Fair Trade Food Research Articles

From trust to compliance: accountability in the fair trade movement

PurposeThere is a growing academic literature exploring the fair trade movement but, to date, there has been little explicit discussion of accountability within the movement. This paper aims to cast the development of the fair trade movement within a shift from trust‐based relationships to standards‐based systems. The authors particularly aim to focus on the dominance of an external accountability approach being used for Fair Trade Labelling Organization International (FLO) certified products versus an internal accountability approach being adopted through organizational self‐assessment of World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) members.Design/methodology/approachWhile this is predominantly a conceptual paper, the authors draw on primary research with northern and southern fair trade organizations (FTOs). Five southern FTOs were interviewed along with three northern FTOs.FindingsThe paper illustrates the conflict that Power expressed about trust increasingly being placed in formalized “rituals” of auditing rather than in organizations. Standards‐based certification has played a crucial role in mainstreaming fair trade food which reduces the trust relationship to a label and relies on market‐based mechanisms of “ethical consumerism” to signal (dis)content with the operations of the certification system. By contrast, organizational self‐assessment under development by WFTO, which has proven popular amongst southern FTOs, fitting their organisational culture(s) and contributing to organisational learning and democracy, creates greater accountability to internal stakeholders such as producers.Originality/valueThis paper draws direct comparisons between the FLO system of certification of products and the WFTO process of self‐assessment of organizations. It demonstrates that the WFTO system builds on the movement's tradition of democracy and trust. Producers, southern FTOs, and northern FTOs must demonstrate their democratic principles throughout the supply chain up to consumers. Conversely the FLO system governs the products themselves and largely leaves the participants, other than producer groups, free of demands for corporate social responsibility and organizational learning.

The “Green Eating” project: a pilot intervention to promote sustainable and healthy eating in college students

Green Eating (GE) is defined as eating locally grown foods, limited intake of processed foods, consuming organic or fair trade foods and beverages, consuming meatless meals and, if consuming animal products, choosing ones that do not contain hormones or antibiotics. The aim of this study was to conduct a randomized, controlled pilot study comparing an intervention to motivate college students to practice GE behaviors vs. an intervention to promote sustainable transportation behaviors (ST). Participants (n = 191) took the previously validated GE survey to determine Stage of Change (SOC), Decisional Balance (DB), Self Efficacy (SE) and Behaviors (B). Over a 3‐week period, students were provided with four online educational modules related to GE or ST. Participants completed the GE survey pre and post‐intervention. Mean age was 19 years; mean BMI was 23 kg/m2 and mean B score was 2.51 (out of 5) at baseline. A majority of students (66%) were in precontemplation or contemplation SOC for GE. There was no change in SOC, DB, SE or B either within or between groups. However, students appeared interested in GE; 72% accessed the intervention compared to 53% for ST (χ2=6.7, p<.01); 69% indicated they liked the GE program and 65% would recommend it to a friend. Results suggest student interest in GE but due to the large proportion in early SOC, a longer, more intensive intervention may be necessary to motivate students to adopt GE behaviors.

Promoting purchases of sustainable groceries: An intervention study

Previous research suggests that consumers can be encouraged to purchase environmentally friendly groceries by means of persuasive messages. The present intervention study investigated whether providing information about how consumers can help mitigate environmental and social problems through everyday purchasing decisions can (a) strengthen consumers' intentions to purchase sustainable groceries (e.g., ecological and fair trade foods), (b) promote actual purchases of sustainable groceries, and (c) strengthen self-efficacy beliefs in the domain of sustainable development (the assumed determinant of sustainable consumption). The results suggest that the intervention strengthened consumers' intentions to purchase domestic, seasonal, and certified ecological products. In addition, the intervention promoted the actual purchasing of certified ecological and fair trade products. Effects of the intervention on self-efficacy beliefs were, however, nonsignificant. We discuss whether increased knowledge and consciousness might have accounted for some of the observed effects on purchasing intentions and actual purchases of sustainable groceries.

Drawing on “Producer-Tours”: A Technique for Addressing Consumer Uncertainty Surrounding the Consumption of Fair Trade Food Products?

Despite the global increase in both fair trade sales and awareness, actual market shares of some fair trade products remain disappointing. A number of authors have suggested various reasons for this, including the complexity of the situational context affecting actual purchase behavior (Carrington, Neville, & Whitwell, 2010), the disconnect between producers and consumers (Dickinson, 2001), and the problems associated with the depersonalization of ethics in mainstream distribution (Bezencon & Blili, 2011). This article introduces the drawing method into the field of research on fair trade consumption. Using this method, this study explores student perceptions of both fair trade consumers and how fair trade works. In doing so, the drawing method unveiled two potential consumer types; namely, the dreamer and the angel. On this, we argue that our study reveals some of the possibilities inherent in the use of the drawing method to explore uncertainty surrounding fair trade consumption.

