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The Fairtrade Movement: Six Lessons for the Organics Sector
- 1. The Fairtrade Movement: Six Lessons for the Organics Sector 3rd ISOFAR Scientific Conference 28 September - 1 October 2011 john.paull@anu.edu.au john.paull@mail.com
- 4. Paull, 2010 Arithmetic Geometric Growth scenarios for an Organic future ...
- 7. Fairtrade €2.3 billion Organic €37.2 billion Global annual sales (2010)
- 8. Fairtrade 4600% Organic 372% UK increase over past 12 yrs (2010)
- 10. Fairtrade Organic * * * * * * food & farming * product differentiation * 3rd party certification * appeal to ‘ethical’ consumer
- 12. Exposition... 1. logo (identity) 2. narrative 3. provenance Engagement... 4. place 5. education 6. communities Six lessons
- 17. “It s another logo ... it shows a fish, that s the main thing”ʼ ʼ Seafood exhibitor at Biofach, Nurnberg, 2011
- 20. 82% recognize logo 94% trust logo Fairtrade Logo, UK consumers (2009)
- 25. Narrative: “The Fairtrade Certification Mark is your independent guarantee that this product has been certified with the international Fairtrade standards. The purchase of this product enables the improvement of working and living conditions of producers in developing countries and encourages environmental protection. www.info.fairtrade.net” (Lidl, 2010, rear label). Provenance: “Highland Coffee from Ethiopia, Peru and Papua New Guinea” The Story on the Label
- 26. Exposition... 1. logo (identity) 2. narrative 3. provenance Three lessons
- 28. King, 1911
- 29. “... a world movement for the introduction of new and improved methods” (King, 1911, p.274). King called for ...
- 56. Exposition... 1. have a clear logo (identity) 2. tell the story, the narrative 3. state the origin, the provenance Engagement... 4. engage with places 5. engage with education institutions 6. engage with a variety of communities Six lessons for Organics
- 57. Thank you ... Questions
- 58. (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). . Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). . Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). . Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). . Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). . Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). . Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). . Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). . Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). . Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). . Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). . Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM); Frick, Switzerland: Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL).
Editor's Notes
- The Fairtrade Movement - I will present 6 lessons for the organic sector. But firstly, could the organics sector do with any lessons? and if yes, can the experience of the Fairtrade Movement be useful?
- But let’s start with 2 photos I took yesterday in Korea. This Thought of the Day may be great but do you get it? What you & I know is that organic has a great message to share & great products to sell. But as this photo demonstrates, it’s not good enough to have a good message, it needs to be in the right language to engage the market!
- And it’s not good enough to have a great product. The presentation including the words, names & the packaging of the product have also to be good! Is this really bottled sweat?
- There were two reasons that prompted me to look @ the issue of the growth of organics - one is about being impatient & the second is about statistics. Firstly, when we look at the organics sector it represents only about 1% of global agriculture. At the present rate of global growth, under one scenario, it will take 40 years to get to 100% & under another scenario it will take over 500 years ... & I am impatient.
- And a second reason, a compelling reason, is that, in the UK, in a year, Fairtrade sales increased over 12% while at the same time organic sales decreased over 12%.
- The UK organics sector is inclined to blame the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), and the economy, & in general anything rather than themselves, for their decline, but the contradicting fact is that Fairtrade & organic are prospering entirely differently in the SAME economic environment. This suggests that maybe there are lessons to be learned from whatever it is that the Fairtrade Movement is doing.
- On the one hand, let’s recognise that Organic sales dwarf Fairtrade sales on the global scale, with organic sales about 16 times the size of the Fairtrade market.
- On the other hand, in the UK, growth of Fairtrade is far outstripping organic growth even though, over a 12 year period, UK Organics has exhibited impressive growth as I think we can all agree.
- Now, let’s consider these 2 food streams, Fairtrade & Organic. We soon realise that they are not entirely separate & distinct
- There is quite an overlapping & some of the things that they have in common are ... * they are both about food & farming * both are about product differentiation using product labelling * they both use 3rd party certification * they both apparently appeal to the ‘ethical’ consumer * & they both attract a price premium.
- And they are quite often bracketed together as we see here ... however the different market directions they are taking in the UK suggests that they are somehow engaging differently with the market.
- I promised 6 lessons & here in advance are the 6 lessons which I will illustrate with a variety of examples. 3 of these lessons I would class as about Exposition - about telling the story & 3 I would call being about Engagement - about building a movement.
- I took this photo in Korea yesterday. How many Koreans are here? What does it mean to you? Any non-Koreans here? What does it mean to you? Is this a good clear recognizable symbol? Absolutely it is good & clear.
- Logos remember can be clear or unclear, good or bad. What about this one? What can it mean? Would you like some context?
- Here it is, as I found it, on a wall in Stratford on Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. As a logo I’d say it is a failure.
- It was quite meaningless to me.
- What about this logo? For those unfamiliar it is the new mandatory EU logo for organic. As one exhibitor at Biofach told me earlier this year... “Itʼs another logo ... it shows a fish, thatʼs the main thing” ... and there is no text! Unfortunately we have no global logo for organic.
- Now let’s consider Fairtrade. Here is the fairtrade logo. It is distinctive & the text reinforces the logo.
- it’s a versatile logo - here it is paired with a slogan. I would say that is a clear and strong message: ‘Guarantees a better deal for Third World Producers’.
- The Fairtrade logo is a successful logo. 82% of UK consumers recognise the Fairtrade logo & 94% trust it & these are 2 good measures of success.
