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UK: FAIR TRADE FLOODING THE MAINSTREAM
October 18, 2002
Datamonitor Sales of fair trade goods in the UK have risen by 40%
in the past year. Fair Trade goods, which guarantee producers and
growers in developing countries fair wages and working conditions,
have enjoyed a huge increase in popularity. The launch of a new
international logo to harmonize standards could further increase
consumer confidence in fair trade goods.
However, the real reason for the growth is the consumer's desire
to feel good about a purchase. Sales of Fair Trade products have
experienced a 40% growth in the UK in the past year. These products
guarantee growers and producers a fair wage and good working conditions.
This ethical dimension to consumer goods is becoming more important
to consumers. Originally, tea, coffee and cocoa were the pioneering
fair trade goods. Traidcraft, the largest Fair Trade company in
the UK, was founded in 1979, and has since been joined by organizations
such as Oxfam. What was initially a niche market appealing to consumers
prepared to make an effort to adhere to their principles has now
burst into the mainstream. Several high street shops and supermarkets
now stock Fair Trade products, and the range of products has been
extended to cover not just food, but also clothing, furniture, carpets
and toys.
These goods undergo stringent checks to ensure that they conform
to Fair Trade standards, and that their sale benefits producers
in the developing world. However, these checks differ in each country.
To counteract this, and increase consumer confidence, a new international
logo was launched today to harmonize standards globally.
It is hoped that this initiative will further boost sales of Fair
Trade goods. European consumers' ethics and values are influencing
their everyday shopping and so-called compassionate consumerism
is on the march. However, the movement has changed since the media
frenzy that surrounded it in the 1980's. Paradoxically, the Fair
Trade phenomenon surfs a wave of egocentrism. What has catapulted
Fair Trade products into the mainstream are not the altruistic principles
of those with whom the idea originated, but the more widespread
desire amongst consumers to make themselves feel good.
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