1.2 The rest of the
world
The fair trade marked is also settled in North America, in
Japan, and in Oceania.
1.2.1 The North American
market
This market is represented by the USA and Canada; it seems to
grow faster Up to 2000 coffee is the only one product certified by Transfair
Canada, but from 2000 the list of certified products have been extended (tea,
sugar, cocoa bananas, mangoes, rice, quinoa, spices, roses, wine, and cotton
are now traded in Canada); however coffee still represents the highest
percentage of sales (34% in 2003 while tea, sugar, and cocoa and other
certified food products represent less than 5% each). In the USA the growth
rate for the sales of certified products has been evaluated to more than 300%
between 2001 and 2005 ( M.J. Hiscox, 2007), and this rapid growth is attributed
to the mainstreaming sales driven principally by coffee.
The sales in the USA and Canada are conducted by conventional
operators and fair trade specialized companies. In term of values, the
mainstream channel has carry out the important part of sales more than 70%.The
growth rate for sales averaged the 55% and 45 % in Canada and the USA
respectively making this market one of the most dynamic.
Globally the North American market is currently smaller than
the European market that counts a greater number of countries involved The
North American market is not the least because the USA and Canada are both big
economies that can achieve further progress. The figures about the North
American market are given by the table below.
Table 3: Fair
trade sales in Canada and the USA 2005-2006
|
Country
|
2005 (in millions of Euro)
|
2006 (in millions of Euro)
|
Increase (%)
|
|
Canada
|
34.8
|
53.8
|
54
|
|
USA
|
344.1
|
499.0
|
45
|
Source: FLO annual report 2006/07, p 11
1.2.2 The Japanese market
The Japanese fair trade market is quite similar to the share
of European new market. Globally, except Luxembourg and Spain, the fair trade
network in Japan is one of the less dense. At the end of 2006, the country has
just 26 licensees. However Japan has realized growth in the sales of products
such as coffee and tea with an increase of 76% and 78% respectively in 2002 and
2004. Figures show that the total annual value of fair trade sales is around 6
to 7 US$ million a year. The trend of sales in the Japanese market is given in
the table below.
T
Table 4: Fair trade sales in Japan 2006
|
Japan
|
2005 (in millions of Euro)
|
2006 (in millions of Euro)
|
Increase (%)
|
|
Sales
|
3.4
|
4.1
|
23
|
Source: FLO annual report 2006/07, p 11
1.2.3 The Oceania market
This market is represented by Australia and New Zealand. The
fair trade market in these countries is organized under the auspice of Fair
Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand (FTAANZ) established in 2003.
Despite their recentness experience in the domain of fair trade these two
countries are making efforts in term of sales due to a gradual involvement of
operators. The products traditionally offered in this market are coffee, tea
and cocoa; new range of products has been added since 2006 including for
agricultural commodities cotton, quinoa, rice, and sugar, but coffee as in most
of the market remain the important commodity for most of the operators.
The figures about the sales show the growing trend for this
market. The Australian and New Zealand market also adopt the mainstreaming as
major channel of distributing their products that is for large part certified.
The supply is provided through the European market. The table below shows the
evolution of sales in Australian and New Zealand market.
Table 5 :
Combined Retail Sales for Fair trade Products in Australia & New Zealand
|
Product
|
2003
|
2004
|
2005
|
2006 (estimation)
|
|
Coffee
|
113,241
|
1,112,423
|
5,033,514
|
8,360,382
|
|
Tea
|
765
|
80,859
|
399,459
|
659,806
|
|
Cocoa products
|
34,418
|
281,619
|
592,801
|
997,689
|
|
All products
|
148,424
|
1,474,901
|
6,025,774
|
9,358,071
|
Source: FTAANZ, March 2007, (AU$)
Globally, the fair trade sales in 2006 have been market by an
encouraging growth but somewhat uneven according to the products; the FLO
reports around € 1.6 billions of total purchase of fair trade certified
products representing a 41% increase compare to 2005. The range of products in
which the greatest increase have been achieved are cocoa (94%), coffee (53%),
tea (41%), banana ( 31%) and also cotton with that have register much more
demand than before. Although encouraging these figures are far to satisfy the
pending offer of great number of certified producers. The small size of the
fair trade market is not due to supply but to a limited demand. Oversupply has
been noticed and it is one of the recurrent blame addressed to the fair trade
system (Pedregal 2006). Actions toward extending the fair trade market would
bring a second wind to the fair trade system. As mentioned before, the fair
trade market is just limited to develop countries, but there are some
developing countries marked by a economic dynamism in such a way that they can
validly develop a viable fair trade market, so is the case of China among
other countries. Various elements can be mentioned to illustrate China's
ability for building up a fair trade market similar to those in developed
countries.
| 
