Fair Trade

Yesterday it was the international day of Fair Trade. That, and the fact that I really love the chocolate from Tony's Chocolonely (Dutch chocolate company that has the fair trade label,) made me decide to held a presentation about it. 

 

Fair Trade is about Fair trading. So, giving the amount of money that should be given to farmers or producers of organic commodities. This to give these (poor) farmers a healthy standard of living.

Fair trade is a development model. That means that it will never be finished, it isn't meant to get finished.

Most Fair Trade companies operate in third world countries. These producers need ‘our’ help the most, because those countries are more dependent from the weather and more vulnerable for corruption. To help those producers into the big trading circle some companies designed fair trade.

Fair trade offers producers a better deal and improved terms of trade. This allows them the opportunity to improve their lives and plan for their future. Fair trade offers consumers a way to reduce poverty through their every day shopping.

Why would a companies start being fair trade? Because, if you think about it, it is much more expensive, so you can expect less profit (people don’t want to pay more for product of generic quality.) So to get people to buy more expensive stuff like fair trade, the company has to make the product more interesting or in this case it makes the consumer feel better about themselves. Fair trade is becoming a premium brand.

I think Fair trade is a good concept and sometimes it can really help producers, but other times it is too vulnerable for corruption. Companies may not seem as trustful as they claim to be. Or they misuse the system for fancy propaganda. The companies get supervised. But that supervision will have it’s limits too. The good use of the word Fair trade seems questionable. 

Still, we should probably continue because it does good work.