London Fairtrade Capital: The world's largest Fairtrade city.

Are you still pumped up after Fortnight? Want to know what you can do now to keep building support for Fairtrade? Filled with burning questions about the future of Fairtrade in your community?

The upcoming elections offer great opportunity to find out about where candidates stand on Fairtrade issues. With the general and local elections set for 6 May, there are many opportunities to engage with Fairtrade and development issues at a local or national level, and ensure that these essential topics are given the focus they deserve.

The Fairtrade Foundation has a great Elections 2010 section on their website that can help you find out more about where candidates stand on Fairtrade. The site includes:

• Messages and Questions
• Your local candidates
• What you can do
• Resources - including sample letters, useful links and more

Feel free to check out these resources and tips and to put them to use!

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to be able to attend a conference organised by the London Fairtrade Diocese Campaign and hosted by St Stephen’s church in West London.

It was a full programme with the theme of Transforming Lives through Fairtrade, and featured some high profile speakers from the Fairtrade Movement as well as John Bell, a very well respected member of the Iona Community, who’s written hymns and books, contributes regularly to BBC Radio 4’s Thought For The Day and has an amazing knowledge of international music – as I discovered in the afternoon!

John Bell

John has been involved in the trade justice movement for longer than I have lived – and was reflecting about the early days when he sold ‘campaign coffee’ – renowned more for the ethos than quality!
He made a very thought provoking speech about Global Trade and Global Warming, where he lamented the way people now only seem to measure the financial impact of items, rather than the wider costs in terms of resource. He feels that we have entered an ‘age of entitlement’ which leads to relentless consumption of resource and questioned if people and the environment are actually able to afford the cheapness that we have come to expect in this modern society where we have instant access to knowledge but not necessarily the wisdom to benefit from it.

He does feel that Fairtrade can help to address some of the negative impacts the developing world that the international markets contribute to, and we heard from Barbara Crowther, Director of Communications and Policy at the Fairtrade Foundation about how the scale of Fairtrade has grown significantly over the 15 years they have existed in the UK, and the challenge they face of balancing the mainstreaming of Fairtrade (Nestle’s KitKat and Starbucks and Cadburys etc) with the importance of supporting pioneering 100% Fairtrade brands like Cafédirect and Divine Chocolate.

After a ‘Working Lunch’ we were energised by Catherine Brogan , a performance poet, who described herself as the ‘next generation of Fairtrade campaigner’ treated us to some lively poetry recitals, rounded off with her latest composition which is the most compelling argument I’ve heard to buy Fairtrade so far – you can read it here , but without a strong Irish accent you’ll struggle to make it rhyme!

The afternoon consisted of hymns from around the world, lead by John Bell, with presentations from leading 100% Fairtrade brands Divine Chocolate and Cafédirect. Sophi Tranchell MBE, Managing Director of Divine Chocolate and Chair of London Fairtrade Campaign presented to us the whirlwind history of Divine Chocolate, and described some of the inspiring impacts they have seen since working with suppliers and shareholders, the Kuapa Kokoo co-operative in Ghana.

I then had 10 minutes to speak about Cafédirect. We has been in business for almost 20 years, and the story of how we were formed is very really genuine and very refreshing, particularly in these days of corporate takeovers and multinational companies creating their own stories of authenticity. You can read more about it here. Cafédirect’s growth in our early days was driven by real grass roots campaigners, who bought our coffee from church halls, Oxfam stores and community centers, and campaigned to supermarkets to stock us. Our first big listing was in 1994 – and the rest is history….

We’ve got a great video ‘I am Cafédirect’, it gives a real taste of the people who spend their time, effort and expertise growing coffee, tea and cocoa that goes into our hot drinks.

Cafédirect is all about building communities, both in grower co-operatives in Latin America, Africa and Asia, but also back here in the UK – and Fairtrade Fortnight is a great time to get involved. We are currently working hard to create Tea Party Kits that you can all use in your communities over Fairtrade Fortnight, and beyond to get together over a cuppa, bake some cakes using Fairtrade ingredients and have a great time. It’s also an excellent way to demonstrate to the unconverted that some Fairtrade products can be of the highest quality.

We’ll be taking orders for the Tea Party Kits at the beginning of February, but in the meantime you can join our Facebook event and sign up to be a Friend of Cafédirect to find out more…

The perfect tea party?

A BIG thank you to Fran from Kensington WDA for organising the big day, traidcraft and Shared Interest for coming along and everybody else for their energy and enthusiasm.

Alex Georgiou is Communities and Partnerships Manager at Cafédirect. Alex is a guest blogger – all the views expressed are his own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Fairtrade London Campaign.

