Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers around the world, but particularly in lower income countries. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices (which must never fall lower than the market price), Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the producers from low-income countries. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives. Read about what Fairtrade does. Show
WHAT IS THE FAIRTRADE FOUNDATION? The Fairtrade Foundation is the independent non-profit organisation that licenses use of the FAIRTRADE Mark on products in the UK in accordance with internationally agreed Fairtrade standards. WHAT IS THE FAIRTRADE MARK? It’s an independent consumer label you see on a product that meets the international Fairtrade standards. It shows that the product has been certified to offer a better deal to the farmers and workers involved. It does not endorse an entire company’s business practices. Read more about the FAIRTRADE Mark. WHO IS FAIRTRADE INTERNATIONAL? Fairtrade International (formally known as Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International – or ‘FLO’) is the international body made up of the Fairtrade Foundation and its partner organisations around the world. We’re proud to say it’s 50 per cent owned by the farmers and workers it works for. Fairtrade International is in charge of developing Fairtrade standards for products, supporting farmers and workers, and operating global certification and auditing systems. WHAT IS A FAIRTRADE REGISTERED LICENSEE? It’s a company that has signed a Licence Agreement with the Fairtrade Foundation and is therefore entitled to apply the FAIRTRADE Mark to specific products covered by the agreement. Find out how to become a Fairtrade Registered Licensee. WHAT ARE FAIRTRADE STANDARDS? Fairtrade standards comprise both minimum social, economic and environmental requirements, which producers must meet to be certified, plus progress requirements that encourage the continuous improvement of farmers’ organisations or the situation of estate workers. Read more about the Fairtrade Standards. WHAT IS A FAIRTRADE CERTIFIED PRODUCER GROUP? This is either an association of farmers or a company dependent on hired labour that produces one or more commodities for which there are Fairtrade standards and that has been certified to meet those standards. Once certified, they are added to the Fairtrade product register and registered companies can buy from them under Fairtrade terms. WHAT IS THE FAIRTRADE MINIMUM PRICE? The Fairtrade minimum price defines the lowest possible price that a buyer of Fairtrade products must pay the producer. The minimum price is set based on a consultative process with Fairtrade farmers, workers and traders and guarantees that producer groups receive a price which covers what it costs them to grow their crop. When the market price is higher than the Fairtrade minimum price, the trader must pay the market price. WHAT IS THE FAIRTRADE PREMIUM? It’s what makes Fairtrade unique. It’s an additional sum of money paid on top of the Fairtrade minimum price that farmers and workers invest in social, environmental and economic developmental projects to improve their businesses and their communities. They decide democratically by committee how to invest the premium. Read more about how the Fairtrade Premium works. WHAT IS A FAIRTRADE TOWN? We certify products, nothing else. But we do run campaigns with local community groups aimed at boosting awareness and understanding of trade issues, and promoting the buying of Fairtrade products as a way for everyone, no matter who they are, to use the power of their purchase to make a difference to the lives of farmers and workers. HOW FAIRTRADE IS FUNDED The Fairtrade Foundation receives a licence fee, paid by companies using the FAIRTRADE Mark on their products, which constitutes over 85% of the Fairtrade Foundation’s income. The licence fee covers the cost of monitoring and certification which underpins the independent guarantee offered by the FAIRTRADE Mark. HOW MANY FAIRTRADE PRODUCTS IN THE UK ARE THERE? Thousands! We have licensed over 4,500 Fairtrade certified products for sale through retail and catering outlets in the UK. Explore a selection of Fairtrade products on our Buying Fairtrade page. HOW BIG IS THE UK FAIRTRADE MARKET? The UK is one of the world’s leading Fairtrade markets, with more products and more awareness of Fairtrade than anywhere else. Almost one in three bananas sold in the UK is Fairtrade. Fairtrade sales in 2012 were £1.57bn. WHAT PRODUCT CATEGORIES DOES FAIRTRADE CERTIFY? Fairtrade standards exist for the following products: WHERE CAN I BUY FAIRTRADE PRODUCTS? See our Buying Fairtrade page. You’ll find Fairtrade products in supermarkets, independent shops, cafés, restaurants, through catering suppliers and wholesales, as well as online. Also check out shops that are part of BAFTS (British Association of Fair Trade Shops) which often have product ranges not available in mainstream stores. Visit the BAFTS website. HOW DO I STOCK FAIRTRADE CERTIFIED PRODUCTS IN MY SHOP? You can find everything you need to know on our How to stock Fairtrade page. MY LOCAL SHOP DOESNT OFFER FAIRTRADE PRODUCTS WHAT CAN I DO? You can find resources in our Resources Library that explain the benefits of Fairtrade. Share these with the shop manager, while politely asking them to stock Fairtrade. And when they do, support them by telling others and buying the Fairtrade products! HOW MUCH OF THE PRICE WE PAY FOR FAIRTRADE PRODUCTS GOES BACK TO THE PRODUCERS? Whatever the price of the product on the shelf, only the FAIRTRADE Mark ensures that the producers have received what is agreed as a fairer price, as well as the Fairtrade