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 is also used in domestic markets, most notably for handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, wine, sugar, fruit, flowers and gold.
Ethical consumerism is a type of consumer activism based on the concept of dollar voting. People practice it by buying ethically made products that support small-scale manufacturers or local artisans and protect animals and the environment, while boycotting products that exploit children as workers, are tested on animals, or damage the environment.
Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit fair trade organization that markets handcrafted products made by artisans from more than 120 artisan groups in more than 35 countries.
The World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) is the global community and verifier of enterprises that fully practice Fair Trade. It is an association of SMEs, farmers or retailers that fully practice the 10 Principles of Fair Trade. They also advocate for fundamental change in our current economic system.
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.
Veja is a French footwear and accessories brand founded in 2004. Veja's products are made with organic cotton, natural rubber, leather and recycled plastic bottles.
Caryn Franklin MBE is a British fashion and identity commentator and visiting professor of diverse selfhood. She was former fashion editor and co-editor of i-D magazine in the 1980s and long-time presenter of BBC television's The Clothes Show from 1986 to 1998. She has been a commentator on fashion, image and identity politics for more than 40 years. She regularly blogs from her website.
FINE is an informal association of the four main fair trade networks: Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), International Fair Trade Association, Network of European Worldshops (NEWS!) and European Fair Trade Association (EFTA) that was created in 1998.
Sustainable fashion is a term describing efforts within the fashion industry to reduce its environmental impacts, protect workers producing garments, and uphold animal welfare. Sustainability in fashion encompasses a wide range of factors, including cutting CO2 emissions, addressing overproduction, reducing pollution and waste, supporting biodiversity, and ensuring that garment workers are paid a fair wage and have safe working conditions.
The Skoll Foundation is a private foundation based in Palo Alto, California. The foundation makes grants and investments intended to reduce global poverty. Jeffrey Skoll created the foundation in 1999.
Paul Rice is the Founder & CEO of Fair Trade USA, the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in North America. Since launching Fair Trade USA in 1998, Rice has brought Fair Trade into the mainstream and built a movement to expand its impact. He has challenged and collaborated with hundreds of companies to rework their global supply chains to obtain high-quality products that support community development and environmental protection.
Carry Somers is a British fashion designer, social entrepreneur and campaigner. She is founder of Fashion Revolution and was previously founder and director of Pachacuti.
Bioregional is a British entrepreneurial charity, which aims to invent and deliver practical solutions for sustainability. It was founded in 1992 on the belief that overconsumption of resources was the driving force behind environmental degradation, and set out to find new ways for people to meet more of their needs from local resources.
Host Universal is an ethical brand strategy and communications network founded in 1997 by Robin Smith. Host works with clients on projects that seek to achieve social or environmental impact. Host has a core team in London, UK, and creates specialist teams for digital content such as printing, video creation, film shooting, brand identity and worldwide live events.
Fair trade coffee is coffee that is certified as having been produced to fair trade standards by fair trade organizations, which create trading partnerships that are based on dialogue, transparency and respect, with the goal of achieving greater equity in international trade. These partnerships contribute to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to coffee bean farmers. Fair trade organizations support producers and sustainable environmental farming practices and prohibit child labor or forced labor.
A corporate social entrepreneur (CSE) is someone who attempts to advance a social agenda in addition to a formal job role as part of a corporation. It is possible for CSEs to work in organizational contexts that are favourable to corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSEs focus on developing both social capital, economic capital and their formal job role may not always align with corporate social responsibility. A person in a non-executive or managerial position can still be considered a CSE.
Nadja Lyn Swarovski is an Austrian-American businesswoman. She joined the Swarovski family company in 1995, 100 years after it was founded by her great-great-grandfather Daniel Swarovski in 1895 in Wattens, Austria. She was the first female member of the executive board, and led the global brand strategy and communications of the business, which turned over approximately €3.5 billion in 2017. She served as the Chair of the Swarovski Foundation and headed the global Swarovski Waterschool program. She stepped down from the company at the end of December 2021.
People Tree is a Fair Trade apparel company founded in 1991. The Company no longer has a London base after laying off most UK staff in 2023 amid financial trouble but maintains an office in Tokyo. People Tree Ltd, the UK business, went into liquidation in September 2023 with debts of £8.5m. People Tree was one of the early proponents of Fair Trade and Ethical Fashion and was the first fashion company to be awarded the World Fair Trade Organisation Fair Trade product label.
An alternative purchase network (APN) is a contemporary commerce channel established as an alternative to perceived consumerism, and the cultural and economic hegemony of the global market. Alternative purchase networks aim to promote ethical shopping behaviour, which has an environmentally-friendly approach and considers local realities.
Julia Skupchenko is a Dutch entrepreneur and innovator who connects social entrepreneurs, experts and companies in sustainable business initiatives. She is the co-founder of AlterContacts, the Think Tank for Sustainable Development.
