant location for their production. Large transnational companies have started to use fair trade commodities in their products.

In April , Starbucks began offering fair trade coffee in all of their stores. In , the company promised to purchase ten million pounds of fair trade coffee over the next 18 months. Nestlé , the world's biggest coffee trader, began selling a blend of fair trade coffee in Much contention surrounds the issue of fair trade products becoming a part of large companies.

The ethics of buying fair trade from a company that is not committed to the cause are questionable; these products are only making a small dent in a big company even though these companies' products account for a significant portion of global fair trade.

There have been efforts to introduce fair trade practices to the luxury goods industry, particularly for gold and diamonds. In parallel to efforts to commoditize diamonds, some industry players launched campaigns to introduce benefits to mining centers in the developing world.

Rapaport Fair Trade was established with the goal "to provide ethical education for jewelry suppliers, buyers, first time or seasoned diamond buyers, social activists, students, and anyone interested in jewelry, trends, and ethical luxury.

The company's founder, Martin Rapaport , as well as Kimberley Process initiators Ian Smillie and Global Witness , are among several industry insiders and observers who have called for greater checks and certification programs among other programs to ensure protection for miners and producers in developing countries.

Smillie and Global Witness have since withdrawn support for the Kimberley Process. Other concerns in the diamond industry include working conditions in diamond cutting centers as well as the use of child labor. Both of these concerns come up when considering issues in Surat, India. Fairtrade certified gold is used in manufacturing processes as well as for jewellery.

Silver and platinum are also Fairtrade precious metals. In February , the United Kingdom's Fairtrade Foundation became the first NGO to begin certifying gold under the fair trade rubric.

Fair trade also influences the porn industry. Feminist writers and academics advocate a pornography industry with mutual consent and no exploiting labor conditions for actors and actresses. In , the European Commission prepared the "Memo on alternative trade" in which it declared its support for strengthening fair trade and its intention to establish an EC Working Group on Fair Trade.

The same year, the European Parliament adopted the "Resolution on promoting fairness and solidarity in North South trade", [] voicing its support for fair trade. In , the Economic and Social Committee EESC adopted an "Opinion on the European 'Fair Trade' marking movement".

A year later, a resolution adopted by the European Parliament called on the European Commission to support fair trade banana operators, and the European Commission published a survey on "Attitudes of EU consumers to Fair Trade bananas", concluding that Fair Trade bananas would be commercially viable in several EU Member States.

In , the European Parliament adopted the "Resolution on Fair Trade", [] which was followed by a Commission in that adopted the "Communication from the Commission to the Council on 'Fair Trade'".

In , the European Union adopted "Agricultural Commodity Chains, Dependence and Poverty—A proposal for an EU Action Plan", with a specific reference to the fair trade movement, which has "been setting the trend for a more socio-economically responsible trade. On July 6, , the European Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution on fair trade, recognizing the benefits achieved by the fair trade movement, suggesting the development of an EU-wide policy on fair trade, defining criteria that need to be fulfilled under fair trade to protect it from abuse, and calling for greater support for fair trade.

Peter Mandelson , EU Commissioner for External Trade, responded that the resolution would be well received by the Commission: "Fair Trade makes the consumers think and therefore it is even more valuable.

We need to develop a coherent policy framework and this resolution will help us. consumer labels is encouraged by their voluntary nature" whilst also recommending that "resource and regulatory support is given to the development of the improved transparency, impact and credibility of such schemes and the capacity of producers to influence them and participate through certification".

In , French National Assembly member Antoine Herth issued the report "40 proposals to sustain the development of Fair Trade". The report was followed the same year by a law that would establish a commission to recognize fair trade Organisations.

In , Italian lawmakers debated how to introduce a law on fair trade in Parliament. A consultation process involving a wide range of stakeholders was launched in early October. However, its adoption is still pending [ may be outdated as of March ] as the efforts were stalled by the Italian political crisis.

The Dutch province of Groningen was sued in by coffee supplier Douwe Egberts for requiring its coffee suppliers to meet fair trade criteria, most notably the payment of a minimum price and a development premium to producer cooperatives. Douwe Egberts, which sells coffee brands under self-developed ethical criteria, believed the requirements were discriminatory.

After several months of discussions and legal challenges, the province of Groningen prevailed. Coen de Ruiter, director of the Max Havelaar Foundation, called the victory a landmark event: "it provides governmental institutions the freedom in their purchasing policy to require suppliers to provide coffee that bears the fair trade criteria, so that a substantial and meaningful contribution is made in the fight against poverty through the daily cup of coffee".

