Fair Trade: Make Money, Do Good, Have Fun

Some years ago I saw what I still think of as the best Company Mission Statement possible.

It read, “Make some money. Do some good. Have some fun.” The only trouble I saw was how, apart from adding “Pay your tax and Increase your charitable contributions”, any normal company could actively pursue all three objectives. That’s not to say of course that people haven’t tried, The Newman’s Own brand has grown and grown since its launch in 1982 and contributed over $200 million to charitable causes but that’s an example of a charity brand not a charitable brand.

Most of the Organic food producers I’ve met have charitable philosophies but are driven by their beliefs about food quality as a way to “do some good”. And with Organic Food growing at over 16% last year to nearly $14 billion clearly many Americans agree.

But going Organic and changing suppliers, re-modeling your production process, handling significant cost changes isn’t an easy do some good option for most food manufacturers, and giving all or a large proportion of your profits to a charity isn’t going to endear the shareholders either. And that I thought was that, but several European observations have recently made me think again.

For a growing number of consumers, Fair Trade is taking a similar role to Going Green. It satisfies a need to feel better about ourselves and our impact on the planet – but without having to give up anything that we enjoy.

The UK is now Europe’s biggest Fair Trade market, and it’s growing at nearly 40% a year.

Then I read that Ben and Jerry’s has launched a Fair Trade vanilla ice cream and I understood the win-win opportunity that Fair Trade can present, and that it can be more than just coffee. Fair Trade ingredients are bought at a price which covers the cost of sustainable production and an extra premium that is invested in social or economic development projects.

I know that many companies trade very ethically but choose not to publicize their policies but in not doing so, they make it harder for consumers to make informed brand choices. You don’t have to be a tree hugger to be a Fair Trader. You don’t have to change all your factory and you don’t have to give all your profit away.

If US consumers also follow the UK trend, then there are some major opportunities on the way. I think it’s just got a little easier to……..

Make some money. Do some good. Have some Fun.