Photo from Fair Trade Vancouver.
We often see the term ‘Fair Trade’ used and labeled on many products today. But what does it really mean? By purchasing goods with the Fair Trade Certified logo, you’re supporting equality and contributing to empowering hard working individuals and their families to build sustainable futures through a traceable program.
The majority of the Fair Trade market revolves around food products such as coffee, tea, cocoa, honey, and bananas. Non-food products often include crafts, textiles, and flowers – but formally certified Fair Trade products in our sector, the promotional product industry, are hard to find.
This global movement sets out to put social and environmental standards in place to protect the producers and the environment. It is an entirely different way of doing business – seeking to change the terms of trade for the products we buy, and help us to build direct relationships with producers.
Fair Trade appeals to our sense of fairness and common decency, and applies those values to the marketplace. It is a partnership between producers and consumers. Shoppers can buy products in line with their values and principles, at the same time supporting producers from the beginning to the end of the supply chain.
At Fairware, we are continuously sourcing for Fair Trade products to add to our catalogue. Currently we carry 3 products all of which are Fair Trade sport balls. As we move towards a more sustainable future, it is important to raise awareness on Fair Trade and what it means. This lets consumers like us know that we are ‘buying better’, at the same time making a positive impact in the world. For more information on Fair Trade, see here.
