by Andrew Williams |
July 05, 2014
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*UPDATE*: On Twitter, @rmelling1 is suggesting that the SCB bananas pictured could in fact be Fairtrade - whcih would be a relief. Though eyebrows will still be raised as the SCB website shows their Fairtrade bananas seem to be clearly labelled as such...
The Co-op, as we know, was the first UK supermarket to stock only Fairtrade bananas. This was thrown into sharp focus during Fairtrade Fortnight as the "Stick With Foncho" campaign looked at banana trading between the UK and the rest of the world.
So why has blogger Jessica Warrey found what seem to be non-Fairtrade bananas in her local Co-op? And why won't the Co-op respond?
Tagged:
bananas,
cooperative,
eighteen rabbit,
fair trade,
fairtrade
by Andrew Williams |
July 05, 2014
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This is an interesting article from Pact Coffee about why they've decided Fairtrade certification is not for them. As you can see from the comments below the article the reality may not be quite as cute and fluffy as Pact are claiming.
A couple of quick caveats - firstly, I really like Pact as a company. I think their approach, with a focus on quality, is admirable, and having had a trial of the coffee I think it's great. Secondly, as we've said right from the start at Eighteen Rabbit, we are not ideologically wedded to Fairtrade certification - for most of the craft items we stock it would be impossible to get certification anyway. And we all know that certification can be used as a fig leaf on occasions - it's all very well to have Fairtrade Kit-Kats, but it's not the be all and end all.
Bearing all that in mind however, it is disappointing that a coffee manufacturer is trying to tell us that Fairtrade is superfluous to requirements, when coffee is one of the flagship commodities for Fairtrade. It may confuse consumers ("If that one isn't Fairtrade and it's okay, are the rest of them okay too?"), but perhaps more importantly it seems to ignore the whole point of certification, and the ideals behind Fairtrade. It's not just about fair wages, it's also about paying a social premium to invest in local communities and support their development. Pact may say they're paying farmers more than market value for their crop, but without external verification it's nigh on impossible to say whether that is reaching the workers at the bottom of the chain, or simply making rich farm owners even richer.
Fairtrade isn't perfect - and we've said before that it needs to adapt or face problems. But if a coffee company is saying that Fairtrade isn't necessary, then it's time to draw a line in the sand and say that they've got it wrong.
by Louise Davies |
July 04, 2014
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The dust hasn’t yet settled on the SOAS report which exposed worrying flaws in Fairtrade certification. I’m still digesting the various reports and responses, so more on that in a future post. Shortly after the report was released, the Guardian issued a poll asking if people still trusted ethical labels. A whopping 68% said they didn’t. Here’s one of the comments: “I never trusted ethical labels in the first place. I always assumed that the people behind them were a bunch of greedy liars. Good to see I was proved right.”
Even if you don’t feel as strongly as this commentator, perhaps, like me, you’d appreciate greater explanation of what the various labels mean. This analysis is really useful in comparing different fair trade labelling – and I was interested to read that the Fair for Life label which some of our Zotter chocolate carries, is deemed to be the best.
As mentioned before, much of what we sell at Eighteen Rabbit can’t carry an ethical or fairtrade label. There isn’t yet a suitable system in place for crafts, or at least not for the small scale producers we work with. But if there was, I wonder if it would appeal to our customers. It seems that certification for what we might consider as ‘simple’ products such as coffee, chocolate and bananas is fraught with difficulty, so how could we go about creating a label for products which involve several materials? And how would the tiny producer groups that we work with be able to fund the certification process? Are customers looking for the reassurance of a label, or for transparent information about who produced the goods and how?
We’ve tried to explain the sourcing of our products through the stories of those making them. For example, Just Trade (our fab new jewellery supplier) tell you who made the product and where on the back of the packaging. Our new Cards from Africa (in store only) are hand signed by the maker, and their website contains oodles of information about their fair trade policies. We hope that this gives you all the reassurances you need, but we do welcome your feedback.
Tagged:
fair trade,
fairtrade,
labelling
by Louise Davies |
July 04, 2014
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Fairtrade Yorkshire: on the road to a fairer future from Worth the Tour on Vimeo.
This is a great little film from committed fairtrade campaigners in Yorkshire.
Tagged:
fairtrade
by Louise Davies |
June 24, 2014
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We've just had an amazing delivery of new necklaces from the Philippines. These intricate designs are more like pieces of art than jewellery. All of the pieces are made by a co-operative in the Philippines who design and produce high quality jewellery and fashion accessories; employing fair trade principles and using natural and sustainable materials.
We currently have four designs in stock, which we have named after areas of the surrounding countries - we hope these incredible, exotic pieces will capture your imagination and transport you to sunnier shores!
Tagged:
eighteen rabbit,
fair trade,
fairtrade,
hay on wye,
Philippines
