Fair Trade Marketing

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Fair Trade market creation and marketing in the Global South

Bob Doherty a,⇑, Alastair Smith b, Sara Parker c

a The York Management School, University of York, Freboys Lane, York YO10 5GD, UK b School of Planning and Geography, Cardiff University, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, Wales CF10 3WA, UK c School of Humanities and Social Science, Liverpool John Moores University, John Foster Building, 80-98 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L3 5UZ, UK

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:

Received 8 October 2014

Received in revised form 17 April 2015

Accepted 30 April 2015

Available online 11 May 2015

Keywords:

Fair Trade

Marketing

Global South

Geographical entanglements

Moral geographies

Mainstreaming

a b s t r a c t

Fair Trade emerged to commercialise Southern products in the Global North on terms overtly beneficial

to Southern producers. However, a contemporary phenomenon is the development of Fair Trade con-

sumer markets within the Global South itself: and the paper explores this as a contribution to the evolv-

ing geographies of ethical consumerism. Data was captured from secondary sources and field visits that

included in-depth interviews and participant observation. Analysis is informed by theories of market cre-

ation developed in economic geography and economic sociology. As such we focus on understanding (1)

the architecture, or networks and institutions, of commercialisation, governance and certification and (2)

the marketing practices and strategies, designed to resonate with and develop cognitive association

amongst consumers. Given the alternative geographies of South–South vis-à-vis South–North Fair

Trade, we deepen the geographical focus by applying frameworks emerging from the concept of ‘geo-

graphical entanglement’. Findings identify the similarities and differences of both Southern Fair Trade

market creation and marketing compared to the European experience. In some cases, the place-based

‘othering’, often used to develop sympathetic cognitive frames in Northern marketing, is identified, but

this time operates around alternative geographical binaries. In other cases, we highlight instances that

avoid such divisive place-making, and which instead draw on inclusive, rather than divisive, imagined

geographies, overlaid with the collective aspiration for development, pride and dignity. These findings

therefore inform the nature of geographical entanglement followed by ethical market creation, as wellas contributing to the wider theoretical understanding of moral geographies endogenous to the Global

South.

2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Fair Trade sales have grown in Northern consumer markets of

Western Europe and North America to reach £5.24 billion

(Fairtrade International, 2013, p. 12). This makes Fair Trade one

of the most significant sectors of ethical consumerism in the world.

To date, research has mainly focused on the relationship betweenSouthern producers, Northern companies and consumers in the

foundational Fair Trade markets of Europe and North America,

and conceptualised as part of a movement to reform inequalities

in international trade (Raynolds et al., 2007). However, a recent

phenomenon is the development of Fair Trade consumer markets

in the Global South itself, particularly in the economies of South

Africa, Kenya and Brazil (Fairtrade International, 2013, p. 10). We

also add Nepal to our country case studies, in order to contribute

to earlier work on the development of a domestic Fair Trade hand-

icraft market (see below).

Despite the emergence of Fair Trade consumer markets in the

Global South, delegates at the 4th International Fair Trade

Symposium (2012) agreed there is a dearth of research concerning

both how these markets have developed, and how marketingstrategies and practices have driven sales growth (Doherty and

Huybrechts, 2013). The vast majority of research on Fair Trade

has concentrated on South–North sales and therefore, critiques of

market development and marketing have mostly focused on con-

sumer markets in the Global North. Although there is some early

work on the development of Fair Trade markets in the Global

South (Biggs and Lewis, 2009; Biggs and Messerschmidt, 2005;

Wilkinson and Mascarenhas, 2007), this is empirically and theoret-

ically nascent. In addition, there is a lack of accessible research

from scholars on Fair Trade marketing and market creation, which

is of concern given the role that academics have previously played

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.04.015

0016-7185/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

⇑ Corresponding author.

E-mail addresses: [email protected] (B. Doherty), [email protected]

(A. Smith), [email protected] (S. Parker).

Geoforum 67 (2015) 158–171

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Geoforum

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in the development of the Northern Fair Trade movement (Nicholls

and Opal, 2005).

The lack of attention to Southern Fair Trade markets is also

problematic as wider research demonstrates that as incomes

amongst growing middle classes increase, these consumers are

often more likely to incorporate social and environmental factors

into their purchasing (Ariztia et al., 2014; Barbosa and Veloso,

2014; Guarin and Knorringa, 2014; Kaus, 2013; Njuguna et al.,2014; Oliveria, 2014; Schäfer et al., 2011). In Brazil for example,

the middle class is reported to constitute 100 m people (50% of

the population) with an increasing discretionary spend (World

Bank, 2013). South Africa (SA) now reports a middle class of

10.4 m people (21.3% of the population) with a propensity for vis-

ible consumption (Kaus, 2013; Visagie, 2014). However, despite

the phenomenon, Ariztia et al. (2014) argue that the role, and

therefore research around, the consumer in these nascent ethical

markets is overemphasised compared to the role played by

NGOs, networks, institutions (e.g. the state) and Corporate Social

Responsibility (CSR) initiatives by Multi-National Corporations

(MNCs). These arguments are also supported by work that shows

the importance of both private standards (e.g. Fairtrade certifica-

tion) and environmental education in stimulating ethical con-

sumption (Guarin and Knorringa, 2014; Ritter et al., 2014).

Therefore, research on the growing emergence of Fair Trade mar-

kets offers to contribute to the current literature, especially where

the work goes beyond the traditional focus on the role of the

consumer.

In order to add value to current knowledge, the paper makes a

foundational contribution by providing the first consolidated

empirical account of Fair Trade market creation from across

Southern continents: with case studies from Brazil, Kenya, South

Africa and Nepal. To unpack the development of these ethical mar-

kets, we take a novel approach in the study of Fair Trade by draw-

ing on interdisciplinary theory from economic geography and

economic sociology (Berndt and Boeckler, 2009; Fligstein and

Dauter, 2007). Deconstructing the operation of markets, we adopt

the proposition that market creation is underpinned by three irre-ducible social forces: (1) networks, (2) institutions, and (3) cogni-

tive frames (see below for definitions). Moreover, we aim to

develop the geographical focus of this perspective by analysing

the fundamental geographical reconfiguration embedded in the

development of South–South trade, vis-à-vis South–North interac-

tions. Here we draw on the conceptual framework of ‘‘geographical

entanglement’’ (Pike, 2009, 2013) and further compare and con-

trast differences in networks (the actors involved), institutions

(the rules for organising Fair Trade activities) and the efforts to res-

onate with, and develop, associations to cognitive frames (through

branding and marketing practices). Comparisons are drawn both

between new Southern cases studies and existing practices and

knowledge around South–North constructions.

The paper falls into four major sections. Firstly, after a brief summary of the underpinning theory of market creation, we

reinterpret the literatures associated with the development of

Fair Trade markets using this new theoretical lens. Here we

account for the creation of Fair Trade markets in the Global

North in terms of the creation of networks, institutions and

development of cognitive frames in branding and marketing.

Secondly, the paper presents our exploratory case study method-

ology, which draws on a series of semi-structured interviews,

participant observation from country field visits and both public

and internal secondary documents. Thirdly, we analyse the data

from our four country case studies, Brazil, Kenya, South Africa

and Nepal, and present empirical themes as well as reflecting

on the consequences for geographical associations. The final sec-

tion concludes with an overall discussion and suggestions forfurther research.

