Do Irish consumers care about Fairtrade?

Stereotype

I'm just wondering if anyone has any opinions on Fairtrade? Would you buy a food product with a Fairtrade logo over another similar product without one, or would you pay more for a Fairtrade product? Basically, what I want to know, is price the main factor when buying something or do ethics come into it? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

RoadKillTs

Would you buy a food product with a Fairtrade logo over another similar product without one, or would you pay more for a Fairtrade product?

Nope. If it was cheaper I'd buy it!

Basically, what I want to know, is price the main factor when buying something or do ethics come into it?

Of course it is. Price is everything now. Who give's a crap about fair trade when our unemployment rate is over 12%?
It's just not high on our list of priorities at the moment.

TheDriver

+1, no one I know bar one cares one bit about fairtrade and it seems to be price. I would buy organice and fair trade if the price was the same as normal

gleep

TheDriver wrote: »

+1, no one I know bar one cares one bit about fairtrade and it seems to be price. I would buy organice and fair trade if the price was the same as normal

+1 - If the difference was even down to a few cents then I think most people would go Fair Trade, unfortunately the producers seem to be passing on the cost of being more ethical to us- I bet they make the same if not bigger margins on FT.

dudara

Stereotype Is there any particular reason why you're asking this question?

dudara

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I'd never consciously buy something because it is Fairtrade.

kmick

Exactly the costs of the the raw material are almost immaterial in the final selling cost.

Stereotype

dudara wrote: »

Stereotype Is there any particular reason why you're asking this question?

dudara

Hi Dudara,

I'm working on a project at the moment and just wanted to get some feedback. I know how I feel, I like the idea of Fairtrade but I wouldn't necessarily buy a Fairtrade product over another product that I perceived to be a better quality. Price comes into it obviously but I wouldn't by the cheapest option either if I thought the product would be crappy! What's your opinion Dudara?

jor el

Well I couldn't give a toss, and wouldn't go out of my way to buy Fairtrade products, especially if they were more expensive. I buy the products I like or want, regardless of source, price, etc. I also couldn't care if my milk is sourced in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. I don't go out of my way to buy either.

If you're a cynic, like me, then you won't believe half the claims made by such product labels anyway.

foggy_lad

i dont care how much tea/cocao pickers etc are paid and i will not supplement their salary out of my own pocket, i give to irish charities only! this is something they should be taking up with their own employers and governments as the irish people have done in the past to get fair wages.

leeroybrown

You need to be very careful with 'fair trade' products. It's true that the farmer will generally get a slightly better price for their product but quite often (including here in Ireland) the real reason behind their promotion is that the distributors sell them as premium product with a far higher profit margin. You need to be sure that you're buying actual ethically supplied products rather than just lining someone's pocket when you buy fair trade.

dudara

Stereotype wrote: »

Hi Dudara,

I'm working on a project at the moment and just wanted to get some feedback. I know how I feel, I like the idea of Fairtrade but I wouldn't necessarily buy a Fairtrade product over another product that I perceived to be a better quality. Price comes into it obviously but I wouldn't by the cheapest option either if I thought the product would be crappy! What's your opinion Dudara?

If you intend to use a forum to gather research material, then you should at least drop a line to the moderators beforehand.

As to the topic of Fairtrade, I personally don't care. I buy based on a combination of quality and price. A product marked as Fairtrade doesn't necessarily imply quality or value. It's simply a feelgood factor.

I also believe that, like the 'organic' label, use of the word Fairtrade has become a means for producers to demand higher prices for products - i.e. they are capitalising on consumers' emotions.

Additionally, I would be sceptical concerning the amount of the proceeds that actually go the root producers (i.e. the farmers etc). A product could state that it was fairtrade and yet only donate a minute amount to the source producer. But yet they would still be giving something, and therefore meeting the requirement of Fairtrade.

As with any charity, I'd rather donate the money in person.
dudara

Jip

RoadKillTs wrote: »

Of course it is. Price is everything now. Who give's a crap about fair trade when our unemployment rate is over 12%?
It's just not high on our list of priorities at the moment.

Your priorities, you don't speak for everyone. If I was in a store and there were two similar items of which I was buying, one slightly more expensive than the other, I'd go for the Irish produced one everytime.

pleasant Co.

