Traidcraft - Fighting Poverty through Trade

Well done to all those who bought Traidcraft goods during the last twelve months. You helped to set a new sales record for all the UK of over £16.5m. St George's also set a 'new best' with our total of £1,200. So thank you.

But the real beneficiaries are the workers, and their families in some of the poorest countries of the world. This was the original intentions of those who set up Traidcraft in 1979, to fight poverty by setting up small businesses and buying their goods at a fair price. Traidcraft is a Christian organisation trying to narrow the gap between the 3rd World and the UK. Poor people very often have skills and ability, but lack opportunity, so helping them to 'help themselves' to get engaged in trade is a way of a brighter future for them, their families, and communities - they receive a fair share of the benefits.

Over 30 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are given support, help and advice to sell their products.

Some of you have asked, 'Should we buy from Traidcraft or from a Supermarket'? We all know that prices vary, but are we as Christians always looking for the cheapest? The fact is that fair trade is entering a new phase and its message is changing.

For the last 10 years Traidcraft has wanted to show supermarkets and mainstream companies that there is a demand for fair trade goods - to ensure they would keep products like cafédirect and Geobar on the shelves - and that case has been made conclusively. There are now 1,500 products with the Fairtrade mark in the UK - many of them produced by supermarkets and big companies.

This has been a great step forward and is driving home volume growth to the benefit of producers. In the next phase of development, the issue is whether dedicated fair trade organisations will survive against the power of the bigger players who enjoy economies of scale and marketing power that Traidcraft can never hope to match. If Traidcraft were to lower its prices significantly to match supermarket prices, it would simply put Traidcraft out of business.

Is there value in Traidcraft surviving? Yes, because it provides far more value to producers than straightforward fair trade, through additional producer support and training activities, through campaigning and policy advocacy work, through innovation and keeping a watch on Fairtrade standards.

When you buy from Traidcraft you know that any profit on the product gets ploughed back into fair trade and supports the continued existence of Traidcraft as a wider Christian response to poverty.

So with the new phase of fair trade, it makes the role of a Fair Trader all the more important if standards and innovation are to be maintained.

Traidcraft has won many awards for the way it runs its business - a trading company and a development Charity working together. I shall leave some magazines and monthly bulletins at the back of the Church for your information.

Keep buying Fairtrade.

Pam Dinneen, Fair Trader