2. The market creation and marketing of Southern Fair Trade to

Northern consumers

Despite the continued narrow treatment of markets as the man-

ifestations of exchange between buyers and sellers, literature in

economic geography and economic sociology offers a deeper theo-

retical account useful for interpreting the creation and develop-

ment of Fair Trade markets. Although there is debate overdiffering signification and conceptual composition (Fligstein and

Dauter, 2007), there is emerging agreement that markets are com-

posed of three distinct, yet interrelated dynamic social compo-

nents: networks (of producers, intermediaries, retailers and other

actors), institutions (which organise and govern the activities of

trade, and we implicitly argue below include the rules of private

certification systems) and cognitive frames (that provide struc-

tures of values and meanings in which trade is embedded)

(Beckert, 2010; Berndt and Boeckler, 2011). One of the key charac-

teristics of this conceptualisation is that whilst other literatures

have treated the individual components of market creation sepa-

rately, these are irreducible and mutually interrelated through

dynamic interactions: with changes in one market component

often influencing reconfiguration in others (Beckert, 2010).

Furthermore, Berndt and Boeckler (2011) argue that morality is

also important in market creation. Although some work has con-

sidered the influence of cognitive frames on production networks

(Hughes et al., 2008), neither ethical production in general or

Fair Trade more specifically have been examined through the

above theoretical lens. Therefore, the following review of the liter-

ature concerned with the growth of Fair Trade as an ethical con-

sumption phenomenon, reinterprets existing knowledge for two

purposes: the first to test wider theorisation through the previ-

ously unconsidered case of Fair Trade market creation; and second,

to summarise existing knowledge of Fair Trade markets as back-

ground for the analysis of data generated in the previously unex-

plored context of the Global South.

2.1. The architecture of Fair Trade markets: Network and institutional

development

Until 1988, Fair Trade was mainly referred to as a political

movement advocating for changes to international trade rules

and practices to provide better terms of trade for marginalised

Southern producers (Fridell, 2004a). However, as noted by theories

of market creation (Fligstein and Dauter, 2007), actors who have

found themselves excluded from, what are often termed as ‘con-

ventional’ markets in the Fair Trade literature, sought to create

new market niches in which to perform more effectively. Indeed,

disheartened with the failures of state institutions to create a more

amenable context for Southern exports, from the 1950s organisa-

tions in Europe and North America partnered with Southern pro-ducers to move beyond advocacy and actively create so-called

Alternative Trade networks (EFTA, 2006). Fair Trade goods were

initially sold through churches and small-scale ‘‘world shops’’

(Huybrechts, 2012; Ingenbleek and Reinders, 2013), driven by a

cognitive frame concerned with reconfiguring the structural

inequalities of South–North trade (Raynolds et al., 2007). Given

the fundamental focus of Fair Trade on issues of economic geogra-

phy, we argue for the value of tracing the nature of ‘‘geographical

entanglements’’ (Pike, 2011, 2013), or the geographical character-

istics of market components within Fair Trade markets, and it is

towards this contribution that the paper progressively builds.

Market creation took a new form in 1989 when the first Fair

Trade certification system, represented by the Max Havelaar label,

was launched in the Netherlands to offer Alternative Trade net-works a new institutional regime to structure their activities.

B. Doherty et al./ Geoforum 67 (2015) 158–171 159


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Following the success of this system, other Fair Trade national cer-

tification initiatives emerged in Europe, North America and Japan,

and in 1997, seventeen of these grouped together to form the

Fairtrade Labelling Organization (FLO), now Fairtrade

International.1 Further individual Fairtrade National Labelling initia-

tives have emerged, and by 2014 there were 19 such organisations

(including Fairtrade Eastern Africa and South Africa). As predicted

by wider market creation theory, the new trade network actorsand associated institutional regimes have precipitated wider

changes. With independent guarantees of ethical production and

trade conditions, Fair Trade products could enter conventional trade

networks (such as those coordinated by supermarkets and MNCs),

whilst preserving their appeal to consumers embedded in cognitive

frames that included ethical commitments (Barrientos and Smith,

2007). It was a result of this so-called ‘mainstreaming’, that some

Fairtrade Marked products now hold significant market shares e.g.

50% of bananas sold in Switzerland are Fairtrade certified

(Fairtrade International, 2013, p. 14).

At the same time, another global organisation driven by similar

cognitive commitments to reducing structural trade inequalities

offered another institutional framework for the expansion of Fair

Trade markets. The World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO – for-

merly the International Federation for Alternative Traders, IFAT)

was launched in 1989 and is now a global network of over 300

Fair Trade organisations (exporters, importers and retailers). In

contrast to Fairtrade International, the WFTO has mainly worked

with handicrafts as opposed to commodity agricultural products.

When membership was formalised, those affiliated were peer

reviewed around their ability to meet the WFTO’s Ten Principles

of Fair Trade. In 2004 the WFTO also launched its own accredita-

tion label for whole organisations, which also differed from the pro-

duct certification provided by Fairtrade International. However, in

2013 the WFTO also contributed to the new institutional regime

of independent private certification with a product label of its

own (Smith, 2014). Importantly, this system has been devised with

a strong focus on the promotion of South–South trade; which has

long been part of the WFTO agenda as a means to support producerlivelihoods (IFAT, 2000, p. 7).

Although some academic and media discourses treat Fair Trade

as one homogenous movement (Fridell, 2004a), it is clear that Fair

Trade networks and institutional frameworks are highly diverse.

These can range from Alternative Trading Organisations (ATOs),

such as Traidcraft in the UK and CTM Altomercato in Italy working

closely with small-holder farming communities, through to major

MNCs, implementing Fair Trade supply chain mandates on existing

suppliers (often captured in supply chain typologies: see Doherty

et al., 2012; Reed, 2009). Again, as predicted by the wider theorisa-

tion of market creation, the involvement of supermarkets and

MNCs in these supply networks has changed the dynamics of

Fair Trade markets. Firstly, supermarkets advertise products carry-

ing the label and arguably contribute to the cognitive frame of con-sumers, for some of whom (so-called ethical consumers, largely

from the middle classes) Fair Trade becomes a growing part of

everyday consumption. Secondly, institutional changes have

occurred through choice editing, where Fairtrade has become the

only option in a given supermarket product category e.g. bananas

(Bezencon and Blili, 2010). Less positively, some scholars have also

argued that the widening of Fairtrade markets has come at the

expense of diluting the very meaning of Fair Trade in the main-

stream and beyond ( Jaffee, 2010; Jaffee and Howard, 2010;

Smith, 2013c). Finally, another development in network composi-

tion has been the involvement of Fair Trade campaign groups e.g.

Fair Trade towns and other places (Smith, 2015). These have also

explicitly incorporated public institutions within Fair Trade mar-

kets (Fisher, 2009; Smith, 2013a), and such possibilities have also

recently been supported by changes in European public procure-

ment rules (therefore showing the influence of supra-state institu-

tions on market dynamics).

2.2. Resonating with cognitive framings: The geographicalentanglement of Fair Trade branding and marketing

The literature on Fair Trade consumerism, which so far has been

limited to studies in the Global North, identifies the contested nat-

ure of the cultural frames that underpin Fair Trade markets. There

is a body of evidence that demonstrates some consumers are will-

ing to factor in social justice into their purchase decisions ( Bondy

and Talwar, 2011; Davies and Crane, 2003; Pelsmacker et al.,

2005; Shaw and Shiu, 2003). Some interpret this as supported by

cognitive framings built around a new ethic of care for ‘distant

strangers’ (Morgan, 2010, p. 1857). Alternatively, a more sociolog-

ically theorised analysis interprets this as part of moral identity

construction (Barnett et al., 2005), where motivation forms part

of self-reassurance over moral standing, as exemplified by the

‘warm glow’ (LeClair, 2002) associated by Fair Trade critics with

the obfuscation of actual concern for producer welfare. To develop

this concept, Varul (2009) proposes the notion of ‘‘ethical selving’’,

where consumers are able to refer to a particular area of their

behaviour identified as morally relevant (e.g. shopping and con-

sumption). However, Dickinson and Carsky (2005) argue the

remoteness between production and consumption actors is inher-

ently problematic: meaning that consumers often have limited

knowledge of agricultural process and therefore limited insight

into the implications of their purchasing decision.

