Fairtrade Easter egg rip off

grumpygardener
grumpygardener Posts: 29 Forumite
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in Praise, vent & warnings
There was a leaflet in church today asking people to buy a proper Easter egg with the Easter message tucked inside. Choice of 3 eggs, the cheapest 165gm at £3.99, to be ordered in multiples of 6. Promoted by Fairtrade, made with Fairtrade chocolate. OK, fine, it's Easter and let's support a poor farmer. Except that at the very bottom of the leaflet, in tiny letters, it said that a minimum of 10 pence would go to Fairtrade. REALLY? TEN PENCE? No thanks
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  • peewhyeff
    peewhyeff Posts: 1,189 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper I've been Money Tipped!
    grumpygardener wrote: »
    There was a leaflet in church today asking people to buy a proper Easter egg with the Easter message tucked inside. Choice of 3 eggs, the cheapest 165gm at £3.99, to be ordered in multiples of 6. Promoted by Fairtrade, made with Fairtrade chocolate. OK, fine, it's Easter and let's support a poor farmer. Except that at the very bottom of the leaflet, in tiny letters, it said that a minimum of 10 pence would go to Fairtrade. REALLY? TEN PENCE? No thanks

    I encountered something similar on a jar of coffee a few years ago, not Fairtrade but some other ethical trading project. In comparison to the price of the jar 10p seemed a paltry amount.....others in the supply chain doing very well from sales etc. But then I had another think and decided that 10p in the pocket of a very poor farmer would likely make a big difference to him.
  • ThumbRemote
    ThumbRemote Posts: 4,620 Forumite
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    grumpygardener wrote: »
    There was a leaflet in church today asking people to buy a proper Easter egg with the Easter message tucked inside. Choice of 3 eggs, the cheapest 165gm at £3.99, to be ordered in multiples of 6. Promoted by Fairtrade, made with Fairtrade chocolate. OK, fine, it's Easter and let's support a poor farmer. Except that at the very bottom of the leaflet, in tiny letters, it said that a minimum of 10 pence would go to Fairtrade. REALLY? TEN PENCE? No thanks

    My understanding is that 10p goes to Traidcraft Exchange, to help develop markets for fairly traded goods. This is on top of the Fairtrade chocolate price paid to the cocoa farmers.

    See : http://www.traidcraftshop.co.uk/p-13457-buy-the-real-easter-egg-with-chocolate-yummy-bar-6-eggs-case-traidcraft-online-shop.aspx



    Could you
  • grumpygardener
    grumpygardener Posts: 29 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    ThumbRemote wrote: »
    My understanding is that 10p goes to Traidcraft Exchange, to help develop markets for fairly traded goods. This is on top of the Fairtrade chocolate price paid to the cocoa farmers.

    See : http://www.traidcraftshop.co.uk/p-13457-buy-the-real-easter-egg-with-chocolate-yummy-bar-6-eggs-case-traidcraft-online-shop.aspx



    Could you
    That's as maybe, but from my understanding of Fairtrade, there are many steps in the buying/ distribution / marketing system which takes away a huge part of the overloaded price, plus the farmer is drawn into a contract which may or may not help him, depending on whether the cocoa free market price rises or falls
  • ThumbRemote
    ThumbRemote Posts: 4,620 Forumite
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    grumpygardener wrote: »
    That's as maybe, but from my understanding of Fairtrade, there are many steps in the buying/ distribution / marketing system which takes away a huge part of the overloaded price, plus the farmer is drawn into a contract which may or may not help him, depending on whether the cocoa free market price rises or falls

    What exactly does "That's as maybe" mean? It appears your post was completely incorrect.

    And your understanding of Fairtrade is also incorrect. They guarantee to pay a minimum price. If the market price rises above this, they pay the market rate. If it falls below it, they pay the guaranteed minimum.
  • ElefantEd
    ElefantEd Posts: 1,189 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper
    For chocolate the payment to the farmers is guaranteed to be above the market rate, so it is always better for them. the Real Easter eggs state that at least 10p will got to Traidcraft Exchange - this is a development charity that works with small producers etc. this 10p is in addition to the normal FT payments (and other benefits) to the farmers. Traidcraft is one of the best FT organisations, it goes well above the minimum requirements for fair trade; its whole ethos is to support fairer trade through promoting and selling FT products as well as campaigning for a fairer trading system.