The influence of reputational concerns on purchase intention of fair-trade foods among young Japanese adults

This study explores whether reputational concerns have an effect on purchase intention for fair-trade food products among Japanese young adults. To manipulate reputation cues, we assessed consumers’ intentions to purchase fair-trade food products under two different experimental situations: the ‘observable’ condition, in which participants’ purchase behaviors were observable by others (N=84); and the ‘anonymous’ condition, in which participants’ purchase behavior could not be observed by others (N=106). The effect of six sensory and extrinsic attributes including fair trade, price, country of manufacture, taste characteristics, polyphenol content and caloric content on consumer intentions to purchase chocolate was evaluated using conjoint analysis. Results demonstrated that participants under the observable condition valuated fair trade higher than those under the anonymous condition, whereas the opposite tendency was observed for the valuation of price and caloric content for their overall purchase intention. These phenomena suggest that ethical consumption, such as purchasing fair-trade foods, is influenced not only by individual’s intrinsic motives for ethical issues but also by extrinsic social factors such as reputation-enhancing opportunities.

Of Raspberries and Religion

At the Monastery of St. Gertrude in Cottonwood, Idaho, evolving foodways have enabled Benedictine nuns to adapt to their evolving role as religious women over the past century. Early spare, simple foods reflected strict monastic practices inherited from the nuns’ enclosed European order, but physical labor and bishops’ insistence on outside service soon necessitated a more rich and balanced diet. After Vatican II, new mealtime practices that allowed sisters to converse during meals and choose dining companions (versus sitting in rank order in silence) helped them adjust to a new ethos of cooperative community. As the convent added a retreat ministry and mature professional women joined, mealtime options proliferated and old foodways were challenged. A contemporary emphasis on social justice and land stewardship is reflected in commitment to organic gardening and to purchasing food local, seasonal, fair-trade food. Cultivating the convent's extensive raspberry garden, in particular, invites these modern nuns to simultaneously affirm their continuing commitment to core Benedictine values and to the spirit of their patron, St. Gertrude of Helfta, and also to contemporary priorities.

Through Thick and Thin: How Fair Trade Consumers Have Reacted to the Global Economic Recession

Research on fair trade has flourished over the past decade as fair trade food products have gained popularity amongst consumers in many developed economies. This study examines the effects of recessionary economic conditions on fair trade consumers’ purchasing behaviour. An online survey was administered to 306 fair trade consumers from Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The results reveal a discrepancy among fair trade consumers as only consumers that purchase fair trade on an occasional basis adhered to established consumer behaviour norms, i.e. decreasing their purchases of fair trade products and becoming significantly more price aware. Respondents who actively consume fair trade generally remained loyal to their purchase. While some active consumers altered their purchasing behaviour, this phenomenon was not common amongst this group as no statistically significant changes were observed. Differences were also noted among the three countries as the Canadian and US fair trade consumers significantly decreased their consumption of fair trade as a result of the recession, whereas the UK consumers did not. In addition to the research results, theoretical and managerial implications will be discussed along with future research directions.

Are Stated Preferences Confirmed by Purchasing Behaviours? The Case of Fair Trade-Certified Bananas in Switzerland

As the market share of Fair Trade food products in countries of the North grows, understanding consumer preferences with regard to this recent label is becoming increasingly important. This article reports on a test of the consistency of consumers’ stated preferences, for which a survey was conducted at the place and time of actual purchase decisions. The aim of the survey was to further improve the understanding of consumers’ stated motivations for buying ‘Fair Trade’ and ‘organic Fair Trade’ bananas in Switzerland. Hypothetical questions with double dichotomous choices were used to compare two types of bananas – conventional and labelled – and to assess the average stated willingness-to-pay (WTP) for Fair Trade-labelled bananas. The results show that Fair Trade is largely accepted in Switzerland and that the premium for purchasing such products is influenced by age, the number of young children and the perception of the Fair Trade label. I then used a comparative test of field observations and stated preferences for bananas to measure inconsistency in choices. This comparison reveals that less than one-fifth of the answers are in principle inconsistent. These results point to the importance of confidence in the Fair Trade labels if consumers’ purchases are to increase.

A comparative analysis of the purchase motivations of Fair Trade products1: the impact of social capital

Objective of this paper is to analyse the motivations in the purchase of Fair Trade (FT) food products sold in the World Shops (WS) in order to characterize WS consumer profiles according to the ethical content of their motivations. At this end, a questionnaire has been distributed to a sample of consumers in Emilia Romagna, Puglia and in Campania. A principal component analysis has been performed in order to identify the main motivations in the purchase. On the basis of these results, consumers have been classified, by applying a cluster analysis, in homogenous segments. The cluster analysis reveals that 76% of consumers in Emilia Romagna buy FT products for an ethical motivation, 56% of consumers in Puglia and 43% of consumers in Campania buy these products for an ethical motivation.