Building on this understanding, it is suggested that in order to

resonate with these cultural frames, Fair Trade creates links

‘‘forged semiotically through the discursive and visual narratives

that saturate. . .[products] with politicised and ethical meanings

intended for extensive reading by consumers’’ (Goodman, 2004,p. 893). Further analysis of Fair Trade marketing finds that effective

communication strategies, which embody principles and practices

of Fair Trade in digestible and acceptable texts, are found to be fun-

damental to market growth (Golding, 2009; McDonagh, 2002). The

most specific theme is the power of a trustworthy, third-party pro-

duct label, of which the Fairtrade Mark is found to be an interna-

tional exemplar in its ability to drive the mainstream

commercialisation of ethical consumption (D’Souza et al., 2007;

Shaw and Clarke, 1999; Zadek et al., 1998). This is because a pro-

duct label concentrates the cognitive framing of a social movement

in a specific type of brand (Larceneux et al., 2012), whilst also con-

tributing directly to the multifaceted brand construction of the

physical product (Holt, 2004). The advantage of product labelling

over Alternative Trade branding strategies can be seen in the expe-rience of the WFTO, which in response to declining European sales

has finally developed a label for use on product packaging (see

above). Furthermore, research on Fair Trade marketing shows the

importance of balancing both quality and social/environmental

themes in crafting marketing communications (Bezencon and

Blili, 2010; Golding, 2009), as Northern consumers often assume

that Fair Trade products are not of the same physical quality as cor-

porate speciality alternatives (Obermiller et al., 2009).

Considering the characteristics of Fair Trade marketing in the

UK, literature suggests that this has moved through three distinct

framings in its attempt to build cognitive resonance with ethical

consumers. The first focused on the Fair Trade process to appeal

to strongly ethical consumers; a second aimed to widen appeal

by highlighting the intrinsic physical qualities of the product itself;and the third has built on identity construction through Fair Trade

1 ‘‘Fairtrade’’ (capitalised one word) is the brand name owned by Fairtrade

International. To refer to the movement or general market, and in the context of scholarly literature, the capitalised term ‘‘Fair Trade’’ (two words) is used here.

160 B. Doherty et al./ Geoforum 67 (2015) 158–171


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places (Alexander and Nicholls, 2006). Indeed, based on a cam-

paign in Garstang in the UK, the ideas of firstly Fairtrade Towns,

then schools and universities, have become an important interna-

tional marketing strategy (Samuel and Emanuel, 2012; Smith,

2015).

Aside from some discussion of Fair Trade place-making how-

ever, analysis of marketing construction has only considered the

inherent ‘‘geographical entanglements’’ of promoting South–North supply networks in limited ways. Therefore, there is value

in drawing on literature developed through the consideration of

conventional profit focused brandings (Pike, 2013; Tokatli, 2014),

but for the first time applied to ethical market creation. This liter-

ature suggests three major avenues through which geographical

entanglement can occur (Pike, 2009, p. 619). The first is the geo-

graphically definable spatial circuits of value and uneven develop-

ment that are created, and which might be understood to mirror

the identification of networks in market creation discussed above

– and their inherent power structures which drive stakeholders

for either stability or change depending on their perceived balance

of gains and costs (Fligstein and Dauter, 2007). Secondly, geo-

graphical entanglement occurs in the construction of geographical

origins, provenance and socio-spatial histories of products – and

which impacts how markets are created as branders proactively

build cognitive resonance with other network actors (such as con-

sumers) to socially construct the appeal of products. Finally, it is

noted that geographical entanglement is found in territorial and

relational spaces and places (Pike, 2009, p. 619). For the purposes

of this paper we will focus on the geographies of networks and

their representation in branding and marketing, as a shift from

South–North to South–South supply chains logically implies the

likelihood of fundamental reconfigurations.

Whilst the conceptual framework of geographical entanglement

has not been previously employed per se to Fair Trade marketing,

extant literature exposes the issues through the suggestion that

Fair Trade can re-connect producers and consumers; therefore,

unveiling both the relational, spatial and placial relations usually

obscured in the commoditisation process. At the wider scale, alarge volume of work demonstrates how economic and cultural

meanings are created using different geographical knowledges to

promote the consumption of different commodities (Crang, 1996;

Hughes and Reimer, 2004): such as, sweeping physical landscapes,

geo-historical heritage, realities of production and distribution,

discursive associations and the use of naturalistic knowledges

(Morris and Kirwan, 2010). Indeed, building on Goodman’s

(2004) recognition of a focus on geographical representation,

Smith (2013b) uses the example of Fair Trade relations between

Scotland and Malawi to suggest that despite claims made around

the power of abstract ethical appeals, these might become more

efficacious when embedded in ‘moral geographies’: created

through the transformation of spaces into places, and intercon-

nected through morally grounded relationships played out in aframework of relational ethics.

In more critical approaches to the analysis of geographic

entanglements, some authors have found origin countries pre-

sented by Fair Trade marketing as ‘destitute’ and ‘desperate’ for

Western-led redemption; therefore categorising Fair Trade dis-

courses as modern equivalents to colonial narratives, where exotic

lands are steeped in backwardness awaiting imperial salvation

(Berlan, 2008; Dolan, 2005; Goodman, 2004; Wright, 2004). In fact,

a number of authors propose the realities of production in remote

sites can actually result in new fetishes due to a reductionist scope

that omits issues of financial and technical exclusion (Freidberg,

2003; Marston, 2013); in some cases due to bureaucracy deeply

entangled in geographic classification (Smith, 2014). The general

recommendation of this work might not only be for a reconfigura-tion of the geographically embedded narratives of Fair Trade

marketing, but perhaps a more wholesale reallocation of represen-

tative power, back to the subjects of the discourses themselves

(Smith, 2013b).

However, the inescapable pervasion of South–North geographic

entanglements questions the extent to which this knowledge

either represents or offers the tools to create understanding for

those building markets in the Global South. Indeed, a study of

Fair Trade handicraft producers in Bangladesh identified FairTrade as linked to regional development and national pride around

the support of domestic craft producers (Le Mare, 2012). Here the

geographical framing of Fair Trade has to be constructed around

other identity relations, and in this case, the national context offers

inclusive as opposed to divisive imagined geographies of place in

the construction of Fair Trade markets. In Nepal, Biggs and Lewis

(2009, p. 385) highlight how producer profiles have been used to

connect consumers to producers, whilst avoiding the negative

stereotypes which often dominate Northern marketing of Fair

Trade products. Having said this, other work also shows that hand-

made processes are important in constructing a desirable set of social

qualities for Fair Trade products (Biggs and Messerschmidt, 2005).

