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Current and interested Fair Trade licensees are invited to share their business needs, and participate in market linkage and capacity building activities with Fair Trade producers. Below are just a couple examples of industry participation in GPS projects.
GPS relies on the market intelligence of its producer and industry partners to help it identify and prioritize potential GPS projects. While producers are the primary beneficiaries of our work in GPS, industry will also benefit – from higher quality and more stable supply, from additional supply of organics and products from scarce origins, and from stronger and more sophisticated trading partners. We strongly encourage industry’s involvement with GPS during the brainstorming phase of our projects. If you know of producers that could benefit from GPS, please tell us their story and put us in touch with them. We exist to help producers to build more successful businesses, and, in many cases, the people who buy Fair Trade Certified products may are best positioned to help us to identify producer participants and set project priorities. Please contact our Program Director to get involved.
Market Linkage Program Highlights: Industry Participation in Sales Tours
Sales Tours allow Fair Trade producers to increase their knowledge of the US specialty coffee market and develop effective relationships with importers and roasters. TransFair has coordinated over one hundred visits to US cities for Fair Trade farmers to date. These visits help farmers learn about the US market, meet buyers and make sales. As a tertiary benefit, these trips provide compelling first-hand farmer success stories to enhance TransFair USA’s regional consumer education campaigns. TransFair will help producers identify and set up meetings with potential US buyers, accompany farmers to visit clients for translation and sales support, and coordinate the sending of samples and promotional materials to these interested companies.
Market Linkage Program Highlights: Industry Participation in Buyers to Origin Trips Through Buyers to Origin trips, business partners meet farmers and see the benefits of Fair Trade first-hand. TransFair sponsors Fair Trade Tours to origin to introduce roasters and importers to Fair Trade farmers and communities. These tours inform, inspire and increase participants’ commitment to Fair Trade. Past participants have become persuasive advocates for Fair Trade among their industry colleagues. Perry Odak, CEO of the leading natural foods chain Wild Oats Markets, accompanied TransFair CEO Paul Rice on a trip to Mexico in February 2003. Since this visit, Wild Oats has mandated that all purchasing directors buy Fair Trade products as much as possible.
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