I have had some intense debate about a particular issue lately. Fair Trade vs. Fairtrade. Some of this debate even involved other people.
The point is this, there is the principle of Fair Trade and the brand Fairtrade. One is a system of certification and licensing which often results in unintended consequences and the other is about fairness and buying on an ethical basis as a principle.
Fairtrade (one word) shows the outside world that you care. It proves it. It does create some quirky results. It guarantees a farmer a higher price than the commodity price of coffee, however he has to manage to get certified. A bureaucratic process that usually involves fees. This prevents many farmers from seizing the opportunity. Fairtrade comes at the expense of free trade. The poor farmer who never got a certificate is eternally prejudiced to lower sales prices and will have poorer workers. The exact opposite of the intended result.
Those of us truly indulging in speciality coffee NEVER buy commodity grade/price coffee and usually ensure the premium goes back to the farmer. This is the principle of Relationship coffee that we adore so much.
Fairtade certification does engage the consumer better however, and perhaps is the way forward if we are to get clients to care.
What should we do?
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3 Comments
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This makes me so mad! The Fairtrade brand is complete marketing bollocks!! It erroneously suggests that if you DON’T have it then your business is an unfair, slave labour endorsing, evil company. Are we, the consumer, not capable of making this decision anymore? Are we so daft that we’ll only shop/buy/support companies that pay for various bullshit accreditations, certificates and logos?!
The Fairtrade in Tourism “non profit organisation” charges companies almost R3000 PER DAY for assessment, PLUS 70% of assessors travel PLUS (depending on the size of the company) +/- R3000 PER YEAR!!! Oh my god! For a LOGO?? Please let me rather pay that money to my staff in the first place!
Basically I find the whole concept insulting!
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Faritrade only exists through businesses allowing themselves to be sucked into this chirade. Who can you blame for these poor businesses decisions to pay good moneyt for a crappy little logo? Look in the mirror. Educate your clients. Discard Fairtrade.
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Dear All, this is a very interesting debate and I would like to share some points from Fairtrade’s point of view.
- The main difference between fair trade and Fairtrade is that the first is a concept, the second a certification system. Anyone can claim to be fair trade without going through any audit or mechanism to ensure that basic fair trade principles are met. Fairtrade was instead born to assure consumers that fair trade principles are met in production and trade, are audited annually by an independent certification body, and are protected against misuse – therefore the shift from fair trade to Fairtrade.
- In addition to the above, Fairtrade has a set of labour and environmental standards that look at improving labour conditions and making sure production is sustainable and not harmful for the environment.
- the Fairtrade system is supported by fees. Every certification is supported by fees (or do you know any auditor that works for free?) and those are calculated on the basis of the size and capacity of a farm. Co-operatives pay proportionally much less than plantations and Fairtrade encourages and supports small farmers to form co-operatives in order to have the bureaucratic and organisational basis to achieve Fairtrade (or other) certification.
- Fairtrade is a certification system for agricultural commodities. It does not claim to be the essence of, nor to own the principles of fair trade. As a Fairtrade organisation, we work closely with other fair trade schemes, especially in tourism, craft in South Africa and other international initiatives in sustainable agriculture, such as Rainforest Alliance and Utz, at an international level.
- With regards to price: Fairtrade ensures small-producers a floor price that can be vital during times of low market prices (e.g. when market price is lower than production costs). Specialty and high quality coffees are paid at a much higher price also in the Fairtrade system.To conclude, it it great that we start having such debates in South Africa. Fairtrade is one of the choices available to make trade fairer and we as a movement do support other initiatives (e.g. organic, direct trade, etc.) that contribute to sustainable production and ethical trading.
If you want to continue the debate, feel free to contact me!
Arianna Baldo
Fairtrade Label South Africa
arianna@fairtrade.org.za