While some studies claim fair trade is beneficial and efficient, [] other studies have been less favourable. Sometimes the criticism is intrinsic to fair trade, sometimes efficiency depends on the broader context such as the lack of government help or volatile prices in the global market.

Studies shows a significant number of consumers were content to pay higher prices for fair trade products, in the belief that this helps the poor. Some research finds the implementation of certain fair trade standards causes greater inequalities in markets where these rigid rules are inappropriate for the specific market.

The Fairtrade Foundation does not monitor how much retailers charge for fair trade goods, so it is rarely possible to determine how much extra is charged or how much of that premium reaches the producers.

In four cases it has been possible to find out. One British café chain was passing on less than one percent of the extra charged to the exporting cooperative; [32] in Finland, Valkila, Haaparanta, and Niemi [] found that consumers paid much more for Fairtrade, and that only Kilian, Jones, Pratt, and Villalobos [26] talk of U.

Mendoza and Bastiaensen [] calculated that in the UK only 1. These studies assume that the importers paid the full Fairtrade price, which is not necessarily the case. The Fairtrade Foundation does not monitor how much of the extra money paid to the exporting cooperatives reaches the farmer.

The cooperatives incur costs in reaching fair trade standards, and these are incurred on all production, even if only a small amount is sold at fair trade prices. The most successful cooperatives appear to spend a third of the extra price received on this: some less successful cooperatives spend more than they gain.

While this appears to be agreed by proponents and critics of fair trade, [] there is a dearth of economic studies setting out the actual revenues and what the money was spent on. The rest is spent on social projects, rather than being passed on to farmers. Differing anecdotes state farmers are paid more or less by traders than by fair trade cooperatives.

Few of these anecdotes address the problems of price reporting in developing world markets, [] and few appreciate the complexity of the different price packages that may or may not include credit, harvesting, transport, processing, etc.

Cooperatives typically average prices over the year, so they pay less than traders at some times, more at others. Bassett [] compares prices only where Fairtrade and non-Fairtrade farmers have to sell cotton to the same monopsonistic ginneries which pay low prices.

Prices would have to be higher to compensate farmers for the increased costs they incur to produce fair trade.

For instance, fair trade encouraged Nicaraguan farmers to switch to organic coffee, which resulted in a higher price per pound, but a lower net income because of higher costs and lower yields.

A study concluded that the low barriers to entry in a competitive market such as coffee undermines any effort to give higher benefits to producers through fair trade. They used data from Central America to establish that the producer benefits were close to zero.

This is because there is an oversupply of certification, and only a fraction of produce classified as fair trade is actually sold on fair trade markets, just enough to recoup the costs of certification.

One reason for high prices is that fair trade farmers have to sell through a monopsonist cooperative, which may be inefficient or corrupt—certainly some private traders are more efficient than some cooperatives.

They cannot choose the buyer who offers the best price, or switch when their cooperative is going bankrupt [] if they wish to retain fairtrade status. Fairtrade deviates from the free market ideal of some economists.

Brink Lindsey calls fairtrade a "misguided attempt to make up for market failures " that encourages market inefficiencies and overproduction. Critics argue that fair trade harms non-Fairtrade farmers.

Fair trade claims that its farmers are paid higher prices and are given special advice on increasing yields and quality. Economists [32] [ self-published source ] [] [] [] argue that if this is so, Fairtrade farmers will increase production.

As the demand for coffee is highly inelastic, a small increase in supply means a large fall in market price, so perhaps a million Fairtrade farmers get a higher price and 24 million others get a substantially lower price.

Critics cite the example of farmers in Vietnam being paid a premium over the world market price in the s, planting much coffee, then flooding the world market in the s. The fair trade minimum price means that when the world market price collapses, it is the non-fair trade farmers, particularly the poorest, who have to cut down their coffee trees.

He also points to the failure to disclose when "the primary commercial intent" is to make money for retailers and distributors in rich countries. Economist Philip Booth says that the selling techniques used by some sellers and supporters of fair trade are bullying, misleading, and unethical, [] such as the use of boycott campaigns and other pressure to force sellers to stock a product they think ethically suspect.

However, the opposite has been argued, that a more participatory and multi-stakeholder approach to auditing might improve the quality of the process.

Some people [ who? It may bring to light corporate vulnerabilities that activists can exploit. Or it may encourage ordinary people to get involved with broader projects of social change.

