Coming to a Wal-mart
near you – "fair trade"items. Wal-mart, which made its
reputation with consumers largely by selling low-cost goods and
effectively undercutting other retailers, has been exploring the
possibility of selling some fair trade items, Wal-Mart CEO, H.Lee
Scott Jr., told The Washington Post. The company thought it would
be "doing well by doing good," Mr. Scott told The Post.
The intent of fair trade
is to sell quality goods that are manufactured or grown by people
who are paid a fair living wage and benefits. It’s also tied to
production methods that restore the land. While it can mean that
buyers may have to pay a premium for the products over mass-produced
foods and goods, it’s worth the trade-off in both the quality and
the knowledge that you’re not contributing to someone else’s misery,
according to local fair traders.
If the Wal-Mart experiment
in entering the fair trade market is successful, executives there
believe they can still keep prices low. Such items as coffee and
chocolate might be on the shelves of some Wal-Mart stores—items
grown and manufactured by workers in countries like Brazil who are
contracting with the retailing giant to produce only for its stores.
So you can walk into
the Riverhead Wal-Mart and purchase not only a high quality product
but one grown and produced by people who aren’t being exploited
in low wage jobs with long hours and no benefits—right? Not so fast.
Although Wal-Mart has linked to a company called Café Bom Dia that’s
buying beans from local growers to sell to the retailer, the fair
trade product hasn’t yet reached the local shelves. The company
is experimenting with the products first at some of its Sam’s Club
outlets, and if that’s deemed successful, it could roll them out
through some or all of its Wal-Mart stores.
A local Riverhead manager
said he’s had no word of any such plan yet and is continuing to
sell the same basic products the store has carried since it opened.
In fact, he was stumped by the term "fair trade," pleading
that he has been on vacation and has no knowledge of any new products
since his return.
Still, local fair traders
have some concern about a retailing giant like Wal-Mart trying to
tackle the fair trade market.
"We at www.thegroovymind.comwould
like to see fair trade become the norm for social and economic justice,"
said Melanie Mitzner, who operates the e-commerce site with her
partner Nicke Gorney. But she’s concerned about the motivations
of a big box retailer like Wal-Mart latching on.
Wal-Mart coined the term
"trend right" to describe its move toward fair trade.
But Ms. Mitzner sees fair trade not as a "trend, but a human
right."
A company devoted to
fair trade and sustainability will ensure that most, if not all,
of its inventory reflects that commitment, said Ms. Gorney. With
Wal-Mart concentrating its early efforts on growers in Brazil, Ms.
Gorney said she doesn’t worry about availability of beans. Brazil
is "a very small part of the inventory of coffee beans available
to roasters. The same is true for chocolate and tea."
Because www.thegroovymind.comis
an Internet business, Ms. Mitzner said she doesn’t worry about local
competition. "For us, competition comes from everywhere,"
said Ms. Mitzner. "We’re not as concerned about how it would
impact us as we are concerned about the welfare of those who benefit
from the structure of fair trade."
On the other hand, because
a giant retailer can afford to lose money on a few goods, while
making it up on others, she’s concerned that Wal-Mart might pay
a fair trade price but knock down the cost of the products for its
customers.
"That does not
seem like fair trade. It’s like free trade usurping fair trade,"
she said.
Officials at Wal-Mart’s
corporate headquarters didn’t respond to questions about this story
submitted through its public relations division.