Fair Trade is a trading partnership that seeks greater equity in international trade by maximizing the benefits of the stakeholders involved (“WFTO”). Nearly all (93%) of the Starbucks Coffee Company coffee was ethically sourced through Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) practices, which include the fair trade system (“Responsibly Grown”). In January 2013, more than 1.2 billion profits from the sale of Kit Kats supported over 7,000 fair trade cocoa farmers through the Nestlé Cocoa Plan (“Kit Kat”). Fair trade products not only prevail in Hong Kong, but also around the globe like in America, Canada, England, and Australia. What makes fair trade products distinct from others is their meaningful impact on both their producers and consumers. Concerning producers, fair trade improves their lives and assists them in developing their communities. As for consumers, fair trade reassures them with high quality products and provides them a way to help protect the environment. Fair trade succeeds in achieving fairness by maximizing the benefits of fair trade producers and consumers in the perspectives of living quality, community development, product quality, and environmental protection respectively. The lives of producers under the fair trade system have been improved with increased income. According to Hans Peter Egler, Head of Trade Promotion of The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SESO), producers with fair trade labels on their products enjoy a thirty percent income increase on average over those without a label (SECO). Data showing quantifiable monetary amounts objectively reveals a rise in earnings among fair trade producers. Additionally, over the last ten years of operation of the Fair Trade system, the producer’s fund has ... ... middle of paper ... ...nth > “Responsibly Grown and Fair Trade Coffee.” Starbucks Coffee Company, 2012. Web. 20 Mar 2014. < http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/sourcing/coffee> Ronchi, Loraine. “The impact of Fair Trade on producers and their organizations: A case study with Coocafé in Costa Rica.” Policy Research Unit: University of Sussex, Sussex (2002). “SECO - Switzerland promotes transparency in the extractive industries sector.” Seco.admin.ch, 2014. Web. 1 Apr 2014. id=27332>. “Teaching Quotes :: Quoteland :: Quotations by Topic.” Quoteland.com, 1955. Web. 3 Apr 2014. . “WFTO - Charter of Fair Trade Principles.” Wfto.com, 2014. Web. 20 Mar 2014. 34&limit=1&limitstart=2 >
Wright, L. T., & Heaton, S. (2006). Fair Trade marketing: an exploration through qualitative research. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 14(4), 411-426. doi:10.1080/09652540600948019
Although Fair trade has been presented as a solution to the exploitation of coffee laborers, it isn’t a perfect solution. Though, it is clear that its advantages outweigh its disadvantages when the suffering of the other farmers is seen. Even after those laborers were freed of slavery, they weren’t exactly treated much differently. If this is what is happening to the laborers of this commodity, what is happening to those forced to work in the industry of sugar, petroleum, tea, etc?
Fair Trade is an organization that helps certify farmers get the right amount of money for their products. It was founded in 1992, the headquarters is in London, England, UK. Fair trade is a non profitable organisation. Without Fair Trade; the shops and the investors will get profit but the farmer won't. Fair Trade helps the farmers have a safe vision of the amount of profits they will get.
...-operative handling distribution of coffee (Kolk 2013:327-28). Fair trade also allows consumers to consider the type of product being purchased by informing them of the fair and ethical practices behind the coffee beans (Kolk 2013:334). By supporting fair trade coffee the consumer can feel a sense of contribution in supporting the farmers’ livelihood.
Fairtrade is something that you will now hear or read about on a regular basis while grocery shopping. We can see packages labelled as Fairtrade; we can see stores promote themselves as being fair trade. However, when you ask people what fair trade actually is, some know and others have a skewed idea of what it means. Fairtrade is a certified process where businesses promote fair prices, fair working conditions, and better trading methods. There are many regulations that are placed onto producers so they can acquire the prestigious title of being labelled “fair trade certified”, yet many of these requirements are not met fully, especially when it comes to workers. Workers are not being treated as fairly as they should be on some of the
I drink coffee almost every morning, yet I have never thought about the coffee industry or the process involved with the coffee trade. What I am aware of is that the coffee production is usually revolved around Africa and North America, which are destinations that are not as economically developed as New Zealand. In terms of fair trade coffee, I have never considered using it, as I did not know that there was such a system. I only purchase coffee depending on the brand; the taste would be assured, as it is popular with the majority. I also look for cheap prices and products that are on special. Even if the coffee product I purchase is fair trade, I would have only bought it because it is on special or popular with the mass.