There are complaints that fair trade standards are inappropriate and may harm producers, sometimes making them work several months more for little return. Enforcement of standards by Fairtrade was described as "seriously weak" by Christian Jacquiau. It reported on "evidence of at least one coffee association that received an organic, Fair Trade or other certifications despite illegally growing some 20 per cent of its coffee in protected national forest land.

Segments of the trade justice movement have criticized fair trade for focusing too much on individual small producer groups without advocating for trade policy changes that would have a larger effect on disadvantaged producers' lives.

French author and RFI correspondent Jean-Pierre Boris championed this view in his book Commerce inéquitable. There have been political criticisms of fair trade from the left and the right.

Some believe the fair trade system is not radical enough. Christian Jacquiau, in his book Les coulisses du commerce équitable , calls for stricter fair trade standards and criticizes the fair trade movement for working within the current system i.

rather than establishing a new, fairer, fully autonomous i. Jacquiau also supports significantly higher fair trade prices in order to maximize the effect since most producers only sell a portion of their crop under fair trade terms.

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Main article: History of fair trade. Main article: Fair trade certification. Note: Customary spelling of Fairtrade is one word when referring to the FLO product labeling system. See Fairtrade certification. Main article: Alternative trading organization. Main article: Worldshop. Main article: Fair trade coffee.

Anodyne Coffee Roasting Company [91] Breve Coffee Company [91] Cafedirect [91] [92] Counter Culture Coffee [93] Equal Exchange [91] GEPA [94] Green Mountain Coffee Roasters [91] Just Us!

See also: Protectionism and Dumping pricing policy. Main article: Fair trade debate. This article duplicates the scope of other articles , specifically Fair trade debate. Please discuss this issue and help introduce a summary style to the article. March Wikiquote has quotations related to Fair trade.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fair trade. Archived PDF from the original on Retrieved Archived from the original on BBC News. Archived from the original on 20 September Retrieved 20 September Fair Trade Wales.

Fair Trade. The Review of Economics and Statistics. doi : S2CID Journal of Economic Perspectives. Archived PDF from the original on 24 September Retrieved 1 April Economic Affairs.

Fair Trade: Benefits and Drawbacks for Producers. Puente Europa, Año IV, Número 2 — Junio , 53— The Coffee Value Chain from Nicaraguan Fair Trade Farmers to Finnish Consumers", Journal of Business Ethics , 97 2 : , doi : Journal of Business Ethics.

Ecological Economics. Positive and normative analysis from a value chain perspective", Journal of Business Ethics , 86, 3— Statista Infographics. Fairtrade Foundation. Fair Trade coffee in Mexico: at the center of the debates", in Murray, D; Raynolds, L; Wilkinson, J eds.

Journal of Business Ethics 79—92, Fair Trade from the Ground Up. University of Washington Press. ISBN Journal of the Center of Business Ethics, Bentley University.

Pluto Press. Fair Trade Campaigns. Ten Thousand Villages. The Lutheran. CRS Ethical Trade. Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade Program". Archived from the original PDF on Archived from the original on October 22, Retrieved 24 June Charlbury, UK: One Village.

Fair Trade: Market-Driven Ethical Consumption. London: Sage Publications. Journal of Rural Studies. Fair trade. FLO International. Archived from the original on 17 February Retrieved 27 January Journal of Consumer Policy.

Archived from the original on 23 September Retrieved 17 December Journal of Contemporary African Studies. ISSN Fair Trade Yearbook: Towards Sustainability in Higher Education.

The MIT Press. JSTOR j. Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing. The No-nonsense Guide to Fair Trade. Fair Trade: A Beginner's Guide.

Columbia Human Rights Law Review. SSRN Murray, and John Wilkinson. Fair Trade: The Challenges of Transforming Globalization. London: Routledge, Social Problems. The Economist. Archived from the original on 14 July Retrieved 3 July Willingness to Pay for Fair-Trade Coffee".

Journal of Consumer Affairs. Brewing Justice: Fair Trade Coffee, Sustainability, and Survival. du, M. Handbook of Research on Green Economic Development Initiatives and Strategies. Practice, Progress, and Proficiency in Sustainability. IGI Global. Retrieved November 13, Co-operative News.

Archived from the original on November 14, Social Movements, the Poor and the New Politics of the Americas. Rethinking Globalizations. Ethics in Consumer Choice: An Empirical Analysis based on the Example of Coffee. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. Packaging Sustainability: Tools, Systems and Strategies for Innovative Package Design.

