Fairtrade International provides a comprehensive answer to this question here.

Fair Trade refers to the trading system, organisations and movement that together seek greater equity in international trade. There are several Fair Trade organisations operating to achieve this shared aim. Fair Trade Towns International is a Fair Trade movement. Fairtrade specifically refers to the producer networks, organisations and international movement that are operate under the non-profit organisation Fairtrade International (FLO). Fairtrade Foundation, Fairtrade Certification (the FAIRTRADE Mark) and the UK Fairtrade Towns movement all operate under FLO. Bristol Fair Trade Network supports and advocates for Fair Trade trading systems and producer networks that have been independently accredited, including Fairtrade.

For more information on local businesses and organisations that sell, produce and support Fair Trade visit our Local Fair Traders directory. To discover nationally available brands and retailers, visit the Fairtrade Foundation’s Buying Fairtrade pages.

To discover all the ways in which Fair Trade promotes sustainability, see Fairtrade Foundation’s response to this question. In 2015, to celebrate the International Fair Trade Towns Conference in Bristol and the city’s year as Green Capital, we teamed up with Griot Creative to make the short film ‘How Green is Fairtrade?’.

Bristol is a Fairtrade City, as recognised by the Fairtrade Town movement in the UK, which is part of Fair Trade Towns International. Read more about our Fairtrade City status here.

Fair Trade is first and foremost about supporting small-scale farmers and local economies. Many farmers in the UK face similar problems to farmers in developing countries, in so far as they struggle to obtain a fair price for their product. When choosing products that are grown or produced in the UK, it’s important to source them from small-scale, sustainable farms and producers, and to pay a fair price that allows the farmers and workers to make a living from their trade. The Fair Trade system advocates for a similar approach to produce sourced from developing nations. Fair Trade organisations focus on products that can’t be readily grown in the UK or Europe e.g. coffee or bananas, or whose local supply can’t meet demand e.g. honey or grapes. The Fair Trade movement stands alongside local food and trade campaigners to give farmers from developing nations a voice and, together, ensure everyone growing and producing our food, clothes and more can make a living and decide their own future. Bristol Fair Trade Network works with organisations and businesses in Bristol and the South West that support Fair Trade in the workplace, purchase or sell Fair Trade products, or who manufacture their own products from Fair Trade certified ingredients, to celebrate and promote their support of Fair Trade. By doing so, we hope to have a positive impact on these businesses and the local economy, as well as the international Fair Trade system. You can discover more about the organisations supporting Fair Trade locally in our online directory. Look out for the ‘Fair Trade & Local’ badge, identifying manufacturers of products made locally using Fair Trade certified products and ingredients.

Direct trade – often associated with coffee supply chains – is a way of trading that, like Fair Trade, cuts out the middleman and sees distributors sourcing directly from growers. Direct trade relationships can result in positive social, economic and environmental outcomes for farmers and workers, but lacks the third-party regulation that Fair Trade certification guarantees and doesn’t necessarily address the same issues that Fair Trade seeks to address. For this reason, we recommend always looking for Fair Trade certification, such as the FAIRTRADE Mark. For a better understanding of how Fair Trade and direct trade differ, we think this article, provides a thorough overview.