Fair Trade
in
INTRODUCTION
Recent figures suggest that 72% of British adults recognize the Fairtrade Mark (left) and fair trade product sales reached £ 493 Billion!
But what do the numbers mean? Firstly that fair trade has become "Big Business"
with all major supermarkets now stocking fair trade products its never been easier to find and buy fairly traded products.
WHAT IS FAIR TRADE?
Fair Trade is a partnership between producers and consumers which ensures roducers receive good working conditions and fair prices.
Fair Trade principles include:
- Paying fair prices to the producers which reflect the true cost of production – world market prices often do not cover even the cost of the raw materials
- Supporting the producer organisations in their social development projects – many provide health and education facilities.
- Promoting the empowerment of women
- Advising on product development to increase access to markets
- Encouraging environmental responsibility
- Committing to long term relationships to provide stability and security
- Campaigning to highlight the unequal system of World Trade
As an early pioneer of fair trade in Scotland, the One World Shop has seen many changes over the years.
The shop is still a showcase of fair trade in Edinburgh especially in the non-mainstream items like jewellery and crafts. Today there are thousands of fairtrade certified products and we continue to have the wides range in our shops.
If you are in town, pay us a visit!
To find out more about fair trade, a great place to start is the wikipedia article which updated regularly.
*For more interesting statistics click here to visit the fair trade foundation facts and figures
