Tomorrow is World Fair Trade Day and I would like to contribute to the celebration by writing this post. I remembered the first time I heard about “Fair Trade”; it was around 10 years ago. To look back at the 10 years’ development, I must say that we have achieved a lot even though there is a long way to go. As an “innocent” consumer 10 years ago, I didn’t know anything about Fair Trade and could hardly find any Fair Trade product in supermarkets. If there was any, then it was definitely either tea or coffee. Could it be that it was easier to start up a Fair Trade business with coffee? But no matter what, the situation is very different now. It is possible to buy not only Fair Trade foods but also other Fair Trade products like clothes, handicrafts etc. So how far can we go with the Fair Trade movement? Can we imagine Fair Trade furniture, Fair Trade electronics, Fair Trade luxuries etc.? Can we imagine the day that Fair Trade becomes such a standard where it won’t even be necessary to be marketed as “Fair Trade”? If yes, what will happen to our capitalistic society?

There is no doubt that the philosophy behind Fair Trade is going against the traditional business understanding of profit maximization. And sometimes, what can give a business competitive advantage is actually the “unfairness” of the competitive landscape- that one can take advantage over someone else. In that way, it requires a new mentality to run a Fair Trade business that is not only about profit maximization. Then what is Fair Trade about? Profit Equalization where the profit is fair and sustainable for the whole?

In the last 5 years I have been following the development of People Tree- a pioneer in organic Fair Trade fashion business from England http://www.peopletree.co.uk/. People Tree is founded by Safia Minney, a strong and pioneering woman who has been supporting the Fair Trade movement for more than a decade. Through her blog, I have followed her efforts, struggles as well as progresses with the People Tree company. And the journey has not been easy and still isn’t. To operate with Fair Trade, their business process is different than a traditional fashion company. The production cycle is longer due to the time-consuming handmade production. Futher, they also pay 50% in advance to the producer groups and at the same time, they also provide training and free childcare to the workers’ children. On the other hand, when they sell their products to the consumers, they compete against other Fair Trade fashion brands but also ordinary brands. And this makes the competition unfair, isn’t it? So who can change this? The consumers by willing to pay more? Or/And should other business owners begin to operate with fairness and strive toward profit equalization instead of profit maximization? If yes, how far can we go?

It’s is not my purpose to provide the answers to the above. Rather, it is something for reflection, also for me (but if you have answers, please do share). No matter what- happy World Fair Trade Day tomorrow and for the years to come!