premium to invest in the future of their communities. The Fairtrade price applies at the point where the producer organisation sells to the next person in the supply chain (usually an exporter or importer). It is not calculated as a proportion of the final retail price, which is negotiated between the product manufacturer and the retailer. WHY ISNT THE FAIRTRADE PRICE CALCULATED AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE RETAIL PRICE? We are often asked how much farmers receive from the retail price of a product sold on Fairtrade terms compared to the same product sold on conventional terms. While this type of comparison may appear to be a simple way to demonstrate the impact of Fairtrade from the consumer’s perspective, it doesn’t actually address the real inequities in typical conventional market arrangements. WHY DO SOME PRODUCTS CLAIM TO BE FAIR TRADE BUT DO NOT CARRY THE FAIRTRADE MARK? Some organisations, also called Alternative Trading Organisations (ATOs), are purely dedicated to trading fairly and have been doing so for many years before Fairtrade certification was established. You can find these organisations listed at WFTO or BAFTS. It can take a long time to agree new international Fairtrade standards, and for many of the products these organisations sell, there may not yet be standards available for their products. the better deal offered by Fairtrade, always look for the FAIRTRADE Mark. Fairtrade certification and pricing were designed for commodity products. It is hard to adapt the Fairtrade model of standardised minimum pricing to crafts and other products made by small-scale artisans, which are unique, made of varied materials and have highly varied production processes and costs. However, Fairtrade International is working with WFTO to explore whether we could certify these products in the future. HOW DO I SET UP A LICENSEE AGREEMENT TO GET MY PRODUCT CERTIFIED OR SOURCE A PRODUCT TO BE CERTIFIED? The Fairtrade Foundation’s Commercial Relations team will guide you through the process. For more information read our For Business section of the website. HOW CAN MY PRODUCER GROUP BECOME FAIRTRADE CERTIFIED? To become a certified producer group, you’ll need to contact FLO-CERT, details are on their website. Visit the FLO-CERT website. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SETTING FAIRTRADE STANDARDS? All Fairtrade standards, including minimum prices and premiums are set by the Standards Unit at Fairtrade International and the minimum prices and premiums for each product are included in the product-specific standards available on the Fairtrade International website. The process for agreeing international Fairtrade standards follows the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Social and Environmental Labelling, where stakeholders (including producers, traders, NGOs) participate in the research and consultation process and final decision making. WHY ARE SOME FAIRTRADE PRICES SET WORLDWIDE AND OTHERS SET FOR COUNTRIES OR REGIONS? There are worldwide prices for some products such as nuts, cocoa and juices, but most products have country-specific or regional prices. This is because production costs vary greatly around the world and prices for new products and origins have been set on a case-by-case basis. As the demand for new prices grows, the Fairtrade International Standards Unit is increasingly using regional rather than country-specific prices. WHY DOESNT FAIRTRADE CERTIFY LARGE COFFEE PLANTATIONS? Around 70% of the world’s coffee farmers are small-scale growers, and they face particular disadvantages in the market place. Fairtrade’s mission is to make trade work for marginalised or disadvantaged producers, and therefore there is a global agreement that the system should champion purchase of sustainable coffee from organisations of small coffee farmers explicitly. HOW DOES FAIRTRADE LABELLING WORK WITH COMPOSITE PRODUCTS? Many Fairtrade products, such as coffee, tea, flowers, sugar and rice are 100 per cent Fairtrade. However there are other products, such as cakes, biscuits, ice cream and chocolate, in which the ingredients are a mixture of Fairtrade ingredients not grown in the UK (such as sugar, cocoa, honey and vanilla) and ingredients sourced more locally from UK or European farmers (such as milk, flour or eggs). These are known as ‘composite products’. ARE FAIRTRADE PRODUCTS FULLY TRACEABLE? For most Fairtrade products including bananas, fresh fruit, coffee, flowers, nuts, rice, spices and others, the Fairtrade system requires these products to be physically traceable. This means they must be labelled and kept separate at every stage of their journey from the farm to the shop shelves. However, when we attempted to introduce similar rules for products such as cocoa, sugar, tea and juice, we discovered that there is very little physical traceability in the way these sectors work. IS BUYING FAIRTRADE PRODUCTS A GOOD IDEA GIVEN CONCERNS ON CLIMATE EMERGENCY? Smallholder producers in conventional world trade suffer from volatility of prices and unfair trading practices. On top of this, they are increasingly on the front line of climate disaster, and the marginalised are often hit hardest by problems they did not cause. They contribute to global food security and to their national economies, yet increasingly farmers are now suffering through increasing crop failures, water shortages and natural disasters and this in turn is jeopardising the future of agricultural and artisanal supply chains. CAN BUYING FAIRTRADE PRODUCTS HELP TO TACKLE CLIMATE DISASTER? Fairtrade mainly certifies small-scale farmers who sign up to rigorous standards, which include environmental criteria such as, protecting the natural