appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Carrie Chan

LAWYER EILEEN TAY wants to be an ethical shopper and knows that Fair Trade organisations encourage better environmental practices. Unfortunately for her, finding Fair Trade products in Hong Kong was a task in itself -  until recently, when friends introduced her to a shop in Sheung Wan that sells clothes made from Fair Trade materials.

Tay says she wants to buy more than just clothing to support the Fair Trade movement, but says it's difficult. 'Apart from clothes, other things aren't readily available. And I'm  not a big internet shopper,' she says.

Fair Trade is an international trading partnership that helps marginalised producers and workers negotiate fairer prices and helps them climb out of poverty. A price above market value is usually negotiated through dialogue.

Fairtrade Labelling Organisations - an association of 20 labelling initiatives that promote and market the Fair Trade label in  countries such as the US, Australia and Japan - certify the products. The goods range from handicrafts to foodstuffs -  including coffee, tea, chocolate, bananas, mangoes and sugar - wine and cotton.  To qualify, the producers  must also follow ethical principles such as banning child and slave labour and environmental conservation.

The  movement is still in its infancy in Hong Kong. Although Fair Trade coffee, tea and other foodstuffs have been sold in local supermarkets for a few years, awareness remains  relatively low. Local Fair Trade goods retailers and non-governmental organisations say the World Trade Organisation Ministerial Meeting last December provided a good start to deepening public understanding.

Mary Haigh, manager of St John's  Cathedral bookshop which also stocks  selected food items, says sales of  Fair Trade items had doubled  in the past year despite higher prices. For example, a can of drinking chocolate is about HK$42, twice the price of more popular brands.

The church also serves food with the Fair Trade label. It was started in 2003 by one of the clergy who came from a Fair Trade district in  Britain.

'We're a bookshop, but we thought that by offering this, we could  help raise  social awareness. The people who bought them were those who understood the concept. They were mainly expatriates,' she says. After the WTO publicity, however, Haigh says there's been an increase in  local clientele.

At Oxfam, the strategy has been to make the products readily available, explains its campaign officer Miranda Yip Pui-wah. This is why Oxfam's shop in Tsim Sha Tsui  now offers Fair Trade coffee and tea this month. If the response is positive, it plans to add  sugar and chocolate to the inventory.

'We need to further enhance the awareness that the WTO ministerial meeting generated. Despite the meeting, people here can't really relate to the trade rules. There is awareness, and people are willing to do  good. But the market hasn't been developed,' she says.

In July, Oxfam commissioned AC Nielsen to interview about 300 people, with an average family income of HK$20,000. About 70 per cent  knew the concept, but only 37 per cent had bought Fair Trade products. Almost 80 per cent expressed a willingness to buy the products if they were available, despite the fact that they can be 10 to 20 per cent more expensive.

Oxfam is not the only group who sees this growing appetite. Fair Taste, a food supplies organisation set up by four people with non-governmental background two years ago, is introducing Hong Kong's only accredited Fair Trade coffee roasted by Duncan Cave to individual cafes. Even the University of Hong Kong's student union is organising a Fair Trade week next month.

Despite its slow start, there are also encouraging signs that businesses are slowly responding to the movement.

While local supermarkets such as ParknShop stock only tea and coffee, Marks & Spencer started offering a few clothing items made from Fair Trade materials this year and is selling purely Fair Trade coffee. Great at Pacific Place offers raw cane sugar and cereal bars apart from tea and coffee. The first Fair Trade clothing store Extreme Green has emerged in Sheung Wan, while a high-end foodstore ThreeSixty, to open this winter in the Landmark in Central, would also offer Fair Trade coffee, tea, juice, dried fruits, cocoa, and wine, as well as natural and organic food.

Yip agrees more supermarkets have recognised the niche market.

'More businesses are aware that they have to bear social responsibility.'

One of the perceived problems Fair Trade encounters is that the customer base  is limited to people linked to the non-government sector or the  environmentally conscious. Joshua Begbie, project manager at Crossroads International that sells Fair Trade crafts and coffee, says that although its average daily sales have tripled in  the past six months,  most people came to  the store because they had taken part in  community projects.

Duncan Cave, whose products are certified by the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand, says things are changing slowly but the outlets interested in stocking his Fair Trade coffee  are mainly those who sell organic food.

'For an average cafe, there is still a lack of knowledge. And it's difficult in Hong Kong with the high rents,' says the Hong Kong-based British coffee roaster.

Yip concurs:  'There have been insufficient major players to push the trend. The conscientious ones are too scattered and have limited resources.'

Public education is still the best way to push the Fair Trade movement, proponents say. Oxfam has hired comedian Jim Chim Sui-man as its Fair Trade spokesman this year. Postcards declaring 'Make Trade Fair' and 'Buy the Right Thing' will be distributed at his shows next month. In its new campaign, the farmers have radiant smiles. As  Yip explains, they want to send the message that buying Fair Trade goods brings happiness to these farmers.

Extreme Green is also keen to add a public education element  to its business rather than merely putting  products on the shelves.

Julia Surman, Jo Bryce and Deirdre Butler, the key figures behind the brand, plan to attach tags to the products explaining  why consumers should buy organic and Fair Trade clothing.

Bryce thinks Hong Kong should follow the example of Britain where associated organisations and businesses join forces to organise Fair Trade fortnights.

'At least, the consumers would be armed with the facts. If you don't know how many chemicals go into the T-shirt, you can't buy it. If you do, you make an informed choice. What we are doing is offering people this choice,' says Bryce, a former member of the Civic Exchange with Surman. 'It's actually part of the curriculum at international schools. If they can see the real business in Hong Kong, they can learn better. We have already been invited by schools to deliver talks.'

Leung Pui-fung, one of four founders of coffee supplier Fair Taste which caters to about eight outlets in Hong Kong, says it occasionally  allows cafes to try its coffee for free and sometimes offers event sponsorship.

'It's one of  the ways to change Hongkongers' mindset. Agriculture might seem something far-fetched for Hong Kong people. They are also too busy to give deep thought to this issue,' she says. 'It's still a challenge for them to stop being brand-conscious and make the right value judgment [about the products].'

Hong Kong's smaller Fair Trade ventures have a long way to go before they are sustainable. Leung and her partners, for instance, still keep their day jobs and run Fair Taste in their free time. 'It's not possible to talk about profit because we don't make any. Our original aim is to introduce the Fair Trade concept to Hong Kong people.'

Cave also says Fair Trade coffee only accounts for about 10 per cent of his wholesale  business.

According to Yip, the next step is to engage the young audience, such as  university students. This is why Oxfam   will support Fair Trade week at the University of Hong Kong next month.

'We  really see them as the potential buyers in the future,' she says.

For doubts about the authenticity of Fair Trade labels, send queries to the Fairtrade Labelling Organisations at info@fairtrade.net



SUSTAINABLE TABLE