This year’s Fairtrade Fortnight is about building trust in Fairtrade by inviting people to ‘come on in’ to see the difference it can make to farming communities.
The campaign highlights the fact that many farmers and workers still live in poverty – and that choosing Fairtrade is one way to support them to get a better deal.
It’s a great opportunity to talk to your members about transparency in your supply chains, your links to farmers and workers and how you work with Fairtrade.
Here, the Fairtrade Foundation’s campaign team gives some tips and hints on how co-ops can best promote this year’s Fortnight.
Key business message
“Communicate your Fairtrade message to members through your website, email, social media, magazine or leaflets,” says the team.
“It’s Fairtrade Fortnight, come on in! This year we’re inviting you to come on in to Fairtrade to support farmers and workers to get a better deal.
“The people who grow the things we love to eat, drink and wear deserve to be paid fairly for their work. With a stable income, they can invest in their communities and break the cycle of poverty.
Related: Fairtrade Fortnight closes the door on exploitation
“Through Fairtrade, farmers have the chance to educate their children, improve their housing and invest in clean water to keep their community healthy.
“They can invest in their farms to improve quality and earn more for their crops. Fairtrade can transform whole communities, but only if enough people choose it.”
Tips to promote your Fairtrade products online
- Run a competition to win Fairtrade products with questions about Fairtrade and your business.
- Showcase your products using or linking to text from the Fairtrade website on impact for farmers and workers.
- Blog about the country and co-operatives your Fairtrade products come from.
- Tell the story that only Fairtrade pays a Premium and explain what communities usually spend it on.
Campaigning
This year’s key campaign message is to invite people to turn their back on exploitation and to open the door to Fairtrade. The Fairtrade Foundation is encouraging campaigners to create their own unique door and invite people in.
Whether you’re simply decorating the doors to your events, or bringing people together to create a unique entrance, a door offers a great photo opportunity for local press, and can be a fun and flexible group activity too.
Top tips:
- Choose an iconic local door and decorate it with reasons to come in to Fairtrade. If there’s not an obvious door, is there a local artist you could work with to create an intriguing door street mural?
- Create your own door to Fairtrade – at an event, as a steering group, or involving other organisations
- Show who is already ‘in’ Fairtrade in your area by representing supportive organisations, businesses or individuals on your Fairtrade door
- Decorate the door to your event – download or order props from the Foundation: www.fairtrade.org.uk/fortnight
Some other ideas to promote Fairtrade Fortnight:
- Pull the public in with products. From pop-up cafés to tasting events, why not shake up some espresso martinis, blitz some bananas into smoothies and let delicious Fairtrade products open doors
- Who else can invite people in for you? Fairtrade breaks and brunches can bring people together, but you don’t need to organise them all yourself. Which other groups in your network could you encourage to hold their own event to invite people in?
- Fairtrade family portrait. Celebrating the wide range of local Fairtrade support helps welcome new people in. Group photo opportunities in local press and on social media are a great way to get across the breadth of support.