In summary, the above literature offers a wealth of cross disci-

plinary concepts and frameworks through which to understand

Fair Trade market creation and the fundamental role of geograph-

ical entanglement embedded within it. To this end, we contribute

to the Fair Trade literature by adapting the market forces model

proposed by Beckert (2010, p. 612) to show how the social ele-

ments of market creation have combined with geographical entan-

glements to create the foundational European Fair Trade markets

(see Fig. 1). This model is then used in the analysis of the following

empirical cases, which we use to explore the new phenomenon of

ethical market creation in the Global South.

3. Methodology

The methodology that underpins this paper drew on privileged

access to Fair Trade networks composed of Fair Trade labelling

organisations, manufacturers and retailers in the Global South(Glaser, 1992). Therefore, an exploratory case study approach

was selected as the principal method of gaining in-depth informa-

tion (Yin, 2009), and we investigated the development of Fair Trade

markets in Kenya, South Africa (SA), Brazil and Nepal. These cases

were selected due to the reported emergence of Fair Trade con-

sumer markets (Fairtrade International, 2013, p. 10), and availabil-

ity of some academic research (Biggs and Lewis, 2009; Doherty,

2004; Wilkinson and Mascarenhas, 2007), but also due to the pres-

ence of divergent drivers – known to the authors due to their

engagement in practice networks.

The methods of enquiry were predominantly qualitative in

order to obtain rich contextual understanding and promote revela-

tory case insight (Mintzberg, 1979; Van Maanen, 1979). A total of7

field visits to Brazil, Kenya, South Africa and Nepal were carried outbetween May 2012 and March 2015. During this fieldwork a total

of 22 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with

informants from Fair Trade organisations, manufacturers of

Fairtrade Marked products and retailers (as detailed in Table 1).

Each of the interviews lasted around one hour, were digitally

recorded and subsequently fully transcribed. In addition, partici-

pant observation of Fair Trade practitioner events in the specific

countries2 were carried out, and totalled 11 days of observation.

Secondary data is also utilised from a range of promotional

materials and internal organisational documents, and this use of

multiple sources provided opportunities to triangulate emergent

2 Participant observation events include: three day COFTA Regional Conference,

Swaziland, May 2012; five day WFTO Biennial Conference, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May2013 and the three day East African Fair Trade Conference in Entebbe March 2013.



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findings. Where translation has been necessary in this data analy-

sis (for example from Portuguese to English), this has been under-

taken by the authors themselves. Finally, data was analysed

thematically: initially as informed by our literature review and

cumulative experience of 45 years working and researching the

Fair Trade movement, and also later on the basis of emerging find-

ings from the data itself.

4. Market development and Fair Trade marketing in the Global

South

4.1. Kenya

We have traced the development of the Kenyan Fair Trade mar-

ket to the early 1980s. A number of interviewees explained that

Fair Trade relationships began to emerge when sales took place

through European embassies, particularly the Dutch embassy in

Nairobi. These developments also facilitated introductions to

European Fair Trade importers. Furthermore, the Undugu Fair

Trade shop selling mainly handicrafts was set-up in the upmarket

Westland shopping area (Nairobi) in 1982. In this Southern con-text, hotel shops and embassies have been traditional network

actors and as in the North, further dedicated Fair Trade shops were

set-up by Bombolulu in Mombasa and Nairobi in 1987 (Boonman

et al., 2010, p. 19; WIEGO, 2010, p. 1). These shops along with other

Fair Trade organisations then formed in 2003 the Kenyan

Federation of Alternative Trade (KEFAT), a regional group of WFTO.

One recent pressure driving WFTO African networks to seek

domestic and regional markets, is the slowdown in demand for

Fair Trade craft goods from Europe, post the 2008–2009 financialcrisis (WFTO, 2012, p. 4). At the same time, it has been increasingly

recognised that craft goods can be appealing to the emerging

African middle classes. Reinforcing the relevance of geographical

entanglement as a lens for analysis, data suggests a ‘‘renaissance ’’

of interest in African culture as visualised in popular media, where

craft items and clothes informed by traditional textile patterns are

increasingly framed as aspirational fashions.

In 2011, Fairtrade Eastern Africa (FEA) was set-up in Kenya as

the marketing organisation for Fairtrade Marked products in East

Africa. The title of this organisation perhaps unwittingly manifests

implicit work of geographical rewriting required for South–South

trade. Whilst European licensing and marketing organisations have

opted for a-placial identities (see Relph, 1976), such as the UK’s

Fairtrade Foundation, and even the trans-placial Transfair of Germany, FEA has claimed an explicit geographical jurisdiction.

Operationally, these initial market developments were based on

potential cognitive resonance with expatriates, already exposed to

Fair Trade at home, combined with a growing Kenyan middle class

understood to be committed to the development of Fair Trade in

Africa (Fairtrade Africa, 2010a). From internal documents sourced

from FEA, the Living Standards Measures (LSM) is the primary

parameter used to identify the target Fair Trade consumers in

Kenya3. The population is divided into 17 LSMs and Fair Trade tar-

Fig. 1. Fair Trade market creation forces in European foundational markets (adapted from Beckert, 2010, p.612).

Table 1

Interviewees by country and organisation.

Context Organisational association of interviewees

Brazil Faces do Brazil, Fairtrade Town – Poços de Caldas, Fair Trade

Town – Alfenas, Fairtrade Brazil

Kenya WFTO Africa, Kenyan Federation of Alternative Trade, Fairtrade

Eastern Africa, Nakumatt supermarket, Undugu Fair Trade Shop

(Nairobi), Kick Trading (Kisumu), Dormans Coffee, Innovative

Concepts

South

Africa

Fairtrade Label South Africa (2), Bean There Coffee, Woolworths

South Africa

Nepal Children Nepal, WFTO Asia/New SADLE, Association of Craft

Producers, Women’s Skills Development Organisation, Fair Trade

Group Nepal

Global

scale

CEO of Fairtrade International, President of WFTO

3 Living Standards measure is a household data survey initiated in 1980 by the

World Bank (2012) to improve the use of household consumption data as a basis for

policy making. The database studies consumption patterns and is increasingly used

by market research agencies as a means to segment consumer markets in emergingeconomies.



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gets LSM levels 11–17 (mainly expatriate and local upper middle

class, urban, supermarket shoppers with access to information chan-

nels). According to Fairtrade Africa (2010b) this segment is approx-

imately 6.25% of the population.

Following the establishment of a new institutional regime

under FEA, certified products could then be launched by main-

stream Kenyan retailers: Nakumatt and Chandarana (Retailing

Research Council, 2014). This was a timely move as the entry of

Fair Trade goods into these regional supermarket networks is tak-

ing place at the time when supermarket chains are rapidly expand-

ing in East and South Africa (Barrientos et al., 2015). There were

initially two local manufacturing companies that worked in part-

nership under the unifying cognitive frame of CSR: Dormans

Safari Kenyan Coffee and Kericho Kenyan tea (both companies

were also involved in exporting Fair Trade coffee and tea to

Europe). Since then, other actors have joined these networks: with

Cadburys Dairy Milk as an example of South-to-South trade, as theFairtrade cocoa is grown in Ghana and chocolate manufactured at

the Cadbury factory in South Africa, before being sold in Kenya

(Fairtrade Foundation, 2013). None of these companies are 100%

Fair Trade: for example, Dormans Safari coffee brand is only 5%

of Dormans overall business in Kenya. However, interviews with

representatives of Dormans coffee and Nakumatt supermarket

group identify the importance of the Fairtrade label as an indicator

of both quality and sustainability, thus providing credibility for

market development.

