Fairtrade branded unfair by UK think tank
ConfectioneryNews.com, France - February 28, 2008
A UK-based policy institute this week slammed Fairtrade, saying that the practice distorts the market and traps some of the world's poorest farmers in a cycle of poverty.
According to the report 'Unfair Trade' issued by the Adam Smith Institute, the fair trade movement, which allows consumers to buy ethically-sourced products such as coffee and chocolate, does little to drive the momentum of the global food chain.
The report's author Marc Sidwell claims that consumers who buy Fairtrade products end up spending more money on poorer quality goods, due to the fact that the Fairtrade system pays farmers a fixed price.
This leads to farmers not being pushed financially to improve the quality of their products, and they may even hold the best of the crop back to sell on the open market.
"Fairtrade is not a reliable mark of delicious coffee or food," Sidwell said.
The only solution to market distortion is therefore global trade, he added, and countries in Africa should instead remove the restrictive trade barriers currently keeping their economies in chains.
The report also accuses Fairtrade of trying to unfairly dominate the market for ethical products, "quite aggressively competing with alternative schemes with their own merits and demerits" ...

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