Fair Trade Stat-tastic Statistics

by zarah

Published September 28, 2008 @ 07:59AM PT

Key Fair Trade figures broken down for you.

The Fair Trade Price

$1.31/lb ($1.21/lb, plus a social premium of $.10/lb)

Minimum price for Fair Trade non-organic coffee.

$1.51/lb ($1.21/lb, plus a social premium of $.20)

Minimum price for Fair Trade and Certified Organic coffee.

With craft production, the concept of a minimum price starts to get sticky; it's difficult to quantify exactly how much it costs, in dollar terms, to produce an item, such as a scarf or bamboo bowls. When calculating such a cost, one must consider time, the cost of raw materials, and labor; these factors vary from country to country and  region to region. The lack of uniformity, however, allows for greater dialogue between the buyer and the artisan to negotiate a fair price, in which the artisan can assess and articulate the value of her work and be directly involved in the decision-making process.

Sales on the Rise

• $2.21 Billion

o        Amount spent on Fair Trade Certified commodities in 2006.

• 41%

o   Increase in money spent on FTC commodities from 2005 to 2006 worldwide.

• 1.4 million

o   Number of producers worldwide that benefit from Fair Trade in 2006.

• 93%

o   Increase in FTC cocoa sales from 2005 to 2006.

• 53%

o   Increase in FTC coffee sales from 2005 to 2006.

• 41%

o   Increase in FTC tea sales from 2005 to 2006.

• 31%

o   Increase in FTC banana sales from 2005 to 2006.

• From 1514 to 1954

o   Increased number of FT licensees in 2006

• Nearly 700 (TransFairUSA)

o   Number of U.S. companies selling FTC commodities in 2006 in approx. 40,000 retail locations nationwide.

• 76% (TransFairUSA 2006)

o   Annual average increase of FTC commodities imported into the U.S. in past five years due to growth in coffee, tea, and cocoa, as well as the addition of new FT certified products such as vanilla, rice and sugar.

• $2.6 billion (IFAT)

o   Total amount of Fair Trade sales overall (commodities and crafts) in 2006.

• $160+million (FTF)

o   Total amount of Fair Trade Federation member sales in 2006.

Empowering Women

70%

Number of women participating in non-agricultural Fair Trade production in 2004.

Women are more or less the main reason why Fair Trade handicrafts, as we know them today, exist. In 1946  Edna Ruth Byler, the woman who later founded Ten Thousand Villages, went to Puerto Rico to work with female artisans living below the poverty line, helping them sell their products from her basement in the U.S. and eventually founing what is now known as Ten Thousand Villages, one of the largest Fair Trade retailers in the United States.

In many developing nations, women are marginalized and receive little or no education, so craftwork is often the only viable employment option. These women are involved in an international market in which they are part of the negotiation process, make the final buying decisions, dictate how the money is allocated, and gain important business and leadership skills.

Surplus of Fair Trade Products, But Where's the Demand?

Two Percent

Amount of cocoa sold under Fair Trade terms by Kuapa Kokoo cocoa cooperative in Ghana . The rest of the cocoa must be sold at market prices, which often fluctuate below the costs of production and offer no social premium. The only solution is to encourage more consumers to buy more Fair Trade products and increase the demand, so producers can actually reap the benefit of their hard work and not get discouraged by the system.