In 1979 I led the creation of Traidcraft as its originator and founding managing director (Young ethical shoppers are key to avoid closure, says Traidcraft, 5 November). Ten years later I moved on and became instrumental in extending its ideas through the establishment of the Fairtrade Foundation. It took a further 10 years for the Fairtrade mark to become widely known as guaranteeing a better deal for producers on mainstream products such as tea, coffee, sugar and chocolate. In that period Traidcraft concentrated on building innovative relationships with small-scale, non-commodity producers and also continued to grow in size.
There has always been a tension between the cost of implementing the aspirational ethics of a minority of affluent consumers and the desire of disadvantaged producers to get a better price for their products and, especially, to sell more. Fortunately, the public is now well served by many thousands of reasonably priced Fairtrade-marked products, in retail stores large and small. These deliver tangible benefits and a cash premium to producer groups around the world. Whatever happens to Traidcraft in the future, it has an outstanding legacy in the continuing growth of the global fair trade movement.
Richard Adams
Chair, Fair Trade Advocacy Office
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