Introduction

While the Fair Trade movement has taken off most notably in the UK and US, its

presence in Singapore has room for growth. The majority of Fair Trade products arrive in

supermarkets and shopping centres largely through the efforts of UK coffee company

Café Direct as well as multinationals such as Marks & Spencers. A smaller though

significant percentage arrive through the “organic backdoor”, in products that have

double certification.

Given the established consumer culture of Singapore, Fair Trade has high potential for

encouraging ethical consumption – if leveraged properly. This guide seeks to list the

various Fair Trade items available in Singapore, to benefit ethical consumers – and

thereby create that leverage.

A decent living wage

Protect the environment

Sustainable community development

Access to international markets

Ensuring labour rights

Reduce harmful addictions

What’s Fair Trade?

Fair Trade is generally regarded as the gold standard in ethical consumption, given its

wide recognition, comprehensive standards, and independent certification. It’s a good

alternative to unfair trade rules such as import tariffs and Western farm subsidies. Most

of all, it’s proven to make a significant difference in the lives of the producers groups it

supports.

As defined by the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation, “Fair-trade is a trading partnership,

based on dialogue, transparency and respect, which seeks greater equity in international

trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to,

and securing the rights of, marginalised producers and workers – especially in the

South. Fair-trade organisations (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in

supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules

and prqactices of conventional international trade.”

Why Fair Trade?

Farmers & producer groups are usually paid a fraction of the eventual sale price of a product.

Farmers implement integrated crop management and avoid the use of toxic agrochemicals for pest management.

Farmers’ and workers organisations receive a ‘social premium’ to invest back in their communities. This can be used to improve health services, provide medical supplies, build schools, and provide education for children.

Fair Trade helps producers to gain a better understanding international markets, providing them with contacts and resources to present their products at international fairs.

Through cooperatives and trade unions, workers are better able to defend their rights. Children are not exploited.

Provide farmers with economically viable alternatives to the growing of coca and opium poppies, the raw materials for cocaine and heroin. (according to TransFair USA)

The various trademarks

Consumers, however, do need to take note of the 3 main standards in use:

The Fairtrade Mark is used mostly for commodity products.

Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International

(www.fairtrade.net/) develops the standards while FLO-CERT

GMBH (www.flo-cert.net) certifies producers. The most common

Fair Trade logo around.

Used solely by US companies and is administered by TransFair

USA (www.transfairusa.org/).

The World Fair Trade Organisation Mark (www.wfto.com) is

used to certify companies, not products, especially those which

retail “fairly traded” handicrafts.

Community Trade vs. Fair Trade

The Body Shop has been running their community trade scheme

since 1986, much longer than the Fair Trade concept itself. In the late

Anita Roddick's book, Business as Unusual, she lays out the

company guidelines on the small communities they trade with: 1)

Social or economically marginalised involved with and benefit from

the trade, 2) Commercially viable, 3) Able to build a trading relationship that can benefit

the primary producer or processor, and 4) Using a product or process that is both

socially and economically benign and sustainable.

So while its products are ‘fairly traded’ (as opposed to Fairtrade), as big name brands go,

it’s done much more than any of its competitors, with its far-reaching codes of conduct

and extensive reporting on its own social and environmental practices.

Website: www.thebodyshop.com.sg/Support+Community+Trade.html

Rainforest Alliance vs. Fair Trade So This

This chart summarises the main differences between Fair Trade and the Rainforest

Alliance, used by McDonald’s in Singapore. From the Organic Consumers Association:

www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18372.cfm

Fair Trade vs. Ethically Traded

While both terms are widely used, they are

not interchangeable. The main difference

between the two terms is that one is

independently certified.

Starbucks sells “ethically traded coffee”,

and just one blend of Fairtrade coffee (Café

Estima) by the bag.

Website: www.starbucks.com.sg

Associations & Networks

While Singapore does not yet have a National Initiative

to look after the promotion and development of Fair

Trade in the county, the community-run Fair Trade SG

network connects Fair Trade businesses and ethical

consumers, and provides updates on the development

of Fair Trade and helps organise FT events.

World Fair Trade Day 2008

Date: 10 May 2008

Location: Food #03

Green Carnival booth

Date: 2 Oct 2006

Location: NUS

The Great Singapore (Fair Trade) Sale

Date: 8 Jun 2008

Location: Food For Thought

Fair Trade SG Yahoo group: groups.yahoo.com/group/FairTradeSG/

Fair Trade SG Facebook group: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7707116501

Contact: Jared Tham, theflyinguniversity at yahoo.com.sg

Fair Trade companies

Cafédirect is the UK’s largest Fairtrade

coffee company. Their contribution to

Fairtrade goes far above what the

Fairtrade mark requires, with 70% of

their profits going back to producer

groups. Singapore is their second

Asian base, after Hong Kong.

Cafédirect products are distributed

through 2 main channels. Their commercial channel distributes its Fairtrade coffee, tea

and hot chocolate through outlets such as Market Place, Three-Sixty, Cold Storage,

Giant, Fair Price Finest, and more recently, through 13 Cedele cafes.

Its NGO channel distributes through Food #03, a neat little vegetarian restaurant in Little

India. Book Café has also recently started selling Cafédirect products at its Clarke Quay

Central branch.