Moving on to the marketing, or what might be termed ‘cogni-

tive bridging’ between sellers and buyers of Fair Trade in Kenya,

an informant from FEA explains their marketing is different from

Fair Trade in Europe; ‘‘we are not about helping the poor, the mes-

sage is more about supporting producers. We say; ‘Show your lovefor Africa, Buy Fairtrade!’ i.e. cocoa from West Africa. Also for

Kenyan Fairtrade products, it is nationalistic for Kenyan’s also’’.

This is manifest in strong and overt geographical associations that

construct the inclusive imagined geography of Africa (see Image 1);

and whilst focus on pride in national products rests on geographi-

cal ‘othering’, it does so through a focus on internal pride and qual-

ity, rather than drawing on paternalistic identities embedded in

conditions of need.

This positioning of Fair Trade is also supportive of Africa’s

development more generally. Image 1 places the emphasis on the

direct agency of the consumer and links it to positive change both

to the producer community and the environment. An informant at

FEA explains, ‘‘I think it’s really empowering for the producers. So

the fact that we’ve launched in East Africa and that the Kenyan teagrower can see their own product in their own supermarket with

the Fairtrade Mark, suddenly it closes the circle and begins to make

sense to producers’’.

However, despite the use of traditional African imagery, the

overall visual construction of the consumer still reflects the (urban)

modern, upper-middle class. Professionally modelled, aspirational

images of consumers are contrasted with a more ‘authentic’ repre-

sentation of less materially well off rural producers. This is partic-

ularly marked on the pages of the website that discuss Fairtrade in

Action: where a ‘raw’ photo from a producer group is contrasted

with a ‘staged’ image of consumers in the upper right corner (see

Image 2). This then supports the view that as multi-spatial net-

works of actors and stakeholders spread across different media,

or as here over individual pages within a unitary website, brands

can constitute varying geographical entanglements: at one locale

inclusive (we are African) whilst divisive and binary at another

(you are a consumer, he/she is a producer).

4.2. South Africa (SA)

In contrast to Kenya, the Fair Trade handicraft sector in SA has

seen limited market development (Fararik and Law, 2006, p. 9).

Instead, Fair Trade started in SA in 2004, with the set-up of

non-profit organisation Fair Trade Tourism, targeting tourists from

Europe. Market development continued with the founding of Bean

There Coffee (BTC) in 2005, a 100% Fair Trade organisation based in

SA, who commercialised fairly traded coffee sourced from produc-

ers in East and Central Africa before the Fairtrade label was avail-

able in SA. BTC targeted distribution at non-nationals and tourist

safari lodges, similar to Dormans coffee in Kenya. It was only later

in 2008 that Fairtrade Label South Africa (FTLSA) emerged follow-

ing funding from Dutch international NGO Solidaridad. Here again,there was a clear geographical jurisdiction, which in turn built on

the national development and black empowerment discourses that

pervade certification for South African producer organisations

(Herman, 2012). The first Fairtrade certified products available in

Johannesburg’s supermarkets were two wines (Fairhills from

Origin Wine, and Thandi from the Cape wine region), but these

were also joined by a coffee brand commercialised by BTC (stocked

by Pick n Pay supermarkets), which had become the first entirely

African Fair Trade supply chain not to include any European actors.

These developments again appear to demonstrate the importance

of third-party certification institutions in the creation of ethical

markets.

More recently Fair Trade in SA has continued to mainstream:

with Pick n Pay supermarkets stocking a range of Fairtrade prod-ucts as part of their CSR strategy; Makro supermarkets listing

Image 1. Fairtrade Eastern Africa (2014) webpage images.



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seven new Fairtrade wines; and Mug and Bean coffee chain decid-

ing to switch to Fairtrade coffee. This is taking place at the same

time as sub-Saharan Africa is seeing a rapid expansion of its

regional supermarket chains (Barrientos et al., 2015), and therefore

the Fair Trade market has grown with the expansion of conven-

tional corporate retail networks. Regarding the out of home sector,

SA Airways are now serving Fairtrade wine and the Protea Hotel

group switched to Fairtrade coffee in 2013. FTLSA launched in

2012 a Fairtrade at Work Campaign to stimulate sales via compa-

nies. Another key retailer for Fairtrade products in SA is

Woolworths, who supply their own labelled Fairtrade certified cof-

fee via their own 100 cafes. A company representative explained

that ‘‘our move into Fair Trade is part of our overall CSR commit-

ment to sustainability as we are members of the UN GlobalCompact’’. The result of this market development means that cer-

tified Fairtrade sales have grown in SA from £1.026 m in 2010 to

£16.36 m by 2013 (FTLSA, 2014).

The target consumer profile for FTLSA (2014) is the LSM cate-

gories 7–10, which represents 12–15 million people in SA (20% of

the population). More specifically, according to one informant at

FTLSA; ‘‘our consumer profile is aged 18–45, highly educated and

living in either Capetown or Johannesburg’’. The informant goes

on to suggest that place-based campaigning will play less of the

role in SA, explaining that; ‘‘we won’t succeed in the same way

as European Fairtrade, you won’t have people dressing-up in a

Fairtrade banana suit and going to campaign on the street here

in SA. Fair Trade will develop more from the business perspective

by bringing out products that are good value for money becauseit’s both good quality and sustainable local African produce’’. This

framing of sustainability is further supported by a new initiative

taking place in SA called ‘The Power of You’, a new stakeholder

partnership formed between FTLSA, the Marine Stewardship

Scheme (MSC), the Forestry Stewardship Scheme (FSC) and Fair

Trade Tourism, with the aim to promote sustainable behaviour

change (FTLSA, 2015). Another local marketing initiative which

has helped promote cognitive geographical framings is the

‘Proudly South African’ campaign, which certifies products manu-

factured in SA (Proudly South African, 2015). Although this has

reportedly stimulated the consumption of some locally produced

goods, FTLSA suggest that this is probably less applicable for

Fairtrade products such as wines, as consumers already recognise

the geographical elements of their moral claims (manifest in theFairhills wine brand).

In SA, we see again an inclusive geographical association but

which falls alongside an emphasis on product quality within the

branding and marketing of Fair Trade products. The conscious

reconfiguration of geographical entanglement further echoes the

above case of Kenya, as one informant from FTLSA commented:

‘‘Our marketing is different from Europe; we don’t do poor farmers

here. . .as it does not work. Poor farmers are all around, its everyday

business here. It does not touch hearts as it does in Europe’’. This

conscious perception of the need to focus on inclusive relational

and territorialized community is also overtly and strongly high-

lighted by internal brand guidelines of FTLSA, see Table 2.

This geographical entanglement is also mirrored by individual

Fair Trade brands, which also aim to use their local origins in mar-

keting, through the immediate connection of physical quality tothe specifics of the imagined normative geographies of the conti-

nent. For example, a BTC informant explains, ‘‘Bean There Coffee

is a story of pioneering adventure to source coffee from the deepest

most beautiful parts of Africa. We get tired of people generalising

that Africa is full of famine, we simply love this continent, it’s won-

derful, and has a natural beauty, wonderful people. Our coffee is

the best coffee on the best continent! Rather than support us

because it’s the right thing to do’’.

4.3. Brazil

In contrast to SA and Kenya, Fairtrade International has had less

influence on the development of the domestic Fair Trade market in

Image 2. Geographical binaries: Fairtrade Eastern Africa (2015) webpage images.

Table 2

Brand guidelines for fairtrade marketing in SA ( FTLSA, 2013).

