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With excitement and enthusiasm we presented a stall at Manchester's first Fairtrade Market in September. It was organised by the City Council, perhaps in response to the city being declared the 100th Fair rade Town earlier this year. The purpose of the Fairtrade Towns initiative is to raise the profile and sales of Fairtrade products so that more producers in developing countries can benefit from a fairer system of trade.
Since September we have supported the market in the hope that more traders (fair traders that is) will participate, attracting new customers and spreading the Fairtrade message. So far trade has been slow, not just in terms of sales, but in the reticence of the general public to get involved. According to the Fairtrade Foundation 1 in 2 adults in the UK recognize the Fairtrade mark, doubling in the past two years from 25%. This is brilliant news, but what we need to do is to encourage people to try and buy, thereby helping them to overcome preconceived ideas about price and taste. For the November Market we have ordered extra copies of "Fair Comment" (a thrice yearly update on Fairtrade news, published by The
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News) to hand out and aim to design and print some A5 leaflets headed "Trading Facts" using bullet points to highlight salient features. We'll also be sampling Fairtrade Chocolate, selling Divine Hot Chocolate and with a bit of luck and hard work, Eighth Day Café's very own Fairtrade Bonfire toffee.
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