I buy fairtrade coffee, but that's because the coffee I buy is fairtrade I don't buy it because it's fairtrade. It's also priced competitively against other inferior brands of coffee.

ejmaztec

Mactard wrote: »

I buy fairtrade coffee, but that's because the coffee I buy is fairtrade I don't buy it because it's fairtrade. It's also priced competitively against other inferior brands of coffee.

I tried some fairtrade coffee once, and it was foul, and not particularly cheap. The jar's still at the back of a shelf sulking.

ACDC86

This is an interesting one.
Were Fairtrade a trusted logo then I think many of us would opt to pay that little extra. However, I recall a TV documentary about 6 months ago (cannot remember the network) which highlighted the lucrative reality of Fairtrade. It can be entirely misleading - particularly with regard to coffee. When I see international corporate behemoths like Starbucks using Fairtrade coffee I really don't buy it. Excuse the pun.
That said, this thread is reason enough for me to go and do a little more research on Fairtrade. Perhaps I'll decide it is benefitting Second and Third World producers.

ACDC86

Jip wrote: »

Your priorities, you don't speak for everyone. If I was in a store and there were two similar items of which I was buying, one slightly more expensive than the other, I'd go for the Irish produced one everytime.

Here here,

Irish all the way.

Jev/N

Funnily enough I was drinking Banana Bread Beer last night and it said on the label it was made with fairtrade bananas. Maybe that explained the price but it does become a bit annoying after realising what a marketing tool it is, as ACDC86 has already mentioned

simu

I buy fairtrade products the odd time. The extra cost doesn't bother me because I think it's worth spending a bit extra for better food and the fair trade brands tend to taste better, on average, than the "standard" brands.

pleasant Co.

ejmaztec wrote: »

I tried some fairtrade coffee once, and it was foul, and not particularly cheap. The jar's still at the back of a shelf sulking.

Jar? You're not talking about instant coffee are you!

Bosshogg

jor el wrote: »

Well I couldn't give a toss, ...
I also couldn't care if my milk is sourced in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. I don't go out of my way to buy either.

If you're a cynic, like me, then you won't believe half the claims made by such product labels anyway.

Maybe I'm cynical of cynics like you but I'm certainly not a cynic like you.

My local Spar owner in Dublin got an ear bashing and a warning that I'd never spend a penny in his store again from me for having only NI dairy on offer. He argued people want a better price, some here agree, I argued I want jobs for our own and people with no jobs have no money to spend on anything at all so it's false economics in the longer term.

"Fair Trade" in itself is open to interpretation - What is "FAIR" Trade? Then you'd find yourself digging into economies and the value of a dollar to a man here to a man in South America. So a dubious and complicated affair perhaps.

In the sense of clothes I know you wouldn't find me dead shopping in the likes of Penny's or Guiney's or anywhere that gives me the sense that children are making the clothes, or men are working 14 hours per day and afterwards sleeping under the sewing machine for $2. I don't need clothes that bad. If I could easily see the truth behind foods in the same way then I'd be Fair Trade.

Jaysis I can't imagine... "hey do you like my new shirt?.. It was made by an 8 year old girl in a poverty sticken village in north India" eeesch.

What can I say? I'm a "pay the workers and share the wealth" type of guy.

tallaghtoutlaws

Bosshogg wrote: »

In the sense of clothes I know you wouldn't find me dead shopping in the likes of Penny's or Guiney's or anywhere that gives me the sense that children are making the clothes, or men are working 14 hours per day and afterwards sleeping under the sewing machine for $2. I don't need clothes that bad. If I could easily see the truth behind foods in the same way then I'd be Fair Trade.

Jaysis I can't imagine... "hey do you like my new shirt?.. It was made by an 8 year old girl in a poverty sticken village in north India" eeesch.

What can I say? I'm a "pay the workers and share the wealth" type of guy.

You do realise though that most larger brands of clothing are also made in the like of india or China especially those brands who are made in bulk. So whether you pay €2 for a t-shirt in Pennys or €40 euro for a t-shirt somewhere else you are most likely paying the same guys who use Children workers. The majority of jeans makers, most sports brands, a lot of designer brands all made in countries where child labour is abused.