Being part of the EU ensures that each member has free trade between all its member states. This is a great advantage for the UK and its businesses because it leaves them with no worry about import taxes or quotas. One of the main benefits of the European union is that it’s our main trading partner ,and membership of the EU has helped reduced both tariff and non- tariff barriers. According to sources, Half of the UK’s exports go to the EU (Shattock, 2013). As their main trading partner .If the UK was to leave the EU , it would be faced with the iron tariff wall that non-members face. This would destroy Britain’s Aggregate demand tremendously. Leaving the EU, could put the UK in jeopardy as it is an important aspect of the economy. Euro sceptics and the UKIP believe that even if we leave the EU, the UK’s free trade agreements can still be maintained due to the fact that countries such as Switzerland and Norway haven’t been excluded from EU agreements (Pettinger, 2013). However, it could be argued that France, Germany among with the rest of the main EU leading nations would never allow Britain a "pick and mix" approach to the bloc's rules (Peter, 2013) They also argued that Britain should rely on the membership of the World Trade Organisation to give access to markets. But, although the World trade organisation has indeed made a lot of progress with trade, it hasn’t secured free trade in manufacturing or services which do account for mostly all of the UK’s GDP. Also, if the UK left the EU, Britain would be opening up their markets to some of the world’s biggest economies such as China or Japan, more than they would open up theirs to Britain. This means, that Britain would be a minor under all these large economies a...
The main function of the company is its transaction activities which develop supply chain systems through which bind producer cooperatives in different countries. Besides that, the company with their strategies in the supply chain is trying to transform relations of production and trade. The trend of Starbucks’ marketing is murky for the distinction between its own system of supply chain and that of Fair Trade is the potential to ‘water down’ enablement results obtained at production places where they deviate from consumer purchases to corporate supply chains (Macdonald, 2007).
The fact that Starbucks buys Fair Trade coffee in actuality does little to benefit the farmers who grow their beans. Another notable feature of the relationship between the owners, employees, and farmers is the overall disparity between employees at the corporate level and those employed to grow coffee beans,
Free trade can be defined as the free access of the market by individuals without any restriction or any trade barriers that can obstruct the trade process such as taxes, tariffs and import quotas. Free trade in its own way unites and brings people together. Most individuals love the concept of free trade because it gives them the ability to move freely and interact in the market. The whole idea of free trade is that it lowers the price for goods and services by promoting competition. Domestic producers will no longer be able to rely on government law and other forms of assistance, including quotas which essentially force citizens to buy from them. The producers will have to enter the market and strive into to obtain profit.
The movement particularly emphasizes on exports from developing countries to developed countries, with products such as handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, chocolate, flowers and gold. Moreover, coffee is one of the most widely traded goods in the world. For many developing countries, coffee trade is an important source of income. Producers can provide a better trading and improve terms of trade. Moreover, this allows producers to improve workers’ living environment and future life in general (De Pelsmacker, Driessen and Rayp, 2005).
Fair Trade is considered as an alternative trading system, which aims to protect the economically disadvantaged producers, especially in developing countries. It provides transparency and respect in international trade (Gingrich and King, 2012). Besides, Fair Trade also contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions for marginalised producers and workers and securing their rights (Mohan, 2010).
”Free trade policies have created a level of competition in today's open market that engenders continual innovation and leads to better products, better-paying jobs, new markets, and increased savings and investment” (Denise Froning). Though Free trade plays a huge role in the economy today because of what and where it is used. Free trade allows for traders to trade across national boundaries and other countries without government interference. Meaning that traders have very few regulations that allow for them to do this without the government intervening. Free trade makes things for traders much easier and also allows for many more jobs in the US, such as exporting jobs, or jobs in the auto industry and plants. Though there are many other types of trade policies, none give more benefits than that of free trade. Free trade is not determined by artificial prices that may or may not reflect the true environment of supply and demand.
Free trade is a policy that relies on the concept of comparative advantage that when comparing two countries one of those countries will have the capability to make a product that is better than the other country. So it is best if each country focuses its efforts and resources into one product to increase the economic activity for both countries. The determination of who produces a product better is based on the open market without intervention from a government who may try to control a trade by imposing government protective measures such as tariffs. The World Trade Organization has been tasked with monitoring free trade, but it has been noted that their policing has not been effective to stop such interventions. Free trade not only relies on a laissez-faire approach but also on assumptions of conditions. The assumptions used by many for economic theories are not always accurate but rather the justification for using the assumptions is so that economic theories can be applied for the greater good of an economy.
Fair Trade is a simple idea that improves the living and working conditions of small farmers and workers. The Fair Trade movement promotes the standards for fair labor conditions, fair pricing, direct trade, environmentalism, social policy, and community development. Businesses wishing to adopt Fair Trade practices have to purchase certification licenses, which then leads to Fair Trade Labeling Organization (FLO) sending representatives to the farms from which the products are purchased and ensures that the farmers adhere to the procedures outlined in the Fair Trade standards. Products marked by the Fair Trade label contain 100% Fair Trade certified contents. Buying Fair Trade Certified products, consumers are helping the lives of famers out of poverty through investments in their farms/communities, protecting the environment, and developing the business skills for trading. The practice of Fair Trading a good way to not only help cause awareness but also improve the lives of the workers.