No, I am not talking about Cadbury, Starbucks, or Nestle, but a much more interesting and committed fair trade transnational, the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand (FTAANZ: pronounced F-TANNZ by those in the know). Held in Sydney Australia in August 2009, it was my first real opportunity to meet fair traders in the flesh.
As I stepped tentatively into the snazzy corporate conference rooms of Sydney University’s 6th floor, CBD campus, I was shocked by what I saw. There before me were 40 mainly middle aged, conservatively presented “business” men and women, sipping on fairtrade teas and coffee, in pre-meeting ‘chat’ mode.
Where were the student extremists? Where were the scruffy long hairs? Where were the left-wing, anti-establishment radicals, drinking beers and passionately engaged in heated arguments about how to change the world? Not at this AGM!
No my outdated preconceptions were major misconceptions!
While still small, shiny and new, the ANZ Fair Trade business of 2009 was about business, business and more business. The predominant discourse of the two-day event was filled with nuance, qualification and clarification of products, market growth, marketing, networking, promotional campaigns, business development, labels, consumer credibility, and strategic partnerships.
Sure there was passion. Sure there was dissent and argument. Sure there were a couple of ‘quirky’ types and even some moderate beer drinking. But make no mistake; what happened here was framed within a classic commercial culture. As one ‘trader’ challenged my off-hand comment about previous work with ‘corporates’…“Don’t insult us by suggesting that we aren’t serious about doing business!”
So after two days of workshops, meetings and chat sessions what was it that this fair trade novice thought he saw as representing the reality of ANZ fair trade in 2009?
- A dedicated but overworked Fair Trade Association staff using limited resources to accommodate an 80% growth in business
- An increasing dominance of the FLO version of fair trade – that’s where the money is
- A commitment to pursuing the benefits of going “big”, while attempting to accommodate the majority membership needs of the small
- A realization of the limitations in existing product development and promotional programs (tea, coffee and chocolate)
- The difficulty of balancing fair trade market priorities with the ideals and aspirations of the fairer trading movement
- An increasing sense of separation between the certified/licensed and non-certified fair traders
- The limitations in the association’s commitment to, promotion of or penetration in local, regional (Pacific) fair trade
While this list represents only possibilities of what might be, I left that AGM totally convinced of one thing.
Making fair trade business work, regardless of the region, context or level is now more complex and difficult than ever before. Like any other business, to survive and succeed in the future, fair trade, as both a market mechanism and a movement, will need get its purposes and direction set and agreed, its key messages clear and consistent, its differences directed to improvement and most importantly its voices unified in solidarity!
