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Ethical shopping without sacrificing style.
Handcrafted. Fairly traded. Sustainably produced.

Fair Trade is NOT Free Trade


Many people confuse the term “free trade,” which has played a major role in countries’ trade policies in the past few decades, with "fair trade". The table below, based on information from the Fair Trade Resource Network and Catholic Relief Services, summarizes key differences:

  Free Trade Fair Trade
Main goal: To increase nations’ economic growth To empower marginalized people and improve the quality of their lives
Strategy: Profit is the overriding concern
 Balances concerns for people, the planet, and profit

Primarily   benefits:

Multinational corporations, powerful business interests

 Vulnerable farmers, artisans and workers in less industrialized countries
Critics say: Punishing to marginalized people & the environment, sacrifices long-term relationships

Interferes with free market, inefficient, too small-scale for impact
Financing: Payment is received at time of shipment; credit is sometimes extended by informal lenders at exorbitant rates.
 Businesses offer producers advance credit with low- or zero-interest for income during lean seasons between harvest/production cycles
Producer compensation determined by: Market & government policies Living wage & community improvement costs. Technical assistance and training build broader skill set, and social premiums invest in social projects that benefit all residents.
Supply chain: Includes many parties between producer and consumer; seeks out lowest-cost labor and raw materials, often through exploitive middlemen.

Includes fewer parties, more direct trade. Disadvantaged groups are made partners in the fair trade supply chain.
Marketing: Marketing is directed at increasing profitability
 Marketing is driven by consumer education and advocacy that leads to socially responsible business innovations.