charitable organization founded 1992 headquarters london england uk key people mike gidney chief executive website www.fairtrade.org.uk the fairtrade foundation is a charity based in the united kingdom that works to empower disadvantaged producers in developing countries by tackling injustice in conventional trade in particular by promoting and licensing the fairtrade mark a guarantee that products retailed in the uk have been produced in accordance with internationally agreed fairtrade standards . 1 the foundation is the british member of flo international which unites flo cert 25 national fairtrade organisations and 3 producer networks across europe asia latin america north america africa australia and new zealand . 2 the organisation is an independent non profit organisation that licenses use of the fairtrade mark on products in the uk in accordance with internationally agreed fairtrade standards . its four key areas of activity include providing independent certification of the trade chain for products and licensing use of the fairtrade mark on products as a consumer guarantee . growing demand for fairtrade products and supporting producers to sell to traders and retailers . working with partners to support producer organisations and their networks . raising awareness of the need for fair trade in the public and the role of the fairtrade mark in making trade fair . 3 contents 1 how it works 2 organisational links 3 promotion 4 market penetration 5 references 6 external links how it works edit the marketing system for fairtrade and non fairtrade coffee is identical in the consuming countries using mostly the same importing packing distributing and retailing firms . some independent brands operate a virtual company paying importers packers and distributors and advertising agencies to handle their brand for cost reasons . 4 in the producing country fairtrade is marketed only by fairtrade cooperatives while other coffee is marketed by fairtrade cooperatives as uncertified coffee by other cooperatives and by ordinary traders . 5 this mode of operation has led to sharp criticism of the foundation . 6 it is argued that because retailers and cafes in the rich countries can sell fairtrade coffee at any price they like nearly all the extra price paid by consumers 82 % to 99 % is kept in the rich countries as increased profit . there is evidence that dishonest importers do not pay the full fairtrade price so an even smaller proportion reaches the third world . 7 cooperative traders and exporters can sell coffee as fairtrade certified if they meet the political standards of flo and they pay them a certification and inspection fee . other administration costs and production costs are incurred to meet these standards . the exporter not the farmer is paid a minimum price for fairtrade certified coffee when the world market is oversupplied and a fairtrade premium of 15c per lb at other times . the cooperatives can on average sell only a third of their output as fairtrade because of lack of demand and sell the rest at world prices . 8 as the additional costs are incurred on all production not just that sold as fairtrade cooperatives sometimes lose money on their fairtrade membership . 9 after the additional costs have been subtracted from the fairtrade price the rest goes on social projects such as clinics women s groups and baseball pitches . critics therefore argue that farmers do not get any of the higher price under fairtrade . 10 nor is there any evidence that they get higher prices as a result of better marketing the cooperatives sometimes pay farmers a higher price than farmers do sometimes less but there is no evidence on which is more common . 11 farmers do however incur extra costs in producing fairtrade so they certainly do lose money from fairtrade membership in some cases . there is little or no research on the extra costs incurred or the effect of fairtrade membership on the income of farmers . however other economists have argued that the existence of a fair trade marketing route benefits producers by raising producer prices generally 12 and there is evidence of such an effect at least among coffee producers ; 13 14 according to podhorsky the critics of the fairtrade foundation err by assuming that fair trade producers receive the world price for coffee when that is in general not so . to become certified fairtrade producers the primary cooperative and its member farmers must operate to certain political standards imposed from europe . flo cert the for profit side handles producer certification inspecting and certifying producer organisations in more than 50 countries in africa asia and latin america . 15 in the fair trade debate there are many complaints of failure to enforce these standards with fairtrade cooperatives importers and packers profiting by evading them . 16 organisational links edit the foundation was established in 1992 by cafod christian aid new consumer oxfam traidcraft and the world development movement . these organisations were later joined by the women s institute britain s largest women s organisation and other organisations including banana link methodist relief and development fund nicaragua solidarity campaign people & planet sciaf shared interest foundation soroptimist international tearfund and the united reformed church . 1 promotion edit the fairtrade foundation organises and coordinates promotional campaigns and events every year such as the fairtrade fortnight typically in february march the british counterpart of max havelaar france s quinzaine du commerce quitable . the foundation also coordinates the fairtrade town campaign which designates areas and towns committed to the promotion of fairtrade certified goods . the fairtrade foundation commissions professional photographers to take images of farmers and workers that belong to fairtrade certified producer groups . some of the photographers the foundation and flo has worked with are simon rawles peter caton eduardo martino richard human didier gentilhomme and anette kay . 1 market penetration edit since the co operative food became the first supermarket to sell a fairtrade product cafedirect coffee in 1992 both the range and total sales of fairtrade certified products in uk supermarkets has grown extensively . 17 18 in 2013 there were over 4000 fairtrade products available in the uk with estimated sales of over 1.7 bn . 19 products carrying the fairtrade label can be found at vendors like asda budgens booths the co operative food londis marks & spencer morrisons sainsbury s spar tesco waitrose as well as in hundreds of coffee shops small retailers and online merchants . in 2014 fairtrade certified sales in the united kingdom amounted to an estimated retail value of 1.68 billion up from 273 million in 2006 . 20 volumes of fairtrade banana sales grew by 3 % in 2014 generating an estimated 7.9 million of fairtrade premium . 21 one in three bananas bought in the united kingdom carries the fairtrade label . 22 fairtrade sales of coffee which remains fairtrade s best known product rose 9 % generating an estimated 5 million of fairtrade premium in 2014 . 23 it was estimated in 2014 that approximately 77 % of british adults could identify the fairtrade certification mark 19 24 up from 25 % in 2003 39 % in 2004 50 % in 2005 and 57 % in 2007 . 25 in 2008 an estimated two in three uk households regularly bought at least one fairtrade labelled product . 26 the fairtrade foundation is a registered charity no. 1043886 . it is also a company limited by guarantee registered in england and wales no. 2733136 . 1 references edit a b c d http www.fairtrade.org.uk what is fairtrade fairtrade foundation.aspx fairtrade international flo who we are . www.fairtrade.net . retrieved 2016 10 06 . who we are fairtrade foundation . www.fairtrade.org.uk . retrieved 2016 10 13 . davies i.a. and a crane ethical decision making in fair trade companies journal of business ethics 45 79 92 2003 . p84 mohan s. 2010 . fair trade without the froth a dispassionate economic analysis of fair trade . london institute of economic affairs. ; 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