This week we have heard some of the most controversial news in the Fairtrade world for a long time: Nestlé’s four-finger Kit Kat bars will bear the FAIRTRADE Mark from January 2010. This news has instantly stirred up a long-running debate about whether and under what circumstances large multinational corporations that have dubious business practices should be allowed to take part in the Fairtrade system.

It is important to look both at the pros and cons of this news about Nestlé and Kit Kat, to better understand whether it is something that Fairtrade supporters should be celebrating or condemning.

The facts
Firstly, what are the facts? Nestlé has decided use Fairtrade cocoa and sugar in its four finger Kit Kat bars, and the Fairtrade Foundation has authorised the use of the FAIRTRADE Mark on the bars. The change affects only the four finger bars, not two finger Kit Kats or any other Nestlé products, and it will also only apply to the UK and Ireland.

Nestlé has stated that they hope to make the rest of their Kit Kat bars, as well as other products, Fairtrade within the next few years, subject to availability of high-quality Fairtrade cocoa. However, they also made similar promises about their Fairtrade coffee after creating the Partner’s Blend which were never followed up on.

The Pros
The move to certify Kit Kat bars has some very clear benefits. The change will affect more than 8,000 cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire, an undeniably poor country where producers depend heavily on the cocoa crop. The Fairtrade sales to Nestlé will bring in an extra $150 a tonne, 4 per cent above the $3,384 world price. This extra is the Fairtrade premium, which producer cooperatives will use to help support their communities however they choose – literacy and access to schools is a major issue in the areas of Côte d’Ivoire that will take part. In addition, the farmers will be guaranteed a good price even if the world price falls, as well as gaining long-term contracts and access to loans that help keep incomes and life more stable. Sugar producers in Belize will also get the same benefits. 

It seems clear that for producers, on an individual and community level, there will be real benefits. The change will also raise the profile of Fairtrade in general, and hopefully inspire more companies to take part. This is part of the Fairtrade Foundation’s strategy of “Tipping the balance,” aiming at making trade work for the majority of producers around the world. Only with significant increases in Fairtrade sales (and/or major changes to global trade policy), will trade move from benefitting the few, to having a genuinely positive impact on the majority.

The Cons – Nestlé
However, there are also a lot of negative aspects of this change, and critics of the decision have some compelling arguments. There are many concerns specific to Nestlé as a corporation, including a  very problematic history of using child labourers, and marketing baby milk products to families in the developing world and thus supplanting the practice of breastfeeding, which has led to health problems and even death for babies. Many people boycott Nestlé’s products, some of whom are now wondering whether they should agree to buy Fairtrade certified Kit Kats. For many, it is hard to see how certifying a small fraction of its cocoa as Fairtrade can in any way change people’s opinions of a company that continues to take part in disreputable practices throughout the rest of its business.

The Cons – Mainstreaming Fairtrade
These concerns bring up the larger question of whether Fairtrade ought to work with “mainstream” corporations that do not uphold all the values Fairtrade stands for. When you buy cocoa that was farmed according to Fairtrade standards, but ship, process, and market it in using exploitative or unsustainable practices, doesn’t that diminish the meaning of the FAIRTRADE Mark? Some companies (include companies like Divine Chocolate and Cafédirect) embody Fairtrade values in all their practices, and many people think Fairtrade should really only include companies like these, or press less committed corporations to uphold the highest standard of business ethics.

Your views on this matter will depend on what you think Fairtrade ultimately should be. Should it be the ideal model of fair trade and justice, working only with companies that meet this standard? Or should it be a step in the right direction that has some real benefits for the poor, working with imperfect corporations because of the positive impact on producers?

What the FAIRTRADE Mark Means
It is worth remembering that the FAIRTRADE Mark as it stands is simply a guarantee about how something was made at the producer level. It doesn’t pass judgement on a company as a whole, or make any statements about wider business practices. And if it did, it would be a whole different kettle of fish, one that would be more complicated, more expensive to take part in, and quite possibly off putting to most mainstream corporations. Some may see a more extensive set of criteria as a better way – but we should remember that the Mark doesn’t  promote a whole corporation.

The Role of Campaigners
In the end, perhaps the way forward is for Fairtrade supporters and campaigners to pledge that, no matter what products and companies carry the FAIRTRADE Mark, our role should always be to press for more. As long as expectations continue to rise, we can celebrate the current benefits of Fairtrade for producers, while those who want to see Fairtrade mean even more can continue working to expand its meaning and role. Our efforts in London can then not only support positive steps, but be part of a continuous push for Fairtrade to have the best possible impacts on producers and on wider global business practices.

This post is part of a larger discussion about mainstreaming Fairtrade, hosted by Shared Interest. Click here to read more.