Fair Trade Push in Free Trade Hong Kong – It’s Growing

HONG KONG – The Fair Trade movement may be small in Hong Kong but it is beginning to take off, said Anne McCaig, a leading activist in the movement to help small farmers in the third world.

McCaig (pictured right) is CEO of Cafédirect, a company co-founded by the British charity, Oxfam, and other alternative trading organizations, to aid coffee growers affected by the global collapse of coffee prices in 1989.

Addressing a rally of about a hundred people on a Saturday in March, McCaig spoke of her experience in building up one of the largest Fair Trade companies in the world, and encouraged Hong Kong’s partners to strengthen their grass roots.

“Back in 1991, when we started, we sold our products in churches and small market stalls,” she said, “that is where the Hong Kong’s Fair Trade movement is at the moment.”

Cafédirect helps small coffee producers in developing countries by ensuring a fair price for their products.

McCaig said the fundamental idea behind Cafédirect is to maintain a direct relation with the growers. “We are working with a quarter of a million small-scale farmers in 40 different developing countries,” she said.

Producers own shares in the company and get over half of the profits back to reinvest in their businesses.

McCaig said Fair Trade products had become mainstream in Britain, influencing the policies of  major corporations. “Very large brands like Starbucks or Cadbury [have] adopted a 100 per cent fair trade approach,” she said.

Fair Trade Hong Kong was established in 2008.  It unites local producers, NGOs, retailers and corporations in Hong Kong. According to the group’s website its members “pledge to use Fair Trade products and to promote the concept of Fair Trade in their own profession or industries.”

Leung Pui-fung Leung, director of Fair Trade Hong Kong, said that when she first started promoting Fair Trade in Hong Kong four years ago, few people were listening. “Just a bunch of NGOs and volunteers would come to the meetings,” she said. But the strong turnout to the Saturday rally shows “the seed has matured.”

Antony Chui, director of Hong Kong Fair Trade Power Ltd, said that Hong Kong people needed to change their habits as consumers. “It is crucial that they think about who produces the goods, and how they are treated,” he said.

“Consumers should not base their decision solely on price.”

Hong Kong Fair Trade Power is one of 26 Fair Trade retailers in Hong Kong, which include coffee shops, producers’ cooperatives, and farms. To trade in Fair Trade certified products, businesses are usually required to sign a contract with the licensee of their country.

But Hong Kong lacks an official licensee. Retailers wanting to sell Fair Trade products need to obtain them from Fair Trade wholesalers overseas.

McCaig defined Hong Kong’s stage as both promising and exciting. “Being small is great,” she said, “you have the real potential to impact people’s lives. Be proud of it,” she added.

Some highlights of McCaig’s speech.

A Short History of Fair Trade in Hong Kong (Courtesy of Oxfam Hong Kong)

1950s – Oxfam in Britain sources Fair Trade handicrafts from Hong Kong – one of the first suppliers of Fair Trade items for the European market

1977 – Oxfam Hong Kong opens its first second-hand shop. Fair Trade items are sold periodically

2002 – Oxfam International launches a 64-city “ Make Trade Fair” campaign, which includes Hong Kong; Oxfam Hong Kong promotes Fair Trade coffee.

2003 – Just Java, a supplier licensed by Transfair, beings selling Fair Trade coffee in Hong Kong

2005 – Oxfam co-organises the Asia Fair Trade Forum (AFTF)

2006 – Oxfam Hong Kong promotes Fair Trade in a major awareness-raising campaign, and commissions first Fair Trade market research in Hong Kong - Oxfam’s shops start selling Fair Trade products - First Fair trade stores, selling various Fair Trade items

2007 – Ten local organisations mark the first World Fair Trade Day in Hong Kong. Oxfam Hong Kong, together with six local and overseas fair trade groups, operate a Fair Trade pavilion at Hong Kong Food Festival

2008 – More than 10 members set up FAIR TRADE HONG KONG, a non-profit making group to promote Fair Trade. Oxfam Hong Kong is a member.