The mainstreaming of Fair Trade: a macromarketing perspective

Following a brief review of the development and underlying purposes of the Fair Trade movement, the paper introduces perhaps the key issue for the UK Fair Trade movement currently: the mainstreaming of Fair Trade food products. The macromarketing literature, with its focus on sustainable consumption, ecocentrism and a consequent need to change the dominant social paradigm, is used as a framework for analysing the findings of an empirical study of this mainstreaming process involving interviews with and case study material from both Fair Trade organisations and the major supermarkets which have engaged with Fair Trade. The key question that the paper addresses is whether Fair Trade, particularly as it enters mainstream markets, provides an exemplar, from within the existing dominant social paradigm, of the kinds of actions that the macromarketing literature suggests are necessary to enable sustainable consumption. Implications for both the Fair Trade movement and for macromarketing are drawn out.

What organic and Fair Trade labels do not tell us: towards a place‐based understanding of certification

AbstractCertified organic and Fair Trade food products are making their way into the mainstream among Western consumers and, as such, are increasingly viewed as sustainable and preferable alternatives to the conventional food system, with its many negative social and environmental externalities. Two case studies discussed in this paper indicate, however, that operationalizing the goals for organic and Fair Trade food via certification can be a complex and difficult process. Specifically, the implementation of certification creates a disconnect between expectations raised by labels and the ‘lived experience’ of small farmers. In the case of small farmers in Mexico growing certified organic tomatoes and herbs, certification exacerbated socio‐economic inequality and disrupted local social norms by creating a hyperfocus on surveillance. In the case of small farmers in the Dominican Republic growing Fair Trade bananas, the certification process prioritized the demands of the market to such a degree that the farmers were largely unaware that they were participating in anything ‘alternative’, and it simultaneously reinforced socio‐economic inequalities within the communities. These findings suggest that if the appeal of certified labels rests on the integrity of what the label represents to consumers, then such consumer movements would benefit from a more robust analysis of how certification intersects with and affects local spaces, cultures and communities at the point of production.

Reading fair trade: political ecological imaginary and the moral economy of fair trade foods

Abstract This paper begins to explore the changing political geographies of alternative development as practiced and envisioned in the global South. Looking specifically at the growing movement and market for fair trade foods, this form of alternative development has become the moral business of latte drinkers and other reflexive consumers in Europe and the US. Fair trade attempts to re-connect producers and consumers economically, politically, and psychologically through the creation of a transnational moral economy. This re-connection is accomplished through material and semiotic commoditization processes that produce fair trade commodities. The semiotic production of these commodities and their traffic in particular ‘political ecological imaginaries’ is essential to the formation of ethical production-consumption links, acting to also politicize consumption and fair trade eaters. Fair trade's moral economy rides the tension between the ethical relationships it fosters and the need for the wily characteristics of enterprise in the construction of transnational trade networks. Bringing recent work on moral geography to bear, constructing this moral economy is an attempt to facilitate a sense of ‘solidarity in difference’ in the experiences of global economic inequalities between North and South and growers and eaters. At the same time, fair trade networks look to produce an expansive ‘spatial dynamics of concern’ in the fashioning of ethical places of production and consumption. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the continuing dilemmas critical for fair trade and suggestions for further empirical study of fair trade provisioning and alternative development networks.

Retailing fair trade food products in the UK

The introduction of labelling initiatives has provided an opportunity to introduce fair trade food products to the vast majority of the UK consumers via conventional retail channels. This case study outlines the characteristics and development of the fair trade concept, reviews the extent to which the major food retailers have incorporated fair trade products into their offer and discusses some of the current issues surrounding fair trade food in retailing.

Free Competition and the Optimal Amount of Fraud

THIS paper explores the reasons for and determinants of the provision by a firm of false information to a consumer so as to induce purchases which would not be made if the consumer possessed full information about the qualities of his purchase. Market responses to potential for fraud are analyzed in detail. It is shown that fraud and related practices follow from significant costs both in the determination of quality of a particular good or service and in the effective vertical integration of seller and buyer through some exchange of property rights. Much of our discussion focuses on the key problem of the joint provision of diagnosis and services-such as the choice and execution of an automobile repair or taxicab route--but the model developed will be seen to have general applicability whenever the seller provides information which influences purchases, as through advertising or salesmen's promises. In the context of the repair problem, we explore the reasons for and the determinants of the provision of repair services in amounts greater than would be economically efficient, given the price of the services and their marginal product in terms of the service flow from the repaired commodity.' The possibility of this situation is suggested by the observation that in a considerable number of cases involving medical, automotive, and other repair services, contrary to the basic assumption of conventional demand theory, the consumer is unaware of the ability of the repair service to satisfy a given want.2