Fair Trade: Trends for the Future

Abstract

The development of the concept of fair trade corresponds to the culture of the modern world, which aims at eliminating conflicts and reaching agreements based on the win-win principle. The rich North, in an effort to protect its own markets as well as achieve economic development and the competitiveness of enterprises, uses the fair trade instrument to get rid of the problem of the unequal treatment of domestic and foreign manufacturers. Prosperity and economic development, as well as a lack of war and social unrest have fostered the development of the fair trade movement. But is fair trade merely a temporary fashion or is it a long-term trend that will continue to provide opportunities for growth and for increasing the competitiveness of companies that use it skillfully? In the first case, one would probably expect a rapid decline of interest in fair trade products and the emergence of an alternative movement that could offer effective ways of tackling the problems of social and economic inequality, as well as new forms of self-expression for consumers (Mruk 2012, p. 64). In order for fair trade to become a long-term trend, it is necessary to outline specific development scenarios connected with Fairtrade brand management and to forecast future levels in the social sensitivity of consumers.