Supporting this fair trade message is the logo of the Fair Trade
Foundation, which appears down the front and across the top of the pack.
Cafédirect was one of the first products to be awarded this Fairtrade mark
(Figure 3.2.5), which is considered essential supporting evidence in pro-
viding consumers with the necessary reassurance to make a preferential
brand selection.
Building supermarket distribution
No matter how well presented or how good the product actually is, it
simply will not sell if it’s not readily available to consumers. Although both
Traidcraft and Oxfam have their own shops, these distribution channels
are not able to reach a mass market. It was essential that Cafédirect com-
peted for shelf space in the major supermarkets. But shelf space is also
crucial to the success of the big players and, since there is limited avail-
ability, a gain by Cafédirect is a loss to companies such as Paulig and Kraft
General Foods. This was the job of the Cafédirect Sales Director, Lorna
Young, who agreed to work four days a week on the account through
Equal Exchange, her employer. The challenges facing Lorna were enor-
mous, and her resources were minimal in comparison to those deployed by
the account teams of her international rivals.
The first question Lorna Young had to address was, which supermarket
chain would be most receptive to stocking yet another brand of coffee –
particularly one with very little resources for advertising to ‘pull through’
sales?
204 Relationship Marketing
Charities like Oxfam and Traidcraft have been importing and selling fairly traded
products through their own shops for many years. However, they reach a market
which is severely limited by the nature of the outlets and the size of the concerned
minority segment that they serve.The Fairtrade Foundation was established in 1992
with the aim of improving terms of trade with Third World producers by bringing
fairly traded products into the mainstream and onto supermarket shelves. Retailers
and manufacturers are encouraged to apply to use the Fairtrade mark on their
products, which is awarded if the product meets criteria which ‘set out standards
of employment and/or terms of trade which ensure widespread benefits for the
workers and other producers in the Third World’. The Foundation’s standards
require the payment of a ‘social premium’ on top of the normal price. But that is
not sufficient in itself, the use of the social premium must be with the active
involvement of the producers, and the social conditions must be good. Products
licensed to use the Fairtrade mark pay a licence fee of 2 per cent on turnover up
to £1 million per annum, and on a reducing scale thereafter.Figure 3.2.5 The Fairtrade Foundation.