Big Nationals and Multinationals joining the Fairtrade Family

On the very eve of the launch of the Fairtrade Fortnight we have seen Tate & Lyle, one of the world's largest sugar refiners, jump onto the Fairtrade bandwagon, joining other big names such as Sainsbury's and Starbucks, to mention but a few.

Sainsbury's only recently began using Fairtrade for its own products including the probably best bananas that I have eaten from them in a awhile, and that under their own white Basics label, at 99pence a bag. In addition to that not more than a couple of weeks ago they added their own brand, an old and longstanding one, Red Label tea to the list of Fairtrade certified own label products.

Sainsbury's was then, not long after, joined by Starbucks in them, that is Starbucks, offering some of their coffee as “Fairtrade certified”.

Call me a cynic, if you like, but I am asking myself as to what is going on.

While it is very good to see all those large nationals and multinationals, such as Sainsbury's, Tate & Lyle, Starbucks, and so on, join the Fairtrade family, and it can only be commended and we can only encourage others to follow suit, I am a little concerned that there is more to this than meets the eye. As I said, I am a cynic and always look for the hidden agenda and as to whether the wool is being pulled over the public, and here especially the consumer's eyes.

Let's look at one company in particular, namely Nestle, and here Nescafe. I do know that that instant Fairtrade certified coffee of theirs, which, by the way, is very good for a instant coffee and even someone like myself who only drinks instant if really forced to, so to speak, quite enjoyed it, has been around for a little while. The question, however, that I am asking, as the cynic that I am, is, why is not everything then of Nestle, coffee, chocolate, and what-have-you, Fairtrade? Is this just "greenwash", so to speak, and trying to throw sand into the eyes of the consumer? As a cynic I am suggesting that the reason Nescafe has jumped, whenever this was, onto the Fairtrade bandwagon, was in order to ease their conscience, and may be not even that. The bottom line is what they are interested in and therefore the hope is and was to add a little Fairtrade certificate here and there might get the consumer to look a different direction and, also, to actually cash in on the market share of the Fairtrade buying consumers. That, in my opinion, is what is behind the likes of Nescafe joining the Fairtrade bandwagon. The bottom line is all that counts for them, their bottom line, not that of some poor producer in some developing country. That is just window dressing.

I do not want to suggest that others are on the Fairtrade label for the same reason and companies such as Cafedirect who are a Fairtrade only, as far as I can see, company certainly could not be accused of such activities. However, one can but wonder as to the reasons of some of the large players on the national and multinational field. While I do not wish to suggest that Sainsbury's or Tate & Lyle, the latter who want to do all the sugar now as Fairtrade, are in the same league as those that only want to ease, as it would appear, their conscience by having some of their products under the Fairtrade label, I would still suggest that all of us keep a very close eye on all of those big players as to how they live up to what they have begun to promise us.

We, the media, who also are consumers, and all of you readers out there, can influence the companies' behavior in the field of fair trade for all and a decent living for all concerned. If, and it is shown that they do it, Sainsbury's can sell Fairtrade bananas under it's white Basics label at around the £1 mark or thereabouts and the Red Label tea that has gone under the Fairtrade label recently without increasing the price to we the consumer then others can also produce at an affordable price, especially the very large players in the various games, and give a decent return to the growers of the coffee beans, the tea leaves, the cocoa, the cotton, etc.

© Michael Smith (Veshengro), February 2008