    Of course there are many other steps in the buying and distribution system, and these have to be paid for (just like with any other chocolatey products). But they don't take away money from the original farmers, they simply make up a part of the overall price of the eggs.
  • grumpygardener
    grumpygardener Posts: 29 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    ThumbRemote wrote: »
    What exactly does "That's as maybe" mean? It appears your post was completely incorrect.

    And your understanding of Fairtrade is also incorrect. They guarantee to pay a minimum price. If the market price rises above this, they pay the market rate. If it falls below it, they pay the guaranteed minimum.

    "That's as maybe" = OK, I accept what you saying... BUT I think there are far too many middle men who take a cut. We have a Fairtade stall every month at our church where someone stands totally bored and sells very little. I'm forced to pay Nestl! if I want to eat Kit Kat for including the extra cost of using Fairtrade chocolate, whilst using that as a marketing ploy. I'm also very reluctant to drink Fairtrade horrible instant coffee after service ,just because my church has been told they MUST use Fairtrade products.
    I originally posted a comment about the 10p,buried at the very bottom in tiny writing. Why do that? Do they want to hide it?
  • ThumbRemote
    ThumbRemote Posts: 4,620 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    grumpygardener wrote: »
    "That's as maybe" = OK, I accept what you saying... BUT I think there are far too many middle men who take a cut. We have a Fairtade stall every month at our church where someone stands totally bored and sells very little. I'm forced to pay Nestl! if I want to eat Kit Kat for including the extra cost of using Fairtrade chocolate, whilst using that as a marketing ploy. I'm also very reluctant to drink Fairtrade horrible instant coffee after service ,just because my church has been told they MUST use Fairtrade products.
    I originally posted a comment about the 10p,buried at the very bottom in tiny writing. Why do that? Do they want to hide it?

    It appears there's very little point discussing it with you.

    Your previous two posts (including the whole purpose for your vent) were factually inaccurate. Now you're just making up more things to try and criticise them. "there are far too many middle men who take a cut" - please provide some evidence for this. "I'm forced to pay Nestle" - well of course you're forced to pay Nestle if you want a Kit Kat.

    What is your actual agenda here?
  • midnitegremlin
    midnitegremlin Posts: 171 Forumite
    I'm going to jump in a bit to defend the OP a bit. There are issues with Fairtrade. A lot of organisations have jumped in wholeheartedly to support the concept.

    And yes, Fairtrade does have positive aspects. But there are issues too. Kit Kats are a good example- Nestle is arguably an unethical business, bit by being "Fairtrade" they do seem to be engaging in a bit of "Greenwashing." Or possibly it does make a massive difference for the farmer. Debate.

    Where I feel the main problem is lies in the fact that people for example assume that by buying Fairtrade they are an "ethical consumer." When , arguably, nothing else in the buying process is ethical.
    If my post doesn't appear to be serious, then it is not serious. So what? Kick back, relax enjoy life and have a little fun. Life is far far too short to be grumpy!!!!
  • grumpygardener
    grumpygardener Posts: 29 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    ThumbRemote wrote: »
    It appears there's very little point discussing it with you.

    Your previous two posts (including the whole purpose for your vent) were factually inaccurate. Now you're just making up more things to try and criticise them. "there are far too many middle men who take a cut" - please provide some evidence for this. "I'm forced to pay Nestle" - well of course you're forced to pay Nestle if you want a Kit Kat.

    What is your actual agenda here?

    My "actual agenda", and this will be my final rant, is that very little of the extra added to Fairtrade products goes to the farmer. People wrongly assume (as in a post above)that the extra 10p or whatever ends up in the farmers pocket, when in reality very little of it does. Much goes on marketing, advertising, distribution, community improvements, etc, etc.
    Although I accept that the Fairtrade set up does improve lives, the extra price is a rip off and people would be far better donating directly to charities which work directly with world's poor.
  • Hermione_Granger
    Hermione_Granger Posts: 1,418 Forumite
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    grumpygardener wrote: »
    and people would be far better donating directly to charities which work directly with world's poor.


    And you think that charities don't have running costs, expenses and staff wages to pay in both this country and the overseas countries in which they operate?
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