The Challenges of Marketing Fair Trade - Wynne, Sandy

There is one NI in the South that is viewed as a certifier of Domestic Fair Trade.
Mexico has recently started its own National Initiative, Comercio Justo. This NI is
referred to as domestic Fair Trade by at least one Northern author, Laura Raynolds
(Raynolds et al., 2007 p. 144). Comercio Justo is the first NI in a developing country and
activists in Mexico view their NI as a certifier of their own domestic Fair Trade. Thus the
term domestic Fair Trade may reference Fair Trade activities in the North but also in the
South.
. 6) Is Fair Trade really fair?
According to results from a survey the author sent out (Appendix J), a dominant
concern retailers have is the question: Is Fair Trade really fair? How does the reality of
Fair Trade match up to the promises that Fair Trade promotes? TFUSA’s CEO, Paul
Rice, explains “Our claim is quite simple. When you see our label on a bag of coffee, no
matter where you find it - whether it's your local natural food store or a Costco or a Sam's
Club or a McDonald's – you are guaranteed that those farmers got a fair price and that
they're living a better life" (Dicum, 2006). Reports by Ernesto Méndez (2005), Daniel
Jaffee (2007) and Laura Raynolds (2007) show that farmers do receive benefits, although
fair prices may not always be among those benefits.
Benefits in Fair Trade communities include the environment being respected,
producers learning skills in organizing, business, and trade negotiations, more children
attending schools, more households having savings, women being empowered, and
investments being made in local communities. Reports indicate, though, that there may
be a serious problem in some communities with food security, the farmer’s ability to put
32