Sustainability: Business

Fairly traded products are exchanging their unsophisticated ‘muesli bar’ image for one of lifestyle products. Many consumers want to be ‘politically correct’ and show their commitment by making sustainable, resource-sparing purchases of food and other items.

Scents of freshly roasted coffee, almonds, honey essence and African tea waft temptingly down the shopping aisles between shelves laden with dark chocolate and ginger, organic caramel syrup, organic wild coffee beans (Arabica) and Sensory Merlot wine. The products responsible for titillating our taste buds in this way are fairly traded goods from Nicaragua, Mexico, Ethiopia, India and even South Africa. They are fashionable and mouth-watering. Instead of the old ‘joss stick image’, there is a whole world of fashionable and stylish products to marvel at. And even without emotional and sensory descriptions, people feel good about shopping ethically and supporting the people behind the products and the idea of Fair Trade. The atmosphere in Fair Trade and health food shops where customers are still greeted by name cannot be compared with the anonymous shopping experience of supermarket chains, which now offer similar products.

Sustainable shopping is trendy and helps rural producers

The term Fair Trade refers to controlled trade in which the prices of the traded products are generally set higher than the going rate on the world market. The aim is to enable the producers to earn a higher and more dependable income than through conventional trade. Production is governed by international environmental and social standards. Partly as a result of Germany’s food scandals that hit the headlines at regular intervals (about once or twice a year), the hardcore of ‘fair’ buyers, who choose to make a political statement with their ethical purchases, has been joined by a growing clientele of people who are receptive to lifestyle products and also want to show their commitment.

The Fair Trade movement is largely concentrated on goods that are exported from developing countries to industrialised countries. According to the umbrella organisation Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), around 1.4 million farmers currently benefit directly from Fair Trade. In 2007, worldwide sales of Fair Trade products have increased by 48 per cent, according to information provided by TransFair, a non-profit association that supports disadvantaged producer families in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In 2006, sales rose by 100 per cent to 18,000 tonnes – a growth trend that has been continuing at varying rates for several years now.

Fair Trade mark gives shoppers confidence

There are general standards for trading partners. They apply to all products and are subdivided according to the target groups/beneficiaries – small farmers’ organisations and hired labourers on plantations and in factories. They cover standards for social, economic and environmental development and working conditions. The trader standards vary from product to product. They generally include the payment of a fair price and a premium to be invested in development measures. For organic products they include the payment of a premium and the provision of prefinancing options and long-term trading relationships.

Fairly traded products with the Fair Trade mark are now stocked by a large number of supermarket chains, food shops, health food shops, mail order companies and of course the Fair Trade shops – and also by cafés and restaurants. Over 750 products, including coffee, tea, orange juice, cocoa and chocolate, honey, sugar, bananas, wine, rice, sports balls and flowers, and even writing paper made from elephant dung, now bear the Fair Trade mark.

As well as agricultural produce and handicraft and manufactured products, Fair Trade is extending into new areas, such as tourism. The aim here is to employ greater sustainability for fairer developments, thereby improving the living conditions of employees in the tourism industry and small businesses. However, at the moment there is only one trademark that certifies hotel packages and excursions in South Africa in accordance with Fair Trade standards (Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa / FTTSA).

Global boom in a niche market

According to its own information, GEPA, the largest wholesaler and importer of Trade Fair products in Europe, is committed to binding, trustworthy commercial relations, and generated revenue of just under 50 million euros last year from Fair Trade products. This accounts for around half of the total revenue of all the Fair Trade dealers in Germany, but is still only a small proportion compared with the billions of euros generated by conventional retail trade.

Nevertheless, the trend is stable and is even growing – not even stopping at the threshold of company canteens or the head office of the German Football Association, which is also supplied with Fair Trade products. Fair Trade has been enjoying a global boom over the past ten years.

The European Union and the World Bank support Fair Trade. According to comments in a World Bank study, fairly traded coffee, for instance, can have benefits such as improved resource management and reduced pesticide use. This lowers costs and health risks and creates more rural jobs for those who depend on them.