Do’s Don’ts

Happy Farmers proud of produce Begging people and hands (avoid

old development images)

They are business people Typical image of poor African

people and living conditions

Pride in African culture and inspiring

African imagery

Telling sad story

Beautiful looking products and raw

product

Unappealing products

Look at future with positivity Talking about past and what is

wrong with the world

Use words that convey dignity, power,

togetherness, excitement

Avoid words such as hope, help,

poor



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Brazil. In 2011, Fairtrade Canada did support the development of a

marketing organisation called; Associacao Brasiliera de Comercio

Justo (AB-CJ – the Brazilian Fair Trade Association) to make the

Fairtrade Mark available for Brazilian retailers (Fairtrade

International, 2011). However, the technological and export focus

of Fairtrade International reduced early support from family farms,

which has taken some time to rebuild (Wilkinson and

Mascarenhas, 2007, p. 161). Progress has also been slow, giventhe lack of financial support for the development of Fairtrade insti-

tutions (Fairtrade representative). Therefore, there are only still a

few Fairtrade products available in Brazil: including options from

Starbucks and Wal-Mart (Starbucks, 2014), as well as nationally

produced brands of roasted coffee, nuts, honey and wine from

other outlets (Fairtrade stakeholder).

In place of a strong drive from a Fairtrade marketing organisa-

tion, Brazilian markets have been constructed by broader net-

works. During the 1990s, religious organisations facilitated the

commercialisation of handicrafts and food products, under first-

and third-party Fair Trade governance, for export but then later

internal markets, and were supported by wider networks sympa-

thetic to the ethical agenda of the Fair Trade concept (ICLEI,

2006, p. 8; Mundaréu, 2014; Wilkinson and Mascarenhas, 2007,

p. 162). Particular support came from the solidarity economy, in

the 1980s influenced by European NGOs promoting the democrati-

sation of economic activities tightly controlled by military rule

(ICLEI, 2006, p. 5). The strong consumer movement also created

demand for more socially and environmentally positive products

and there was a natural cognitive resonance with the Fair Trade

message.

Despite initial tensions between overlapping social movements,

an informant at Faces do Brasil felt that ‘‘it’s a common concept in

Brazil that Fair Trade is an instrument to foster the solidarity econ-

omy by helping solidarity enterprises’’. This narrative emerges

from a growing alliance that began around 2002, and was for-

malised in 2004 through the legal registration of the Forum for

the Articulation of Ethical and Solidarity Commerce in Brazil – or

Faces do Brasil (FACES) – as a partnership of 13 constituent organ-isations: national and international NGOs, government agencies,

rural trade unions and farmers’ networks (Wilkinson and

Mascarenhas, 2007, p. 167). The primary aim of FACES is to ‘‘foster

the creation of an environment that favours the building of a

Brazilian Fair Trade system to promote equity’’ (ICLEI, 2006, p. 8).

Strong emphasis is placed on adapting international Fair Trade

principles for the national context (FACES do Brasil, 2014b) and

FACES has developed a Sistema Nacional de Comércio Justo e

Solidário (SNCJS – National Fair Trade System).

The most distinct feature of Brazilian efforts to establish a

domestic Fair Trade market is its direct backing by the State as a

significant network actor shaping the institutional context of the

market. This was first facilitated by the formation of an

Inter-ministerial Working Group (April 2006), composed of civicand governmental representatives of the Solidarity Economic

Department and Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Rural

Development and Ministry of Agriculture. The proposal for a

SNCJS was formally established through Presidential Decree (Law

7358), November 2010, and is therefore, the strongest government

commitment to Fair Trade anywhere in the world (FACES do Brasil,

2014a). Operationally, the SNCJS establishes a variety of first- and

third-party accreditation mechanisms for both organisational and

product certification. Moreover, there are plans for State credit

provision to support the certification process and even more radi-

cally, it is proposed that government will create significant mar-

kets for Fair Trade through public procurement. This proposal isbased on current legislation that requires 30% of school food to

be bought from small farms (see Sonnino et al., 2014), and it is

hoped that procurement is ‘‘not only from small farm producers

but also from Fair Trade certified enterprises’’ (Faces do Brasil rep-

resentative). This would then start to mirror, and indeed poten-

tially go beyond, the role that state institutions have played in

creating a market for Fair Trade in the European context ( Smith,

2011).

Despite the identified potential, there has not yet been any con-

certed marketing effort to raise the awareness of SNCJS or Fair

Trade goods. According to one informant, ‘‘there are campaigns

from the solidarity economy movement. . .not targeted at con-

sumers, but targeted to let people know the solidarity economy

exists’’. However, so far the FACES has not mirrored the proactive

focus on geographic specificity – with the government certification

program driven by a national development agenda that constructs

a strong role for small farmers in feeding the people (Wilkinson

and Mascarenhas, 2007). Instead, the FACES website adopts a

rather a-placial and largely bureaucratic aesthetic, with the limited

imagery focused around the coalition of actors, rather than geo-

graphically relational and spatial texts (see Image 3).

Having said this, stakeholders in Poços de Caldas obtained recog-

nition by Fairtrade networks as the first Fairtrade Town in the

Global South. Here there has been strong recognition for the value

of a place-based campaign by the local government, particularly

the local Mayor. According to the chair of the steering group, mar-

keting focuses on the opportunity to support new generations of

Brazilians to continue working on the land, under socially just con-

ditions; a branding position strongly intertwined with the imag-ined geographies of rural idle and noble hard work.

4.4. Nepal

As in Kenya, NGOs have long worked to economically empower

marginalised producers in Nepal. In 1975, Women’s Skills

Development Project (now Women’s Skills Development

Organization) was established, followed by the Association of

Craft Producers (ACP) in 1984. Both emerged out of a joint

Government-Donor initiated women’s empowerment project.

There was a consensus amongst informants that a key motivation

for starting these ATOs was to increase their autonomy by reducing

dependency on donor funding. Other Fair Trade organisations in

Nepal also have their roots in social welfare organisations with

income generation being one of their objectives. Many focus on

women’s economic empowerment but others focus on the needs

of other marginalized groups such as street children.

Image 3. Network focused image from FACES website.



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Links with volunteers from Northern countries have played an

important role in the development of Fair Trade in Nepal by shar-

ing design, training and marketing expertise with the ATOs and

also through developing connections with consumers in both the

Global North and within the expat communities in Kathmandu.

An informant from Women’s Skills Development Organization

(WSDO) explains ‘‘events held by VSO volunteers at the British

Embassy in the initial stages played a significant role in providingsales opportunities’’. Like Kenya, expatriate customers have played

a crucial role in market development. In addition to this, interna-

tional networks have also played an important role in the emer-

gence of Fair Trade in Nepal. One notable example was the visit

of Mohamad Islam (Oxfam Bangladesh), who shared his knowledge

of ECOTA (Bangladesh Fair Trade Forum) with a number of fair

trade organisations in Nepal. A key informant at ACP explained that

‘‘at the start we were working in isolation but when both

Mohammad Islam came to Nepal in 1993 with the representative

from ECOTA in Bangladesh, we thought if they can do this then

why can’t we’’. This visit was cited by all respondents as being

the inspiration for the formation of Fair Trade Group Nepal

(FTGN) in 1993.

