Fair Trade Means Fair Price

Next time you swirl a spoonful of sugar into your morning coffee, you might also be helping provide fresh water for a family in Paraguay.

That’s the idea behind “Fair Trade,” an organized social movement and market-based approach that advocates the payment of a higher price to farmers and producers in developing countries to promote sustainability as well as better social and environmental standards.

Fair trade encompasses a wide variety of goods exported from developing countries to developed countries, such as handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, chocolate and flowers. Fair trade’s strategic intent is to work with marginalized producers and workers in order to help them move towards economic self-sufficiency and stability, become greater stakeholders in their own organizations, and play a wider role in international trade.

In 2008, Fair trade certified sales amounted to approximately $4 billion worldwide, a 22% year-to-year increase. An estimated 7.5 million producers and their families benefit from fair trade funded infrastructures, technical assistance and community development projects.

In 2005, Wholesome Sweeteners, a joint venture between U.S.-based Imperial Sugar and Britain’s Edward Billington & Sons, became the first company to launch fair trade certified organic and natural sugar in America.

Wholesome’s Vice President of Marketing, Pauline McKee

“Fair trade means that a premium, a fair price, is paid directly to farmers so that they can keep their land, send their kids to school and build thriving communities,” says Wholesome’s Vice President of Marketing, Pauline McKee. She also notes that customer support for Fair Trade Certified sweeteners has been unprecedented and as of October 2009, Wholesome Sweeteners paid $1.88 million in premiums back to cooperative partners.

On fair trade farms, producers must adhere to strict standards regarding the use and handling of pesticides, the protection of natural waters, virgin forest and other ecosystems of high ecological value, and the management of erosion and waste. Fair trade prices enable small-scale sugar farmers to pay for organic certification and training in sustainable agricultural techniques.

“Fair trade shows that you can have an exciting business model for shareholders, but also be socially responsible,” says McKee. “This is a concept that consumers really can attach to, and they can choose to buy delicious sugars and honeys and other sweeteners that make a positive impact in areas of the world that desperately need help.”