News
Fair Trade Should be Obsolete
Better Fryslân: 4 December 2010
In the late 90’s Bareld Kootstra visited a colleague in Ecuador. After driving through the slums they reached a walled suburban district, designed to “protect” its rich inhabitants from the poor who lay beyond. This is not how people should be living together he thought. Hence the focus of Global Fruit on Fair Trade products.
“The residential area where my colleague lived was an oasis in the misery that surrounded it. Friendly houses with perfectly manicured lawns, and a swimming pool in the back yard. Perfect except for the heavy security. Alongside the high wall with watch towers was also a gateway, watched over by a guard with a carbine. I asked my colleague: “aren’t you affected by your daily drive through the slums”? He muttered that het was indeed a terrible situation. His wife did some voluntary work in the neighbourhood. He had himself fled from Nicaragua just a few years before after sandinists forcibly took his family’s land. In other words: there is always something.”
Family History
Kootstra was touched deeply by what he had seen. In 2002 when he started his own business trading in fruit concentrates for the food industry, the welfare of the fruit growers and farm labourers was at the forefront of his mind. “It is due in part to my gereformeerde (religious) upbringing”. Keeping an eye out for the little man in our community went without saying in our home. I can see many parallels between the people on the edges of society now and with my family history. Especially when I think of how my great grandparents, who came from the Morrewâld, lived. My great grandfather left during the harvest to go to the farming areas so that he could earn some money. Months away from home and a pennies in return. The rest of the year there was hardly any work. Supplemented by what they grew in their own vegetable garden, a few chickens and a pig they were able to just about make ends meet. That is only three generations ago. It is very clear what we have been able to reach since that time through better education and social services.
A Better Life
By making the choice to sell Fair Trade products Kootstra is hoping to be able to give farmers in third world countries a better chance in life or at a good life. “Fair Trade extends beyond just offering farmers a fair price for their product. I also pay what is known as a Fair Trade Premium, this premium is invested in the community in things like infrastructure projects and schools. Farm workers are also given guidance and are encouraged to better organise themselves. Well organised groups are very important. We only have to look at what co-operatives have historically meant for Dutch farmers to prove this point. Fair Trade tends to have a knock on effect. For Example an orange grove in Morocco was operating part conventional and part Fair Trade. Workers in the conventional part of the grove saw the achievements of their Fair Trade colleagues and went on strike demanding that the whole operation should become Fair Trade.”
“In addition to trading in fruit ingredients Global Fruit also works directly we fruit producers and processors. “We are part owner of one of the plantations. This means that we have a voice in terms of how the Fair Trade premium is spent. On our plantation in the Philippines old lead piping was replaced with plastic pipes to help prevent further lead poisoning of those who are reliant n the water supply.”
White Collar Criminals
Kootstra estimates that around about 5% of the current trade in fruit ingredients is Fair Trade. The rest is conventionally produced. This low percentage however doesn’t say everything. “Its not a case of everything that’s not Fair Trade is exploitation. Fruit that carries labels such as Fair Trade or Rain Forest Alliance only means that this fruit meets certain very strict conditions. But in between these labels and exploitation is a whole range of other products. Multinationals like Unilever might not choose Fair Trade, but because of growing public demand they are starting to develop more of an eye for sustainable and socially responsible production methods, and farmers profit from this also. A particular label may also depend on the producer. Take for example the coffee industry. Max Havelaar is focused on small scale farmers and co-operatives. The certification procedure for Utz coffee resembles very much that of Max Havelaar but also includes larger coffee plantations and as such is more attractive for large coffee producers such as Douwe Egberts. The current trend towards fair trading practices and an eye for social issues and the environment is continuing to grow. In early 2000 Chiquita, where I used to work made the transition to Rain Forest Alliance bananas. Many of the larger fruit juice producers did not turn up at the launch party. Now only a few years later those same juice producers are asking for Fair Trade and organic fruit. On the other hand it can sometimes go wrong for us too. I have on occasion bought banana puree from a trader who later turned out to be nothing more than a white collar criminal. You can’t always avoid situations like that.”
“Fair Trade products are more expensive than conventional ones. Just how much more expensive they are is dependant on a few factors. Sometimes the difference can be as low as two percent and sometimes it can be forty percent. Workers wages are in many cases not the determining factor. Take pineapple production in the Philippines for example. In conventional trade gangmasters recruit labourers at a minimum wage. The labourers who work on plantations where we are involved in banana production are paid an above minimum wage. However alongside this we also pay for things like a clothing allowance and food. The main factor that tends to inflate prices is smaller bulk purchasing, the Fair Trade minimum price and the Fair Trade premiums to be invested in the region where the products are produced.”
Kootstra has a little difficulty with the concept of the Fair Trade minimum price. “Essentially the price should be determined by market forces, although I do realise that this would lead to smaller producers being put under pressure by major suppliers. What can be very confusing is the large number of “fair trade” labels currently on the market; its like a competition. To become a “Millenium Geemente” (Millenium Counci) it is acceptable to use Max Havelaar coffee but not Utz coffee, while at the same time both labels have a large overlap.”
“Diversity in fair trade labels also has its advantages however. Our application for the Max Havelaar label for a banana plantation faltered continuously on in relation to the Fair Trade minimum price, and I heard that this process can go on for years. I found this unbelievable and so I applied for another fair trade label and was accepted. However one, flexible, fair trade label would be in my eyes the best thing. And in the end who knows, in ten years all products could be fair trade and we wouldn’t need fair trade labelling anymore.”
(Theo Klein)