Top: A tea picker on the Stockholm Tea Estate in Sri Lanka. Photo: Zed Nelson. Above: The Fairtrade Mark.
'Before long he was on the phone to Green & Black's saying, 'You'd better get over here: we're being bombarded with telephone calls from vicars.' '

Jess Day looks at the impact of the Fairtrade Mark over the past decade

The Fairtrade Mark has been guaranteeing a better deal for Third World farmers since 1994.

In the last ten years sales and product range have exploded, taking an alternative lifestyle choice into the mainstream. And this has been achieved with a marketing spend which most food companies would find laughable.

Consumer power, much of it through the churches, has been the main driver behind the growth of the Fairtrade Mark, taking it from just three products, only available through specialist retailers and wholefood stores, to over 200 products today.

There are now 14 different kinds of Fairtrade coffee, and marked bananas, mangoes, apples, tea, coffee, chocolate, preserves and snacks. Newest kids on the fair trade block are grapes from South Africa, grown by farmers in the Northern Cape region.

The value of Fairtrade marked products at the checkout has now reached £63 million - meaning £2 is spent on them every second.

An easy conscience

While a few years ago buying fairly traded goods meant special trips to the Oxfam shop, or remembering to take the shopping bag up to the church stall on the right day of the week, today products are available in all major supermarkets.

The Co-op has been the most committed of the supermarket chains to the fair trade cause. They were the first to stock Cafédirect coffee and to launch Fairtrade marked oranges, pineapples, bananas and wines. All their own-brand chocolate and coffee carries the mark.

But supermarkets don't stock these products out of goodwill - ranges are reviewed constantly, and anything that doesn't fly off the shelves into baskets fast enough will be off them permanently. And with fair trade suppliers' tiny or non-existent marketing budgets it has been campaigner and consumer demand that has driven the growth.

Churches for change

Alternative trade was already well established in church networks through the 'campaign coffees' of the eighties, and the work of alternative trade organisations such as Traidcraft and Tearcraft. The launch of Cafédirect coffee, Clipper Fairtrade tea and Green & Black's Maya Gold chocolate in 1994 as the first Fairtrade marked products launched a whole new phase of the campaign, targeting the mainstream. Church campaigners helped convince supermarkets that there was a market for them.

"Right from the beginning the Churches were very important in promoting Fairtrade," says Eileen Maybin of the Fairtrade Foundation, which is responsible for the Fairtrade mark in the UK. "Around a third of the events and activities for Fairtrade Fortnight last year were organised by church groups."

The mark provided an independently verified assurance of a fair price for the producer, and, vitally, the products met the demands of modern consumers for palatable, high quality goods.

Christian Aid has been campaigning in support of fair trade since 1992, with the launch of the 'Change the rules' campaign. Campaigners called on supermarkets to stock Fairtrade marked products, and to apply ethical trading criteria to their other trading relationships, leading to the setting up of the Ethical Trading Initiative in 1998.

Church groups really discovered their campaigning muscle as consumers. Enormous collections of till receipts demonstrated to supermarkets that they were willing to put their money where their mouths were when it came to giving farmers and producers a fairer deal.

Supermarket managers didn't know what had hit them. One buyer at a major supermarket responded that he wasn't going to stock a product 'just because it was backed by a bunch of Christians'. The Fairtrade Mark and the fact it had the support of the major aid agencies clearly didn't impress him.

However, before long he was on the phone to Green & Black's saying, 'You'd better get over here: we're being bombarded with telephone calls from vicars.'

The change has not been one sided, either, according to David Pain, Head of Christian Aid's Churches team. 'Take together the Jubilee 2000 campaign on debt, fair trade and the Trade Justice Campaign: these issues have really transformed churches here, as people recognise the opportunities they have to effect political change. I think the supermarket till receipt campaign really amazed churches with their power.'

Fairtrade Towns

The most recent phase in the campaign has been the push to convert whole towns to fair trade. At a public town meeting in April 2000 the people of the small Lancashire town of Garstang voted virtually unanimously for Garstang to become the world's first Fairtrade Town.

Thirty-two towns across the UK have followed their lead by achieving targets on availability of products in shops, workplaces and cafes, and actions such as passing motions of commitment at council meetings, and promoting fair trade in local media.

The idea has really caught on, and schools, universities, churches and dioceses are following suit in working for 'certified' Fairtrade status.

Fair trade and Trade Justice

Ten years on, at a time when the international market prices of tea and coffee have hit record lows, the fair trade difference is more vital than ever.

Fair trade changes people's lives, but equally importantly, it helps people understand the need to challenge the fundamental relationships of international trade. It has a vital role to play in building the campaign for Trade Justice, led by agencies including Christian Aid.

Says David Pain: 'People with years of experience campaigning on fair trade clearly understand that trade rules are the next step. The campaigns build on one another.'

Fairtrade Fortnight, March 1-14, celebrates the achievements of the last ten years. For information on how you can get involved, and on how to convert your town or workplace to Fairtrade, visit www.fairtrade.org.uk

For more information on the Trade Justice campaign to rewrite the rules of international trade, visit www.christianaid.org.uk/campaign