World Cocoa Foundation. Political Geography. An anthropological examination of the marketing of fair trade cocoa from Ghana". Hidden Hands in the Market: Ethnographies of Fair Trade, Ethical Consumption, and Corporate Social Responsibility.

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The fair trade food movement involves social and market advocacy that aims to promote improved trading conditions in developing countries. Fair trade food advocates wish to enforce higher social, environmental, and political standards revolving around the exports in developing countries.

The movement emphasizes higher prices for exporters on commodities, such as cocoa, sugar, bananas, honey, wine, chocolate, fresh produce, flowers, precious metals, and textiles.

It has evolved to form several recognized organizations that specialize in the certification of fair trade, including Fair Trade International, Fair Trade USA, IMO, and Eco-Social.

The fair trade movement prides itself on meeting several standards. Proponents of the fair trade movement focus on worker safety and the general welfare of all of those members employed at the production facility.

Fair trade goods promise fair wages for workers, safer working conditions, and the complete eradication of child labor. Fair trade suppliers must also meet the environmentally friendly and sustainable standards beset by the movement's overseeing organizations. In addition, fair trade suppliers must contribute to their local communities by making goods that promote recycling through reinforced consumer education.

Many companies that meet the fair trade agreement will heavily emphasize the humanization of their work forces, introduce their consumers to the individuals who actually create the items they buy, and demonstrate the benefits of the purchase to their consumers.

The logistics of fair trade encompass integrated supply chain and certification, with the former concentrated on beneficial practices beginning with produce to the final sale.

The latter emphasizes the partnership between two individuals who have a product they wish to sell, but they lack the capacity for mass production. In order for products to be certified as fair trade, they must meet certain standards set forth by fair trade certification organizations.

The standards that must be met include labor, developmental, and environmental standards. The inspection and certification of products is carried out by an independent body called FLO-CERT. FLO-CERT was created by the Fairtrade International organization in and works to ensure that both traders and producers follow fair trade standards.

Organic producers generally create their goods without using synthetic chemicals or pesticides. Therefore, people who eat organic foods will not ingest these harmful chemicals and byproducts.

In addition, organic producers promote environmentally friendly and sustainable production practices. Organic farmers also endure less chemical exposure than their conventional counterparts.

Organic producers differ from proponents of the fair trade movement, because it emphasizes the welfare of the workers who created the product.

The fair trade movement regulates the production of goods and minimizes the exploitation of workers in developing countries. Organic producers can meet the fair trade agreement qualifying them for certification and vice versa.

The Fair Trade movement has garnered international recognition, which has led to the formation of many prominent organizations. Many of these organizations remain dedicated to the promotion of fair trade values in developing countries.

The most renowned fair trade organizations include Trans Fair USA, the Fair Trade Federation, the Fair Trade Resource Network, the World Fair Trade Organization, and the Fair Labeling Organization, International. Some of these organizations emphasize consumer education, while some focus on promoting sound production practices.

Others may provide the necessary materials to convert production facilities to meet fair trade requirements, while others focus on certifying products as fair trade compliant.

These kinds of labels are common in the cocoa , fruit , sugar, tea , coffee and rice industries — amongst others. While far from solving all the issues these sectors face, such labels often represent the best options we have as consumers.

They make brands more accountable and indicate that at least some of the additional amount you may pay for fair trade products is contributing to better conditions. Buying fair trade is a particularly important way to respect farmers who otherwise see such a tiny share of the final price.

When we buy a £1 chocolate bar, cup of coffee or other food product, those who process the raw ingredients will receive much more of that price than the farmers that grew them.

Usually this manufacturing is done overseas, meaning that ingredients are exported from poor countries so that profits can be captured elsewhere. Unfortunately, however, fair trade is not a protected term, meaning that there is no set legal definition.

Compare this to, for example, organic , which can only be used in very strict circumstances. Brands may also have one or two products labelled as fair trade while the rest are produced in really poor conditions. Our shopping guides always highlight the best fair trade options, pointing you to brands and labels you can trust.

Certifications can offer some confidence that social or environmental criteria are being met. Fairtrade International FI works with nearly two million farmers and workers in almost 80 countries.

FI certifies both smallholder farms via their organisation into larger cooperatives, sometimes involving thousands of farmers and larger estates.

Its farmers produce everything from fresh flowers and nuts to herbal teas and cereals. FI requires specific social, economic and environmental criteria to be met, and it sends inspectors to check that producers are compliant.

Most significantly, it guarantees a Minimum Price as well as a small additional Premium, paid by its buyers, which helps to tackle the poverty that many food producers face.