FTGN is a consortium of fair trading organisations promoting

the socio-economic advancement of marginalized producers across

Nepal and joined WFTO in 1997. FTGN mainly works with handi-

craft producers but more recently with agro-food and non-timber

forest product organisations. The organisation has recently been

the country coordinator for WFTO-Asia (the regional chapter of

the global network). Engaging in this network has been crucial to

the development of Fair Trade in Nepal as it has provided impor-

tant networking and marketing opportunities for its members, as

well as adding credibility to the Fair Trade movement within

Nepal. However, within the WFTO Asia network, established Fair

Trade groups are all country specific and market their products

locally or export to Northern markets rather than regionally. This

exemplifies the geographical entanglement of the Nepali Fair

Trade brand, as the multifaceted construction of quality is strongly

linked to rejuvenating and valuing national handicraft traditions.Establishing retail outlets, such as Dhukhuti in Kathmandu is

seen as important in creating brand awareness in Nepal and has

helped increase the domestic Fair Trade sales. It is estimated that

40% of sales are now to the local market, with a shift from tourist

and expat consumers to the emerging middle classes of Nepal. The

Asian Development Bank estimates the middle classes at 21.89% of

the population (Bhattarai, 2012). An informant from WFTO Asia

noted that ‘‘the number of Nepali people visiting the shops is grow-

ing, mostly upper middle class people. The very rich elite however

go to the very expensive shops in Kathmandu’’. He went on to

explain that ‘‘the message we use when we sell to customers is

the same, the only thing we adapt is buy local and promote local

for local middle class customers’’. This demonstrates a need to

build a new ethic of care for the ‘local’ rather than the ‘distantstranger’. As one key informant at FTGN noted ‘‘often the middle

class consumers will go straight to the producer to buy, especially

for handicraft products as they like to have things made for

themselves’’.

Whilst producer profiles are used within the shops to establish

a link between the products and the economic and social impact of

Fair Trade, the associated social mission of the NGO is also a key

USP. One informant explained ‘‘it isn’t only the Nepalese authentic-

ity that is our main selling point it’s because we are supporting the

whole environment for the child, so the message is very much

linked to the work that we do as an NGO’’. However, another key

USP, equally if not more important to the local market is the

emphasis placed on the quality of the products and the fact they

are ‘Made in Nepal’ as opposed to India or China. An informantfrom ACP notes that ‘‘During the past two decades we have started

to appreciate the quality and value of our work’’. It is the product

quality which features prominently on the ACP web site (Image 4).

Examining the brand construction of FTGN, it can be noted that

in contrast to other cases presented here, the network has

expressly incorporated visual references to Nepali national iden-

tity, which contrasts with logos elsewhere which provide more

generic iconography (in SA and Kenya, for example, taking the

Fairtrade International logo). As the other images on the websiterevolve (central panel), it is notable they offer vignettes of wider

activity, also directly linked to brand construction based on

national geographies. For example, the campaign March held for

WFTO’s World Fair Trade in 2014 (Image 5) incorporated coordi-

nated dress which clearly connects to the global colours (blues

and greens) of the WFTO. However, the clothing which was specif-

ically designed for the occasion deliberately offers a reconfigura-

tion of the traditional national sari dress. Again branding is

strongly connected to a national geographically defined identity,

within which the principles of Fair Trade are literally and

metaphorically embedded – featuring on placards carried by the

female only participants depicted in the photo.

5. Discussion and conclusions

Thepaper hasdiscussed theconstruction of Fair Trade markets in

South Africa, Kenya, Brazil and Nepal. We have employed the theo-

retical lens of market creation, but also that of geographical entan-

glement with an emphasis on developing an account of how space

and place are embedded in both substantive supply network prac-

tices (institutions and networks) and their associated discourses

(cognitive frames and themarketing in which these are embedded).

Based on this approach, the paper has provided a foundational

account of the empirical developments in order to address the lack

of published knowledge of Southern Fair Trade consumer markets.

Here our research reinforces the view that intra-Southern Fair

Trade is growing significantly, principally within national markets

(handicrafts in Nepal, Wine in SA and small farmer agri-food and

craft products in Brazil) but also across State boundaries (coffeeand chocolate in Africa). A summary of our findings by market

can be found in Table 3, and overall, these disrupt the dominant

geographical entanglements accepted in most academic analysis

of Fair Trade markets, which are usually understood to revolve

around binary connections between ‘Southern producers’ and

‘Northern consumers’ (Lekakis, 2013, p. 13).

Building on the theorisation of supply chain typologies (Doherty

et al., 2012; Reed, 2009), our findings identify three modes through

which South–South Fair Trade is being constructed (see Table 4

below). Here an important recognition is that in some cases, raw

ingredients are processed and repackaged in the Global North,

before being re-exported to Southern markets: for example Tate

and Lyle sugar from Malawi. This is important, as with a South–

North–South value chain distribution, it could be that in additionto allowing Northern actors to maintain the extraction of process-

ing value from Southern raw materials, there is a further South–

North resource transfer, as profits from Southern sales are also

repatriated to Northern economies. Here the discourse of fairness,

as in other examples (Fridell, 2004b; Valkila et al., 2010), might

again obscure the reality that practices are of disproportionate

benefit to Northern actors. However, with other supply chains

(for example Cadbury’s Chocolate, Dorman’s Safari Coffee,

Kericho Tea and handicraft production), all value is added within

Southern economies. Given this diversity, we suggest that further

research using value chain analysis will be important in under-

standing the true potential of South–(North)–South Fair Trade sup-

ply chains as a development tool.

In terms of market construction, research clearly shows thatdespite some common connections through international



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certification bodies and networks, Fair Trade sales have developed

in different ways depending on the interaction of institutions, net-works and cognitive framing: and therefore broadly reinforces the

wider theory deployed here, that specifics of market creation

emerge from the dynamic interaction of networks, institutionsand cognitive frames. For example, in Brazil, the State has become

Image 4. Website-association of craft producers.

Image 5. Website-fair trade Group Nepal.



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proactively involved in the construction of markets through the

creation of domestic accreditation; although, the coordinated pub-

lic sensitisation and marketing has largely been undertaken by

partner civil society organisations, such as the Poços de Caldas

Fairtrade Town campaign. In Nepal, it has been ATOs that have cre-

ated supply networks to include retail engagement and marketing

for craft production; although this has been achieved with support

from the national and regional networks of the WFTO. In Kenya

and South Africa, whilst craft based Fair Trade ATOs have estab-lished markets in Kenya, there is a more recent, and significant

push from Fairtrade institutions on the continent to create markets

for commodity goods: primarily by drawing mainstream super-

markets and businesses (e.g. SA Airways) into Fairtrade networks

through the provision of product certification. For this reason,

our research reinforces the view that the Fair Trade movement is

far from homogenous (Fridell, 2004a), and further helps to dispel

the notion that Fairtrade International is solely responsible for

Fair Trade market creation.

In relation to customers, the emergence of markets in Kenya

and Nepal have initially been driven by the expat and NGO com-

munity, with increasing support from the local upper

middle-classes based in urban areas. Although, Fair Trade in

Brazil has been adopted more readily by those with the economiccapacity and political knowledge, a key objective of the national

movement has been to ensure that Fair Trade does not remain an

elite market segment, and is instead embedded alongside the

wider solidarity economy. The active involvement of the State in

Brazil may hold invaluable lessons for other Southern producing/-

consuming countries and could indeed provide a model for

enhancing local economic development.

The findings of this research also build on the existing theorisa-

tion of market creation, and have introduced the idea that private

accreditation can contribute to the institutional composition of

new ethical markets: as labelling provides credibility for brands

and assurance to consumers (D’Souza et al., 2007). This is shown

in both the positive outcomes of Fairtrade labelling and through

the recognition of product labels acknowledged by WFTO net-works, which are culminating in the launch of their own version

in the near future. Also in SA, a range of social and eco-labels

(‘The Power of You’ initiative) have formed a new network to pro-

mote the concept of sustainable behaviour. Furthermore in Kenya

and South Africa, MNCs and regional supermarkets are supporting

Fair Trade motivated by the cognitive resonance between the Fair

Trade message and their growing understanding of sustainability

and CSR. This appears to support the work by Ariztia et al.

