Fair trade is a term for an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and environmental standards. The movement focuses in particular on commodities, or products that are typically exported from developing countries to developed countries but are also used in domestic markets, most notably for handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, wine, sugar, fruit, flowers and gold.
Mars Inc. is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services, with US$45 billion in annual sales in 2022; that year Forbes ranked the company as the fourth-largest privately held company in the United States. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, the company is entirely owned by the Mars family.
The Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op and formerly known as the Co-operative Wholesale Society, is a British consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses, including grocery retail and wholesale, legal services, funerals and insurance, and social enterprise.
Kuapa Kokoo is a Fairtrade-certified cocoa farmers organisation in Ghana. The organisation was established in 1993 by a group of cocoa farmers from Ghana with support from Twin Trading, Christian Aid and The Body Shop. They are based in Ghana and currently have over 100,000 registered members.
Cafédirect is a UK-based alternative trading organisation.
Traidcraft was a UK-based Fairtrade organisation, established in 1979. Its trading arm, Traidcraft plc, which sold fairly traded products, went into administration in January 2023.
Twin Trading was an alternative trading company in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1985 and was based in London.
Green & Black's is a British chocolate company founded in 1991. The company produces a range of organic food products, including: chocolate bars, ice cream, biscuits and hot chocolate.
"Big Chocolate" is a business term used to describe multi-national chocolate food producers, akin to the terms "Big Oil," "Big Pharma," and "Big Tobacco".
The United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 7,000 registered co-operatives owned by 17 million individual members and which contribute £34bn a year to the British economy. Modern co-operation started with the Rochdale Pioneers' shop in the northern English town of Rochdale in 1844, though the history of co-operation in Britain can be traced back to before 1800. The British co-operative movement is most commonly associated with The Co-operative brand which has been adopted by several large consumers' co-operative societies; however, there are many thousands of registered co-operative businesses operating in the UK. Alongside these consumers' co-operatives, there exist many prominent agricultural co-operatives (621), co-operative housing providers (619), health and social care cooperatives (111), cooperative schools (834), retail co-operatives, co-operatively run community energy projects, football supporters' trusts, credit unions, and worker-owned businesses.
Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual promotional campaign which happens once every year, organized and funded by the Fairtrade Foundation to increase awareness of Fairtrade products. It makes use of volunteers who support the goals of Fairtrade but who may also be committed to the more general concepts of fair trade, ethical trading or concerned by development issues. The concept was pioneered by the Fairtrade Foundation in the United Kingdom, initially held in 1997 in Scotland and directed by Barnaby Miln.
Equal Exchange is a for-profit, Fairtrade, worker-owned cooperative headquartered in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Equal Exchange distributes organic, gourmet coffee, tea, sugar, bananas, avocados, cocoa, and chocolate bars produced by farmer cooperatives in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Founded in 1986, it is the oldest and largest Fair Trade coffee company in the United States. The highest paid employee of Equal Exchange may not make more than four times what the lowest paid employee receives.
Shared Interest Society Limited is a fair trade financial co-operative based in the United Kingdom formed in 1990. Today it provides credit and financial services to fair trade producers, retailers, importers and exporters throughout the world. Shared Interest works with both Fairtrade International and the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). In 2004, the Shared Interest Foundation was formed as a charitable subsidiary, providing training and support services to producers, complementing the financial services offered by the Society. Shared Interest received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2008.
Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op is a Canadian importer of fair trade coffee, tea, sugar, and chocolate. Based in Grand Pré, Nova Scotia, Just Us! products are sold throughout Canada, typically in shops specializing in fair trade goods such as Ten Thousand Villages. Their motto is “People and the Planet before Profits”.
Equal Exchange Trading is a UK-based alternative trading organisation. Equal Exchange is a worker's cooperative distributing food and beverage products in the independent natural food sector. The organization's origins stretch back to 1979 "when three voluntary workers returned to Edinburgh after working on aid projects in various parts of Africa."
Direct trade is a form of sourcing practiced by certain coffee roasters, chocolate makers, tea sellers, gemologists and more who build direct relationships with the farmers, artisanal miners and processors who sell their products. There is no single set of direct trade standards, and specific trade practices vary as a reflection of business and ethical priorities of the roaster or maker. Generally speaking, however, direct trade practitioners view their model as one of mutually-beneficial and transparent trade relationships.
A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement of fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Fair Trade Certified Mark is the North American equivalent of the International Fairtrade Certification Mark. As of January 2011, there were more than 1,000 companies certified by FLO International's certification and a further 1,000 or so certified by other ethical and fairtrade certification schemes around the world.
Fair trade cocoa is an agricultural product harvested from a cocoa tree using a certified process which is followed by cocoa farmers, buyers, and chocolate manufacturers, and is designed to create sustainable incomes for farmers and their families. Companies that use fair trade certified cocoa to create products can advertise that they are contributing to social, economic, and environmental sustainability in agriculture.
Fair Grounds is a Bradford based Fair Trade social enterprise. Fair Grounds exists to enable people to make informed ethical lifestyle and consumer choices. Fair Grounds buys from producers within an ethical business model and has a relationship with each producer. Fair Grounds sells Fair Trade products wholesale, retail in a Fair Grounds shop in Sheffield and at various events, and conducts an education programme in schools teaching about social justice and trade. Fair Grounds ltd is a member of BAFTS.
Harris and Hoole is a British coffeehouse company headquartered in London and wholly owned by Caffè Nero. It was established in 2012 by Andrew, Nick and Laura Tolley, with investment from the British supermarket chain Tesco. The Harris + Hoole name comes from two coffee-loving characters in Samuel Pepys' diary.