Bosshogg

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

You do realise though that most larger brands of clothing are also made in the like of india or China especially those brands who are made in bulk. So whether you pay €2 for a t-shirt in Pennys or €40 euro for a t-shirt somewhere else you are most likely paying the same guys who use Children workers. The majority of jeans makers, most sports brands, a lot of designer brands all made in countries where child labour is abused.

Yup! It's a minefield of world economics. Even a seemingly European made shirt could have most of the pre-production done in India or China. That said there are also many fine companies in say India that are highly reputable and I'd gladly give them business if I could know the difference. And that's what the Fair Trade idea is but... is it working?

So if I get the sense of foul play I'm out. Back to the OP though I do care and I do try to pay fair for the work and material. I don't really believe in something for nothing.

That said it doesn't mean I don't look for a bargain either. Brax pants in Dublin cost me €120, very similar pair I got in Cork on sale for €40. Point being I'm not just throwing the money away either.

Barname

Fairtrade is a scam

Its ran by elitists who profit from it

Rev. Kitchen

Is Barrys tea fairtrade ?

BroomBurner

Some products I would buy Fairtrade, but only with the correct Fairtrade label and I know the maker of the product is not under a more evil umbrella group.

There are a lot of noughts and crosses to fulfil before you can get the logo (or at least used to be), including set percentages of profits that must go back to the producers. Most fairtrade products work on a co-op basis, so the usual corporation rules don't exactly reply.

I'm trying to make sure any money I spend supports products/services that are fairly ethical, though it's very, very difficult due to the high price of these. Also, it's quite time-consuming.

Bigdeadlydave

To be honest I dont see how an extra couple of quid could really make that much of a difference for the workers. I dont even know exactly how it works. If m feeling charitable I prefer the trocaire box.

pow wow

I buy Fairtrade where possible - shrinking finances just now mean it's not always possible but I support the system.

When I used to work for Cadbury about 6-7 years ago the cocoa buyers argued that they wouldn't buy Fairtrade cocoa beans/butter because the prices were 'artificially inflated' by the co-operatives and that they would rather see a fair price for all than an inflated price for a select few. At the time Fairtrade was very small-scale and so on the face of it their argument held weight to a certain extent. I'm not sure what reasons they've cited for going Fairtrade now.

OP - I've recently left a job in Fairtrade in Ireland for one of the development NGOs, if you need any contacts etc. for your project PM me.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

pow wow wrote: »

I'm not sure what reasons they've cited for going Fairtrade now.

Because it's fashionable!

foggy_lad

BroomBurner wrote: »

Some products I would buy Fairtrade, but only with the correct Fairtrade label and I know the maker of the product is not under a more evil umbrella group.

There are a lot of noughts and crosses to fulfil before you can get the logo (or at least used to be), including set percentages of profits that must go back to the producers. Most fairtrade products work on a co-op basis, so the usual corporation rules don't exactly reply.

I'm trying to make sure any money I spend supports products/services that are fairly ethical, though it's very, very difficult due to the high price of these. Also, it's quite time-consuming.

it has not been like this in a while! i also remember when fairtrade was more a way of production that ensured the people in third world areas got a fair price for their products/labour rather than just a brandname used for marketing!

ejmaztec

Mactard wrote: »

Jar? You're not talking about instant coffee are you!

I had to start experimenting somewhere, didn't I?:P When I'm out of therapy, I might try the beans.

AARRRGH

Stereotype wrote: »

I'm just wondering if anyone has any opinions on Fairtrade?

Fairtrade is a scam. Newstalk did an investigation into it recently.

Couple of things off the top of my head:

It is a massive organisation with a lot of staff and a lovely HQ. Charities should not operate like a multi-national.
Corruption in Africa means the farmers don't get the money they're supposed to get.
Farmers give their worst coffee beans to Fairtrade due to the fact that they're guaranteed a set price. They keep their good beans for the non-Fairtrade organisations.

There's more. Google for the documentary!

padraigggg

I don't go out of my way to buy FT products, but they do end up in my basket from time to time.

nwordjim

Fair Trade isn't working. It's "insufficiently aggressive" to support any real market. Fair Trade coffee represents 3% of the world trade as a whole. It's a well intentioned idea but it's doomed to result in failure. Unfortunately.

Higher prices = people buying less = lower demand = growers go out of business.