environment, banning the use of harmful pesticides, minimising the use of energy, especially from non-renewable sources, and making environmental protection part of farm management. Fairtrade also organises training for farmers so they can learn how to grow in harmony with the local environment and avoid creating monocultures. Many producers also invest their Fairtrade Premium – the extra money they get for selling on Fairtrade terms – in various projects aimed at restoring natural areas or reforestation. Fairtrade is a choice for nature, and a way of farming that safeguards both humans and the environment. ARE FAIRTRADE CERTIFIED PRODUCTS ALSO ORGANIC? Not necessarily. Fairtrade standards require sustainable farming techniques and require higher prices to be paid for organic products. Moreover, Fairtrade Premiums are often used to train producers in organic and sustainable techniques like composting and using recycled materials, which can help them to convert to organic production in the future. WHAT ABOUT GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS? There has been much concern among consumers over GMO crops. Many worry about the risks of environmental contamination and it has been argued that producer dependence on use of GM seeds could outweigh the benefits of the crops. WHY DOESNT THE FAIRTRADE MARK APPLY TO UK FARMERS? The FAIRTRADE Mark was established specifically to support the most disadvantaged producers in the world by using trade as a tool for sustainable development. We do recognise that many farmers in the UK face similar issues as farmers elsewhere, not least ensuring that they get a decent return for upholding social and environmental standards in their production. SOME PEOPLE SAY BUY LOCAL RATHER THAN BUY FAIRTRADE WHAT IS THE FAIRTRADE FOUNDATIONS RESPONSE? Buy both! We recognise that many farmers in the UK face similar issues to farmers elsewhere, not least ensuring that they get a fair return for upholding decent social and environmental standards in their production. We therefore support the promotion of sustainable production for UK farmers but our specific role will continue to be supporting farmers from lower income countries. CAN I PUT THE FAIRTRADE MARK ON MY WEBSITE OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS? If your company or organisation is selling or expressly promoting Fairtrade certified products you can put the FAIRTRADE Mark on your website and promotional materials in accordance with our guidelines in our Promotional Materials Manual. Find out more about using the FAIRTRADE Mark here. WHERE CAN I GET FREE PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS? We’ve got loads of promotional materials available to download from our Resources Library. WHERE CAN I FIND IMAGES OF FAIRTRADE PRODUCERS? The Fairtrade Foundation has a limited number of producer images that are available to use in accordance with copyright agreements. Visit our Resources Library for more details. CAN SOMEONE COME AND GIVE A TALK TO MY GROUP? We receive many requests every day and are unfortunately unable to accept every invitation. IS THE COCOA IN A FAIRTRADE CHOCOLATE BAR 100 PERCENT FAIRTRADE COCOA? The chocolate industry is currently not always able to keep Fairtrade cocoa and non-Fairtrade cocoa separate at every stage of production from the cocoa field to the final bar. Cocoa beans are delivered in bulk by farmers and routinely mixed during shipping and in the manufacturing process. WHERE CAN I GET FREE SAMPLES OF FAIRTRADE PRODUCTS FOR AN EVENT? The Fairtrade Foundation is unable to provide samples. However, if you contact Fairtrade registered licensees directly, they can often provide samples of tea, coffee, sugar and chocolate. I AM A STUDENT DOING A PROJECT ON FAIRTRADE CAN THE FAIRTRADE FOUNDATION SEND ME INFORMATION? While we are very pleased that so many students produce dissertations and projects on various aspects of Fairtrade, limited time and resources make it impossible for us to reply to requests like this, or to agree to individual interviews or respond to personal questionnaires. For school and undergraduate student projects, we have put as much information on our website to enable you to find answers to most questions we are asked as part of these projects. In particular, visit the resources pages and visit the producer pages of the website and the Fairtrade Schools website. What is the term used for a brand owned and created by any product's reseller known as?Key Takeaways. Private brands, also known as private label and store brands, are made and sold for a specific retailer and meant to compete with brand-name goods.
What is the best reason for retailers to develop and maintain relationships with multiple and sometimes competing suppliers?What is the best reason for retailers to develop and maintain relationships with multiple and sometimes competing suppliers? A function of retailers is to provide assortments, so they must deal with a variety of suppliers.
What is one advantage for retailers of selling private labels group of answer choices?Profit margin
In most cases, private label brands are produced to maximize profit. Since these products do not have the branding cost of the national brand or the middleman fee to bring it to the retailer's store, private label brands are more profitable, and they leave a better margin than national brands.
What is a national brands?A national brand is the brand of a product that is distributed nationally under a brand name owned by a producer or distributor as opposed to local brands distributed only in some areas of a country and to private labels that carry a brand owned by the retailer rather than the producer.
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