Essais anglais sur l'économie de marché

Global Fairtrade sales increase

In 2011, took place the Fairtrade Fortnight which aims at increasing awareness of Fairtrade products. This campaign is the occasion for three articles from The Guardian, www.faitradeusa.org and The Economist, where the writers clearly present the explosion of the Fairtrade sector. Two advertisements show that the Fairtrade movement is getting bigger. The dossier testifies to the increasing of Fairtrade sales and presents the reasons of that success.

The website and The Guardian refers that the Fairtrade marketplace is growing. Overall, Fairtrade sales rose by 75 per cent to an estimated £1bn in 2011.The Economist shows that this ethical consumption can be marked by a coherent set of shared politics.  If the message is massive, people could have power to change things with their ethical attributes. There are more and more products with the brand “Fairtrade Certified”. For instance, there was a big growth of 394 per cent in sales of the frozen desserts category.

The reasons of that big success are explained. First, big retailers support this movement. Then, as The Economist and the website suggest, consumers place a positive value on Fairtrade certification because they can feel more involved and responsible by choosing these products which are associated with a good cause. Indeed, The Economist put forward that people prefer use labeling schemes to support corporations that represent values—environmentalism and fair trade, for example—that they support. It seems to be a form of political consumption. The advertisement can explain this success. The 'Proud to be a Fairtrade show off' slogan has been chosen to motivate people to see the regular purchasing of Fairtrade products to tackling poverty for instance.

Nevertheless, a problem is made clear by Fairtradeusa.com and The Guardian: This certification causes an increase in the price. But shoppers thought more about buying costlier ethical products. And British consumers quoted by The Guardian, are continuing to buy Fairtrade products despite the financial pressures of the recession.  The reason is that Fairtrade ensures the workers who make the products, to have enough money to work in humane conditions and get paid the right amount of money for the work they do. So despite paying a little bit more, people accept to change their habits and buy labelled products that, for instance, respect the environment as is said on the website.

Obviously, the Fairtrade movement arose as a movement focused on improving the livelihoods of producers. The Fairtrade products has led to the increasing involvement of big retailers and consumers; and led to the expansion of the movement. On the contrary, The Guardian raises questions by saying that this label can be questioned.

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