Last week Straight Goods featured an announcement by TransFair USA and Starbucks that Starbucks will market Fair Trade certified coffee in its stores and on the Web. Fair trade certified importers pay slightly higher prices for coffee so that growers are better paid and work under better conditions. Fair Trademark Canada already has 40 companies licensed to carry Fair Trade certified coffee and has requests for applications from another half-dozen. Two hundred thousand pounds of green beans were licensed under Fair Trademark Canada arrangements in 1999. The benefits of 'fair trade' licensing, Thomson said, are felt most in Central America and Mexico, where most coffee consumed in North America is grown.
Fair trade is a diverse movement.
Some fair trade associations are spin-offs from NGO's working in the international development area. Others are collectives and still others are stand-alone trade associations. The first wave arose out of consumer concerns for product safety. That was followed by concerns for conservation and then for environmentally friendly products and production. The goal is transformation of the current marketplace away from corporate control and towards sustainable development.