Aren’t Fair Trade Products More Expensive?

Sometimes this is the case, and sometimes it is not; it generally depends on the product. Fair Trade Vancouver has two responses to this concern:

First, Fair Trade products are usually premium in nature, as well as organic. While Fair Trade coffee is usually more expensive than the cheapest canned coffee, it is generally the same price as premium coffee such as Starbucks or an Italian imported brand. While a Fair Trade chocolate bar from Camino costs more than a Hershey bar, it does not cost more than a Purdy’s chocolate bar. You might be paying more, but you are certainly getting a better product.

Second, and more importantly, Fair Trade Vancouver asks you to think about what kind of world you want to live in. You might save a few bucks by buying the cheapest coffee available, but when you do, you are unintentionally passing on poverty to people in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Fair Trade Vancouver recognizes that while life can be hard here, it is important to remember that the world's poorest farmers have it even worse.

At the end of the day, when you are saving money in the grocery store you are probably saving it so that you’ll have money to buy gas for your car, or maybe the occasional meal in a restaurant. In Latin America or Africa, on the other hand, farmers try to save money to eat a third meal a day, or purchase clean water. Even with all of Canada’s problems, our life expectancy is 80; in the cocoa producing country of Ivory Coast, it’s 44.