College or School
Faculty Research Advisor
The Fair Trade movement is seen around the world, in affluent countries that promote the label and in the farming countries that live it. Fair trade organizations are the bridge between consumer and producer in the market. The overall goal of fair trade organizations is to inform consumers on the mission and convince businesses there is demand for the product (Bennett et al, 2011: 225). The success of these organizations varies heavily by country. The United Kingdom is the most successful fair trade market in the world, with 96% of consumers aware of the label, compared to 46% of the rest of Europe (Mann, 2012). The United States, however, has only 55% of brand recognition (Walske, 2015). These US and UK are both wealthy industrial countries with the same language and similar consumer tendencies (Andorfer Ulf, 2012, Yamoah et al, 2016), but vastly different fair trade stories. Comparing the two nations, there are two ways to view the situation, either the UK and a success and the US is a failure, or the US is behind the UK and will eventually catch up.
Lorvig, Victoria Smith, "Enthusiasm for Fair Trade: Why the U.K. Outshines the U.S." (2018). Undergraduate Research Conference (URC) Student Presentations. 423.