Co-ops Weigh In On Domestic Fair Trade

by Joe Riemann

On April 18th, 2007 LFTN steering committee members met with marketing and management staff from regional food cooperatives to discuss the Local Fair Trade Label pilot program that LFTN has been working on with our partners, the Agricultural Justice Project(see above article for more information). Staff from Whole Foods Co-op (Duluth), Lakewinds Co-op (Minnetonka, Chanhassen and Anoka), Bluff Country Co-op (Winona), The Wedge Co-op, Linden Hills Co-op, Seward Co-op and North Country Co-op (all Minneapolis) discussed how the program would fit into the needs and expectations of co-op shoppers. While there have been ongoing discussions within the co-op network about the emerging domestic fair trade movement, this discussion created a unique opportunity to cultivate opinions and advice from co-op retailers, the ones who know how to deliver complex messaging and abstract concepts to shoppers hungry for healthy, sustainable, and socially just foods.

In general, co-ops affirmed that they have been pioneers of the fair trade and buy local movements, so domestic fair trade is a very small leap of faith for many co-op shoppers to make. Everyone agreed that customers would be receptive if the appropriate marketing was used. To this accord, many of the co-op representatives suggested that the messaging has to be straightforward and simple, utilizing words already familiar to co-op shoppers and staff (like Local Fair Trade).

With “Fair Trade” and “Buy Local” campaigns experiencing marketing and sales booms, one would only assume that “Local Fair Trade” would be an easy sell. While co-ops said the idea is great, shoppers still respond most often to quality and price point. For decades these values-based co-ops have been paying fair prices to local farmers and cultivating long term relationships that benefit the entire food chain. Therefore, many respondents felt that their prices already reflected a “fair trade” to local farmers. Finally, it was also noted that due to an ever-competitive natural foods market that pits locally owned co-ops against national chain retailers and consolidated distribution systems, co-ops would have difficulty increasing prices too much for domestic fair trade products, but everyone generally agreed that it was worth the effort (for more on pricing of local fair trade products see "The Price of Fair Wages").

The group ended the meeting conversing more about how to communicate with consumers about this somewhat revolutionary idea. It was agreed that there is a need and desire for information sharing from all the participating constituency groups. While co-ops have been buying products from local farmers for a long time, both farmers and co-ops agree that they are lacking the tools and resources for sharing the stories of these often very unique relationships. In response to these concerns, Local Fair Trade Network has been working hard at building a web-interface for message sharing, including blogs, and will soon be telling the stories of the farmers, farm workers and food cooperatives who are building a better society through alternative trade relationships.

The information gathered from the table was essential in the branding of the Local Fair Trade label pilot launched in July. LFTN will be following-up with regional co-ops this Fall with the results of the pilot program and proposals for expanding cooperation on Local Fair Trade.