(2014), which identifies CSR initiatives as a key driver in ethical

consumption in other parts of the Global South. Moreover, itunderlines analysis in other literatures which emphasises the

importance of the values held by business decisions makers: and

shows that the cognitive frames of business actors are equally

important in the market construction process.

Aside from the mainstream spatial concerns of economic geog-

raphy, the lens of ‘geographical entanglement’ (Pike, 2011, 2013)

has also allowed an emphasis on geographical representation in

Fair Trade marketing, as it attempts to resonate and influence cer-

tain cognitive framings held by network actors. Here, we conclude

that most Southern Fair Trade marketing activities have largely

avoided the construction of ‘imagined geographies’ pervaded by

poverty, and therefore engendering ethical obligations based on

binary relations emerging from geographical ‘othering’. Instead,

most geographical discourses aspire to, and in many cases succeedin being inclusive as opposed to divisive. Moral geographies are

here constructed on the basis of inclusive relational identities, in

some cases directed at abstract collective notions of development;

as is found to be the case in Kenya and SA.

This reconfiguration of Fair Trade marketing in the Global South

might therefore be seen as avoiding criticisms from those who call

for less patriarchal representations of producers in Fair Trade’s cog-

nitive framing (Berlan, 2008; Goodman, 2004; Wright, 2004). In

contrast, there is an emphasis on pride, dignity, and beautiful land-

scapes in the visual imagery used to market Fairtrade. With refer-

ence to Table 2, this is in fact strict policy in the case of Fairtrade

Label South Africa. Here branding might be better understood

through the lens of ‘locality foods’ as they are deployed by alterna-

tive food networks in Europe and North America: where the originof food is projected as an identifiable geographical provenance

Table 3

Fair trade market development in the Global South summary of case studies.

Country Fair trade certification Target consumer Fair trade market structure Key products

Kenya Fairtrade International &WFTO Wealthy middle classes, expats and

tourists. Target LSM groups 10–17

Emerged with Fair Trade craft pioneers

Undugu, Bombla in embassies then own Fair

Trade shops

Dormans Safari Kenyan

Coffee and Kericho

Kenyan tea

Limited Government

involvement

Now entered the mainstream with

manufacturers and supermarket retailers e.g.

Nakamutt

Cadburys Dairy Milk, Tate

and Lyle sugar Crafts and

artisan products

South Africa Fairtrade International Upper middle income (Higher LSM

groups 7–10), with higher education,

young 18–45 and Urban

Commenced with Fair Trade pioneers such as

Bean There Coffee

Bean There Coffee and

Fairhills & Thandi wines

Limited Government

involvement

Now entered the mainstream with Pick n Pay

supermarkets and Woolworths

Woolworths private label

coffee

Also business to business via companies such

as Protea Hotels and SA Airways

Nepal WFTO label Tourists, NGO workers, expats. Plus

local middle class and elite

Mainly in local Fair Trade retail stores and

exports to European WFTO members

Handicrafts, puppets,

bags, home furnishing,

etc.NGO led Handicraft Fairs in Kathmandu and Embassies

Some government involvement Led by WFTO pioneers Association of Craft

Producers (ACP) to provide social welfare for

disadvantaged women and children

Brazil Publically administered State

certification system

Upper middle classes but also

solidarity street markets that target

lower income

Mainly via Fair Trade stores and solidarity

movement street markets

Handicraft, clothes and

food

Incipient development of Fairtrade International

certification for domestic

markets

Public bodies such as schools



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(Maye, 2008); accompanied by emotional and psychological bonds

formed between an individual and a particular notion of place

(Brown and Raymond, 2007), and the producer with whom the

product originates (Marsden et al., 2000). Indeed, although moral

geographies of the Global South, ‘‘peddled by charities and the

broader development industry. . .[might] secure donations, it is

argued [that] they [also] deter more sustainable investments’’,

and that potentially more positive reconfigurations could reduce

tensions over commodification (Browning, 2014). For this reason,there is further evidence to support the point of Blowfield (1999,

p. 767) that unless there is a ‘‘shift in decision making from the

North to South, ethical trade will at best be paternalistic and at

worst harmful to those it is intended to benefit’’.

Having said this, we also highlight that identity and power dif-

ferences remain complex, even where decision making is located

within the Global South. For example, binary geographies still

emerge from the marketing analysis of southern middle classes/e-

lites: for example with the contrasting images of (poor) rural pro-

ducers as recipients and (wealthy) urban consumers adopting

responsible consumption as a lifestyle addition. This supports the

ideas of Brunori (2007, p. 51) that locality foods introduce a ‘‘sep-

aration between the world of production and the world of con-

sumption’’ and argues that ‘‘consumers choose locality products

because they perceive them as coming from a certain place and

possessing well defined and differentiated characteristics’’.

Therefore, this questions the extent to which the relocation of

power, identified by some in other Fair Trade practices (Smith,

2013b), as possible; and instead suggests the importance of focus-

ing on more nuanced understandings of power to shape the nature

of geographical entanglements.

Therefore through our case studies, we are able to contribute to

the Fair Trade literature by adapting the market forces model pro-

posed by Beckert (2010, p.612) to show how the social forces of market creation (institutions, networks and cognitive framing)

have been combined with geographical entanglements to create

these new Fair Trade markets (see Fig. 2). The framework also

highlights the similarities and differences of both Southern Fair

Trade market creation and marketing compared to the European

foundational markets shown in Fig. 1.

Finally, there are a number of practical implications from this

study for other stakeholders in emerging economies planning to

develop their own local Fair Trade markets including: the impor-

tance of both WFTO and Fairtrade International certification bodies

to provide credibility; the importance of connecting to expat and

NGO communities in the early stages of market development;

Fair Trade helps MNCs and supermarkets to achieve sustainability

goals, the importance of different routes to market development

and the importance of encoding locality in marketing

Table 4

Modes of market construction.

Mode Geography of supply network Examples

(1) Long established Fair Trade organisations that have been building local markets but better known

for exports to the North

South–South, largely intra-

national, domestic, trade

Undugu (Kenya), ACP,

WSDO Nepal

(2) Companies with existing certified products never before available in Southern markets have

obtained licences for South–South Fair Trade

South–South Cadbury chocolate

(South Africa)

South–North–South Tate and Lyle sugar

(3) New dedicated Fair Trade ‘lead companies’ in emerging economies, sourcing raw materials from

Southern producers to supply to Southern markets

South–South, intra- and inter-

national trade

Bean There Coffee

(South Africa)

Fig. 2. Fair Trade market creation forces in Southern Fair Trade markets (adapted from Beckert, 2010, p.612).



13/14

communications. It also appears that the Fair Trade actors in Brazil

and other emerging markets for Fair Trade could learn from their

Kenyan and South African counterparts in developing Fair Trade

marketing communications, particularly the use of marketing

guidelines which aim to avoid the patriarchal representation of

producers. In addition, there are a number of future research

opportunities including consumer research to assess the impact

of different geographical entanglements outlined in this study.We recommend this to be carried out in partnership with both

Southern scholars and practitioners. Such a research agenda would

also contribute to the extension of analysis required to understand

if the context is producing a de-fetishizing or re-fetishizing of con-

sumption (Hudson and Hudson, 2003; Marston, 2013).

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