Purpose – This paper aims to consider the impact of Fair Trade on producers with particular reference to women involved in Fair Trade production. Design/methodology/approach – The paper considers Fair Trade as an alternative to rational economic models of free trade and as a tool for...

Purpose – The movement of profit‐orientated corporations into the fair trade value chain has caused some socially orientated fair trade organizations to question the direction the movement is taking. One organization at the forefront of the debate is Trade Aid (NZ), Inc. (hereafter Trade...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the meanings and business practices of four Southern Fair Trade enterprises (SFTEs). Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on research with four SFTEs in Bangladesh, taking an ethnographic approach with qualitative methodologies...

Purpose – This paper critically examines the marketing of fair trade, arguing that the use of the term producer conflates a number of categories of actors, not all of whom benefit equally. The authors contend that the two existing archetypes – the noble peasant farmer and the independent...