Although sales in Fair Trade
products are thriving worldwide, ‘responsible consumers’ may need to be more
watchful regarding the labels to choose and where to buy them.
The Fair Trade market in France has skyrocketed since
2004, reaching €4.9 billion in 2013 and the range of Fair Trade labelled products
has greatly developed but this success has attracted the multinationals’ greed.
The fair trade concept is based on several principles
which all converge towards sustainability that is to say towards economic, social
and environmental protection. It is
committed to giving a fair remuneration to small and underprivileged producers,
distributing equally the profits generated while respecting human rights and
protecting the environment.
The reason why Fair Trade labelled products have gained
so much popularity until now is that they have contented most consumers seeking quality and good actions and have earned their unconditional trust.
A
quality mark which may hide price manipulation
However fair trade has a hidden face which has
to be taken into account in order to avoid becoming an irresponsible ‘responsible
consumer’.
Such as organic products, the blue and green “Fair
Trade” label is becoming a quality mark. Consumers are willing to pay more as
long as they have better value for their money. Consequently the number of labelled
products has increased as their image enables companies to drive up prices
without hindrance.
Unilever, the food giant who owns Lipton,
Ben&Jerry’s, Amora or Magnum among others, understood the advantage Fair Trade
could represent to its sales and consumers can now easily buy cookie dough ice
creams with a clear conscience. Except Unilever is the world’s third biggest
food producer and has not always been famous for its social responsibility.
Supermarkets
get the best of the deal
The increase in sales of Fair Trade labelled products
is partly due to the fact that more and more of them are distributed by supermarkets.
Nevertheless, it is no coincidence that fair products occupy an increasing
place on the shelves. Such as multinationals, supermarkets want to take proper
advantage of fair labels to bolster their image and above all, to achieve
higher gross margins (even higher than on ‘normal’ goods).
Max Havelaar, one of
the most widespread labels, allows retailers to choose the margin they want. As
a result supermarkets earn more money on one bag of fair coffee than small
producers themselves. It seems to go slightly against the initial principles of
fair trade.
Besides, supermarkets are now producing their own brands
of lower priced fair products, jeopardizing the development of the genuine
labels.
Boycotting fair products is not a solution but if
consumers do not want to keep financing multinationals, they should pay
attention to their origin. Consumers trying to do a good deed and buy responsibly
may therefore prefer to head for small and specialized retailers.
Camille D
This topic is very interesting in those days because as you said there are more and more products being approved as “Fair Trade”. However I ask myself how we can be sure that multinationals respect conscientiously the principles of Fair Trade.
ReplyDeleteAnother aspect is that today customers are looking for a high quality of products in the Fair Trade market. Actually, they are looking a balanced diet for health because we are more and more afraid by chemical products and their long-term consequences for health. This movement is accentuated by the increase of collective vegetable gardens in the cities.
Consumers have be careful regarding the supposed fair trade products as it a new market which growth considerably, some businessmen can be more interested by making profit even in a dishonest way.
Jennifer A.
Hi Jennifer, thank you for your comment ! You are right to wonder whether the fair products you buy are genuine ones. Nowadays it seems impossible to make the difference but there is actually something we can do and it consists in heading for small producers directly. I guess it is the only way to be environmentally friendly and to eat in a balanced way ! Regarding the last thing you say, about businessmen being more interested in profits than in ethics, you should watch the arte documentary, you can learn lots of things ! Camille
DeleteThis is a very interesting topic and I totally agree with you. Fair trade is meant to be a really good thing, but unfortunately I think it has now become a Marketing Organization directed by supermarkets. They take advantage of the fact that fair trade is ‘trendy’. But we don’t really know if it is as fair as they pretend. On the other hand, don’t you think that many people buy fair trade products just to seem responsible and kind of eco-friendly? I’m not sure they are really interested in the topic…
ReplyDeleteMarion B.
Hello Marion, thank you for commenting my article ! My opinion is the same as yours, most people may buy fair products to be trendy but until then, as long as what they bought was actually fair it did not matter. Consumers wanting to make a good deed used to find it in fair products, as well as the producers. However nowadays the good deed they thought they did may be fake. Well maybe they don't care but in that case, why bother buying more expensive labelled (but normal) products when you can buy a cheaper version of the same product ? By the way, I'm sure that not everyone would buy fair products just to seem 'cool', at least I hope so ! Camille
DeleteVery interesting. I ve never bought those Fair-Trade products, even though I've heard about it for several times. On one hand, it's great to know that more and more people buy "fair products" to protect the environment, but on the other hand, it's a little disappointing that "fair trade" is becoming more and more unfair, because those "fair-trade" farmers gain much less than big distributors, who can raise selling prices and pocket the money. The higher selling prices lead to the reduction of potential customers, which then limits the farmers' incomes. I think it necessary to make rules so that the business activities could be "guided".
ReplyDelete