Home > what's a World Shop? > Fair Trade stores

Fair Trade stores

Fair Trade stores are the places where you can actually support Fair Trade and make an impact on South producers' lives.

When thinking about where you will buy, for example, your Fair Trade food, I would suggest bearing this in mind:

• As your first option, consider finding a World Shop near you; walk to it and let the spirit of Fair Trade in. Usually they are run by an Alternative Trade Organization (ATO), i.e., an NGO committed to Fair Trade.

  ATOs themselves find producers in developing countries and work with them in a supportive way to get them into the business. Large ones also import the product into their shops themselves or distribute them for other NGOs to sell.

  a World Shop in Guernsey. Photo by VeloBella

• If you happen to live far from any World Shop, as a second option I would list shopping on-line from any ATO which is available in your country. Please bear in mind that when you buy on-line there is an extra amount of pollution generated due to home delivery, and this can be significant if you select a provider from the other side of the world. Check first if any domestic NGO that you like has on-line commerce and use it. Buy as local as possible.

  Additionally, pay attention to any news service of your choice; may be there is an interesting expo for you to attend.

•  

• Finally, some large retailers offer Fairtrade items such as coffee, chocolate, sugar, tea or fresh fruit. As they are not Fair Trade NGOs and can't endorse the products, the products themselves show their own certification label.

  To me, this is the last option when buying any Fairtrade product. While the benefit for the producers may be the same, mainstream retailers may not support Fair Trade as wholeheartedly as ATOs, and usually they do not apply the behaviour code associated with ATOs: long-term commitment to justice, personal relationship with producers based on mutual trust... and the rest of the criteria which NGOs embrace.

So... still there? C'mon, go and shop !

Back to the top of this page about Fair Trade stores?