Fair trade is about giving the producers of goods a fair deal for their labour. Often found in developing countries they do not receive the same employment benefits as those in developed ones.

It is a relatively simple matter for those in the local government, catering, hotel and hospitality industries to switch to recognised fair trade products and improve their ethical profile.

March 3-16 2003 was Fair Trade Fortnight. The theme was 'Trust your Taste' - focusing attention on the good quality and taste of Fairtrade products, alongside the guarantee of a better deal for producers.

The Fortnight saw a huge swathe of events across the country - estimated by The Fairtrade Foundation as between 4500 and 5000 activities. Many of these are led by Agenda 21 or environmental officers within Local Authorities, and supported by local dignitaries such as Mayors and MPs.

The Archbishop of Canterbury tossed a Fairtrade pancake in Canterbury, Clare Short, Secretary of State for Development, visited the Fair Trade Cafe One in Birmingham, while the Borough of Croydon celebrated becoming a fair trade borough and children in the Dyfi Valley, Wales petitioned the Mayor to make their valley fair trade.

The Co-op hosted a great many events in its shops, as it actively supports, by selling and romoting, many fair trade products.

Many other local authorities are involved in local campaigns to become Fairtrade Towns or Cities. For example, Leicester City Council has adopted an Ethical Purchasing policy, a new section to its Guide to Environmentally-friendly Purchasing. This has been included in an introduction to staff about the concept of looking at ethical considerations when making purchases.

'Fairtrade Towns' (or cities, boroughs etc) gain a certificate from the Fairtrade Foundation for demonstrating a real commitment to serving and promoting FAIRTRADE Mark products within their communities.

Bolton, another twon that has come 'out' as a fair trade place now boasts 31 fair trade stores and shops and 19 fair trade cafes, of whichÊseven are canteens and workplaces. There are alsoÊ14 faith communities that use fair traded goods for their functions and two suppliers and local producers. Businesses and LAs have an important role to play in promoting the Fairtrade Towns initiative and in raising awareness of Fairtrade in their local areas.

In Fairtrade Fortnight seven new towns, cities and boroughs achieved Fairtrade status - bringing the total to seventeen.

Is your area a Fair Trade area? For a list of towns supporting Fair Trade see http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/towns/.

National level

At the national level, Government Departments including the Department for International Development, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Home Office, the Department for Trade and Industry and the House of Commons now serve fair trade foods and beverages to their staff and visitors.

Increasingly, in recent months across the UK, workplaces and other food service establishments such as hotels, restaurants and cafes are following suit. These include large employers such as Microsoft, Merril Lynch and Astro Zeneca; award winning hotels such as St Martins Lane Hotel and The Sanderson as well as high street coffee chains such as Starbucks and Pret a Manger. These are of course the national organisations - as well as this, all around the country there are businesses and independent cafes who offer the fair trade option to staff and customers.

What to do next

To find out how you can source Fairtrade products for your business, Local Authority or catering outlet, see the Fairtrade Foundation's website at http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/fairprf.htm, or give them a call on 020 7405 5942.

The Wales Fair Trade Forum, set up in 2000, is comprised of organisations that are concerned with the promotion of Fair Trade in Wales. See http://walesfairtradeforum.org.uk/

The new FAIRTRADE Mark

Fairtrade Fortnight also highlighted the new FAIRTRADE Mark, launched this year. More than 100 retail products now carry the Mark, including coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, snacks and biscuits, sugar, honey, fruit juice and fresh fruit. A number have won prestigious food industry awards.

The Fairtrade Mark has been developed to encourage mainstream commercial organisations to use fair trade products. In the UK, the Mark is administered by the Fairtrade Foundation, part of the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation International (FLO). This develops the criteria for the Mark and monitors the supply chain to ensure compliance.

"Farmers work with special care for the Fairtrade customer, for their families and for nature, " says Guillermo Vargas Leiton, mananger of a Costa Rican coffee co-operative that supplies the UK Fairtrade market and helped develop this year's theme: Trust Your Taste.

"Rising sales figures show that the public not only trust the FAIRTRADE Mark but trust their taste too,' says Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation."Fairtrade growers want all us shoppers to know they are proud of their produce - and increasingly people are finding out just how delicious the foods are."

Criteria

There are other schemes, such as those developed by Oxfam and Traidcraft, with similar systems. There's also the Ethical Trading Initiative, an alliance of companies, development agencies and trade unions supported by the UK Government.

The Fairtrade Mark goes beyond these in addressing the injustice of low and decreasing prices of third world commodities, not helped by recent international trade agreements.

Internationally agreed criteria now exist for the following products: coffee, tea, honey, cocoa, sugar, bananas (the most popular product), orange juice and wine. Tropical fruits and cotton products are coming on the market.

These products go into snacks, biscuits, confectionery and drinks, such as Green and Black's chocolate and Ridgways Fairtrade teas. Many of them are organic, and they are also all free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The criteria include agreements on price, direct trade, pre-financing and guarantees of a market. In addition to the price paid by importers, a separate payment is made designated for social and economic development in the producing countries.

The farmers and growers themselves decide how to spend the funds, and it usually goes on health, education or other social facilities. As part of the criteria, registered producers are accountable to the Fairtrade Product Registers for the use of this money.

A fair trade price includes a minimum guarantee, and ensures a living wage, otherwise the price rises in line with market forces.

A drop in the ocean

Over a million producers now benefit from Fair Trade. But this is a drop in the ocean. Now that the mechanisms are in place, the fair trade system is ready to become mainstream. Supermarket chains such as the Co-op actively promote the products, and had special offers during the Fortnight.

Because of their huge market, it is local authorities, and the catering and hospitality trades which could make the most difference. By choosing to buy these products they can enter into a process which not only benefits the producers but also gives them a competitive edge.

The Fairtrade Foundation has conducted market research which showed that 68% of a 1999 sample said they would buy these products, once they had been introduced to the concept. The Foundation can help by offering free promotional materials like posters, tent cards and leaflets for retailers which advertise and explain the products.

Is it expensive?

Is it more expensive, though? Not necessarily. Some brands of coffee, for instance, are cheaper than some well-known brands. Waveney District Council, having decided to make the switch to fair trade, found that Fairtrade coffee from their local roaster was cheaper than from their former supplier, Tchibo.

But even if it were to cost 10% more than a venue's normal coffee, this would only translate into no more than a penny a cup. And these products are often of superior quality. Fairtrade coffee suppliers offer machines free on loan as well as a range of different tea bags, freshbrew tea and hot chocolate. Free samples are available from suppliers.

Back to fair trade fortnight. Stockport Council's Shirley Woods Gallagher organised a Fairtrade Breakfast and commented afterwards, "The Breakfast at the council encouraged councillors to think of Fairtrade in a pragmatic way. Now it has spread through all areas of procurement."

More info

The web site www.fairtrade.org.uk, or the Fairtrade Foundation, Suite 204, 16 Baldwin's Gardens, London EC1N 7RJ; Tel. 00 7405 5942.

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