Website: www.cafedirect.co.uk

Contact: Francois Giry, francois.giry at sezamon.com

Website: www.food03.sg

Contact: Woon Tien Wei, admin at food03.sg

Website: www.cedeledepot.com

Contact: Yeap Cheng Guat, cheng at bakdepot.com

Website: bookmart-sg.com/e.html

Contact: Fumiko, kawaguchi at bookmart-store.com

Fair Trade companies

Villagexchange Fair Trade Pte Ltd is a

social enterprise and the first to promote

Fair Trade in Singapore. Its main product

line is a series of locally-designed T-shirts

made of Fairtrade cotton.

Website: www.villagexchange.org

Contact: Joanna Mok, info at villagexchange.org

Bisous La works with WFTO-

certified small co-operatives and

small businesses in Nepal to

produce hand-sewn felt

accessories for women and

girls.

Website: www.bisousla.com

Contact: Helena Messing, info @ bisousla.com

‘Fairly traded’ products

Artisans d'Angkor promotes the fair, sustainable

development of Cambodian arts and crafts with benefits to

rural communities. It has pioneered a new social policy in

Cambodia with contracted levels of pay along with social and medical benefits. 5% of its

craftsmen are people with disabilities. The craftsmen have formed an association which

holds a 20% share in the company. It is retailing at Changi Terminal 3, Departure Hall,

Mezzanine Level 3.

Website: www.artisansdangkor.com/html/artisans_angkor/notre_vocation.php

Fair Trade Coffee & Tea

Apart from switching most of its coffee and tea to

Fairtrade, Marks & Spencer’s Centrepoint outlet has a

Café Revive that sells only Fairtrade coffee and tea. They

also sell Fairtrade Double Chocolate biscuits and

Fairtrade Chilean honey.

Website: www.marksandspencer.com

Starbucks sells the Café Estima Blend™, its fair trade

blend, by the bag.

Website: www.starbucks.com.sg

Muji commenced sales of fair trade Black coffee and Café

Au Lait in October 2006, in response to requests from

customers who wanted them to sell fair trade products.

Website: http://ryohin-keikaku.jp/eng/csr/

Asia-Euro Marketing Services Pte Ltd has been

supporting and supplying Fairtrade coffees from

Rombouts Coffee (Belgium) & Malongo Coffee (France),

available in vacuum-packed coffee pods for use with their

Spresso machines.

Website: www.malongo-rombouts.com.sg

Ban Choon is Singapore's leading importer and

distributor of organic food. Its products sometimes have

the USDA or NASSA organic labels as part of double

certification.

Website:

www.banchoon.com.sg/general/Products.aspx#organic

Gan Teck Kar Investments Pte Ltd imports the Honest

Tea range, which is Fair Trade-certified and USDA

Organic-certified. Available at Meidi-Ya Supermarket at

the basement of Daimaru.

Fair Trade products in supermarkets

Supermarkets Products

The best stores to find its Fair Trade range is at

Naturally Market Place at Vivo City.

Cafédirect range

Clipper – Tea, Coffee & Hot Chocolate

Wholesome Sweeteners – sugars & molasses

Green and Blacks – Maya Gold Chocolate

London Tea Company – various

Burnt Sugar

Website: www.coldstorage.com.sg/mall/

Carrefour has an entire organic section at their Suntec

location, on consignment from Ban Choon.

Carrefour – inhouse Fair Trade chocolate

Clipper – Organic Fair Trade Drinking Chocolate

Larabar – Organic Fair Trade Food Bars

Wholesome Sweeteners – Organic Dark Brown Sugar.

Website: www.carrefour.com.sg/brand-bio.html

Clipper – Organic Fairtrade Hot Chocolate

Honest Tea – Fair Trade-certified Oolong Tea

FT Organic Cane Sugar from Peru

Café Direct coffee products

Other Fair Trade products

Ben & Jerry’s sells Fairtrade-certified Chocolate ice

cream.

Website: www.benjerry.co.uk/fairtrade/

Fair Trade Maara Shiraz available at Marks & Spencer.

A subsidiary of Monsoon in the UK, Accessorize has 5

stores in Singapore at Bugis Junction, Raffles City, Ngee

Ann City, Metro Paragon, and Changi Airport Terminal 3.

They sell Fair Trade bags from India.

Website: shops.sg/shop/accessorize-raffles-city,

www.monsoon.co.uk/page/fairtrade/

Kiehl’s has launched a cosmetic product named Superbly

Restorative Preparations with Fairly Traded Argan Oil.

The bottles are made with 100% post-consumer recycled

plastic, which is completely biodegradable.

Website: www.kiehls.com/argan/

L’Organic stocks a range of Fair Trade cosmetic products

from Jardin Bio equitable.

Website: www.lorganic.sg

www.leanature.com/pl/produits_uk.pl?p=34

About this Guide

Authorship

This guide is a collaboration by the Fairtrade SG network,

and should be accredited as such.

Distribution

This guide will only be available in digital format, to allow

for multiple updates. It can be found at

www.scribd.com/doc/25432159

A note about copyright

This guide is copyrighted under Creative Commons’

Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Singapore

license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/sg/),

which allows for the document to be shared and remixed,

as along as there is attribution, that this work not be used

for commercial purposes, and that any derivatives be

distributed under similar licenses.

Contributions

To contribute to the development of this guide, please

contact Jared at theflyinguniversity at yahoo.com.sg