Fair Trade as Model for Changing Trading Conditions in the Global Food Market

Fair trade is a way of trading which offers better trading conditions to producers from developing countries. This form of commerce has, as its key elements, the respect of the ethical principles by producers, and the existence of ethically oriented consumers in Northern countries who are willing to pay a fair price, not dependent on market conditions. Fair Trade has existed for more than 40 years. During this period, it has demonstrated significant growth and development, notwithstanding the ongoing debates about its validity. Despite the importance of the ethical and economical aspects, the scientific community has not completely evaluated the fair trade as model within the global food market, that could really make a difference to producers and engaged consumers. This paper contributes to understanding the perspectives of fair trade and aims to evaluate its validity in terms of economic and ethical expectations, with a focus on its main players (producers and consumers) and finding out the factors affecting the development. The results have provided an evaluation of the problems and benefits perceived by consumers and producers, in order to adopt fair trade as model for changing trading conditions within the global food market.