Why Fairtrade?

Good intentions don't change things, good business does!

Whether it's in the high, misty tea gardens in Sri Lanka, the green hills where coffee grows in Chiapas, Mexico or the red-earthed cocoa farms in Ghana, Fairtrade certification is providing growers with clean water, education, health care and a better quality of life for their communities.

This certification ensures fair trading practices by setting standards for each product, including common principles such as no child labour, a minimum wage that ensures a decent quality of life, minimum health and safety standards and democratic decision making policies within the growing communities. Fairtrade also aims for long term trading arrangements, credit extension to avoid debt and consumer awareness of the need for trade to be made fair.

Most importantly, Fairtrade teaches people to fend for themselves - giving those who grow tea, coffee, cocoa and other tropical crops in developing countries the ability and means to dictate their own futures. Fairtrade brings balance to the global playing field.

Scarborough Fair makes Fairtrade-certified products easy to find and affordable by selling our tea and coffee in mainstream supermarkets. By understanding the supply chain, dealing as directly as possible with growers and using economies of scale to decrease the costs of bringing product to market, Scarborough Fair uses good business sense so that everyone can be a part of making things better.

Links
www.fairtrade.net
Located in Bonn, Germany, the Fairtrade Labeling Organization (FLO) monitors certified producers and regulates the use of this logo.

www.fta.org.nz
www.fta.org.au
The Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand (FTAANZ) certify and monitor the trading practices of importers, manufacturers and distributors so that the entire supply chain is transparent.

Quotes
In Ghana, the cocoa farmers say, "We do not want to be given fish, we want to learn to fish!"

The people at the Indulgashinna plantation in Sri Lanka - where Scarborough Fair tea is sourced - recently celebrated their first university entrants!