- Let’s examine exposition! You see here this cafe offers organic Fairtrade coffee & notice the logo, the hand-drawn Fairtrade logo.
- Here is another example of a cafe offering Organic & Fairtrade. Notice that it is Fairtrade that gets the logo.
- And here you see again Organic & Fairtrade but it is the Fairtrade logo that dominates the message.
- Beyond the logo, this Fairtrade tea tells us some more of the story, that it is from Africa & that it is from Africa’s finest tea garden.
- The European supermarket, Lidl, has its own Fairtrade brand, called FairGlobe. As you see the labelling states the provenance & goes into considerable detail about the Fairtrade story, and even gives a web address ... but no story or website is offered for organic.
- So there are 3 lessons about Exposition - about telling the story. Fairtrade I would say is doing it well There is a distinctive & recognisable logo, products frequently tell the Fairtrade story & frequently declare the provenance. Now let’s move onto 3 lessons of Engagement
- & there is a Korean connection How many are familiar with this book that was published 100 years ago?
- A century ago Professor F H King was disgruntled with some agricultural views of the USDA. He came to Korea as well as China & Japan to learn about what he called ‘permanent agriculture’. And he wrote his book ... ‘Farmers of Forty Centuries or Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan’ describing what he saw.
- King called for a world movement ... He wrote that “China, Korea and Japan long ago struck the keynote of permanent agriculture ... and it remains for us and other nations to profit by their experience, to adopt and adapt what is good in their practice and help in a world movement for the introduction of new and improved methods” And Organics was perhaps once such a movement, remembering that the M in IFOAM is for movement.
- In terms of movement, Fairtrade is on the move & it is building a broad & diverse movement. They are, for example, engaging towns in their vision. Earlier this year Witney in Oxfordshire was named the 1000th Fairtrade town.
- There was a certain amount of ritual. Here is the cutting of the celebratory cake in the Town Hall,
- & here is the cake.
- Witney followed the Fairtrade Town Action Guide to achieve their new status.
- There was a letter writing campaign to the newspapers.
- There was a petition to Council.
- There was local advocacy, promotion & you see here the fruits of the grassroots engagement of local residents to bring about the successful result.
- There was a sticker campaign for shopkeepers.
- All of this activity won over the city council & led to a successful outcome & a greater awareness of Fairtrade in the town of Witney.
- Universities can also be designated as Fairtrade. Oxford University is not a Fairtrade University but our next door neighbour Oxford Brookes University was the first Fairtrade university in the world.
- And there are Fairtrade schools. Here is a school bulletin board in the UK raising the issue of fair trade amongst other issues
- Here is a school notice board in Dundee, Scotland, it is devoted to the Fairtrade message & you will notice the repetition of the Fairtrade logo & the Fairtrade message.
- And here in the school staff room there is the Fairtrade tea & coffee.
- Here is a supermarket web site in the UK promoting the Fairtrade logo & message.
- And the Fairtrade message is reinforced in-store with Fairtrade carry bags made from Fairtrade cotton.
- We see bumper stickers on cars. Here is a hand-made basket sticker on a bike. This is a cyclist in Oxford engaged with personally spreading the word on Fairtrade.
- In the cold winter of Oxford, here you see a community centre offers a Fairtrade Fair.
- Here is an Oxford church with a Fairtrade shop.
- Fairtrade bunting in Oxford is a tangible way of declaring support.
- Here is another church, this one in Edinburgh, offering a Fairtrade shop.
- And here are some of their tempting Fairtrade chocolate bars.
- This is a Trade Union Commemoration of the founding of the Trade Union movement.
- And each year there is a big commemorative march through the town of Tolpuddle.
- And here we see Fairtrade is represented.
- Again here is Fairtrade represented in the Tolpuddle trade union commemorative march.
- So what is going on? Fairtrade is building a movement with diverse community engagement while, in the UK at least, Organics sales are in decline.
- 6 lessons that Organics can take from the Fairtrade experience are: For Exposition... 1. have a clear logo (identity) 2. tell the story, the narrative & 3. state the origin, the provenance for Engagement... 4. engage with places 5. engage with education institutions & 6. engage with a variety of communities.
- Thank you - you will have some questions.
- ReferencesFairtrade Foundation. (2010). Facts and figures on Fairtrade. London: Fairtrade Foundation.Fick, R. (2009). Fairtrade flows against the tide (press release, 17 April). London: Fairtrade Foundation.IGD. (2008). Ethical Shopping - Are UK Shoppers Turning Green? Watford, UK: Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) IGD. (2010). Ethical & Sustainable Shopping. Watford, UK: Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) Lidl. (2010). Fairglobe Highland Coffee from Ethiopia, Peru & Papua New Guinea, 100g. London: Lidl UK GmbH.Mall, F. (2010). Fairtrade movement celebrates as Bicester becomes the 500th Fairtrade Town (press release, 1 November). London: Fairtrade Foundation.Paull, J. (2007). China's organic revolution. Journal of Organic Systems, 2(1), 1-11.Paull, J. (2009). The Living Soil Association: Pioneering Organic Farming and Innovating Social inclusion. Journal of Organic Systems, 4(1), 15-33.Paull, J. (2010). The Future of Organic Agriculture: Otopia or Oblivion? Innovative Science Editions, 1, 11-14.Soil Association. (2010). Organic market report 2010. Bristol: Soil Association.Willer, H., & Kilcher, L. (Eds.). (2010). The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emeging Trends 2010. Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Organic