Companies then source from these certified producers, paying the premium to the coop or estate as well as the Fairtrade Minimum Price or higher, which protects producers from market fluctuations. For example, Sabita Banerji, CEO of The International Roundtable for Sustainable Tea , says,.

In some of these sectors, small innovative brands may be going beyond Fairtrade. Fairtrade International oversees a network of organisations in different countries that have licensed use of its standard and logo. The Fairtrade Foundation is the UK member of Fairtrade International.

If an item has been certified by FI, it will usually be referred to with a capital F Fairtrade or all in capitals FAIRTRADE.

You should also look out for its logo to make sure it is definitely FI certified. Fairtrade International was formerly called the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation FLO. Many FI products are certified by FLOCERT, so if a product is marked with this name it is also Fairtrade certified.

If a product features this original Fairtrade Mark without any extra arrows, words, or different colours then this means that all of its contents are certified by Fairtrade International. All of the ingredients or materials in the product are fully traceable — kept separate from non-certified products from field to shelf.

There are however variations on this Fairtrade logo , which indicates that not everything in the product is certified — just some elements of it are. If you see the Fairtrade Mark with an arrow next to it, it means that all of the materials that can be sourced under Fairtrade conditions were done so though it may contain some materials that Fairtrade International does not certify.

If you spot the same logo but in blue, green and white — instead of black —, it means that an ingredient has been sourced Fairtrade rather than the whole product.

Next to the logo it says which ingredients are sourced Fairtrade. Fair for Life was launched in Switzerland in Unlike Fairtrade International, it certifies the whole company group rather than single brands, and has been praised for its comprehensive social and environmental requirements.

It also certifies producers and manufacturers in developed countries, which Fairtrade does not. And it is very transparent, publishing a summary of all of its assessments on its website. Instead, a premium and minimum price are negotiated between buyer and seller.

Fairtrade International only provides certification for certain ingredients such as bananas and cocoa , meaning that only certain products can get the certification.

Some brands have found their own solutions to this, by setting their own standards. Some of these criteria are mandatory in order for companies to join the WFTO. Companies that join can use the "Guaranteed Fair Trade" mark. Starbucks has its own, in-house coffee label, called C.

Practices Coffee And Farmer Equity Practices. Own-brand schemes will likely have a less independent third-party enforcement mechanism than established certifying bodies. While some organic certifications may include criteria to protect workers, they are not equivalent to fair trade, and their focus is mainly environmental.

Products can be both Fairtrade and organic, so look out for this if you want to find the best of the bunch when it comes to social and environmental criteria. We highlight fair trade food companies in all our guides — whether they are certified with the Fairtrade logo or demonstrating their own truly robust fair trade approach.

We've included more information about some of the companies below for some of the main fair trade food items.

The company told Ethical Consumer that it pays two to three times the Fairtrade minimum price to purchase a specific type of cacao. Divine has been selling Fairtrade chocolate for over 20 years. Established through a collaboration between the Ghanaian Kuapa Kokoo cocoa farmers co-op and a fair trade company called Twin Trading in the mids, it launched its first bar in with the support of Christian Aid, The Body Shop and Comic Relief.

It is a syndicate with about , members. Divine has now been partly sold, and has been majority owned by German chocolate manufacturer Ludwig Weinrich since Divine points out that Kuapa still receives a share of dividends, and still has two representatives on the Divine board.

Therefore, we still think that it is a company worth supporting. Fairafric is a German company that was founded by its CEO Hendrik Reimers after he had been backpacking in Africa.

The company buys cocoa from farmers with whom it has long-term personal relationships and pays high prices. Parari has the World Fair Trade Organisation mark.

It trades directly with farmers in Ecuador, cutting out middlemen and ensuring that the producers see more of the final price.

Manufacturers of chocolate receive a far bigger proportion from the price of a chocolate bar than growers. In the past, the norm has been for companies to export raw cocoa from poor countries like Ecuador and manufacture the actual bar elsewhere — essentially meaning that the wealth from the chocolate is also exported.

Pacari and a number of other brands in this industry are reversing this trend. These provide a suitable migratory habitat for birds, while allowing farms to continue being productive.

Read more about bird friendly approaches in our coffee guide. Postcard Teas sells loose leaf tea from small producers who farm less than 15 acres. It does this because on farms of that size, a larger proportion of the price goes directly to the people who produced the tea.

On larger farms, the people who are most likely to benefit are the owners rather than the workers.