Blog
Firm Foundations for Fair Trade
25th May 2008
Demand for fair trade products is rising nearly twenty times faster than the growth of the UK economy amid signs that consumers are increasingly willing to pay a premium price for ethical products.
The Independent today carries a story on this based on new figures produced by the Fair Trade foundation. The total value of UK sales jumped 72 per cent last year, from £325m to £560m, more than double the rise in Germany and France. And Britons bought almost 30 per cent of the world’s total value of Fairtrade goods. Their leading article on the fair trade revolution is well worth a read.
I am really looking forward to meeting and listening to Harriet Lamb the CEO of the Fair Trade Foundation when she speaks at our annual Conference for Economics Teachers at the superb British Library conference centre on Friday 27th June. The rise of fair trade is a particularly interesting aspect of applied micro and macroeconomics - I want to know more about the impact that fair trade purchases actually have and delegates at the conference will be able to take away some extra background information and products from their day at London.
Geoff Riley
Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for over thirty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD conferences in the UK and overseas.