The involvement of big business in fair trade has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, fair trade promotes the production of certified goods, fosters stable long-term trading partnerships between suppliers and retailers, contributes to the development of online shopping and global marketing, and minimizes the involvement of intermediaries. Thus, in fair trade, customers receive certified products of which quality they trust, while suppliers and supermarkets form straightforward and cost-effective partnerships. On the other hand, big retailers involved in fair trade frequently fail to support and encourage producers They do not appreciate suppliers’ efforts to produce and export their products through limiting investments in processing facilities and promoting higher tariffs for profit. At the same time, consumers are misinformed concerning the companies’ promotion of fair trade.
In general, the critics that condemn major brands’ involvement in far trade are justified by a considerable imbalance between prices for consumers and producers that occurs when big retailers promote and distribute products via online shopping. Moreover, big business unethically promotes free-market trade when producers sell goods through free markets as they cannot wait for fair trade in which minimal pricing is guaranteed. In this way, the big business generates profit without the support of producers’ manufacturing and standards of living.
At the same time, prices paid by consumers are not relevant to the provision of producers’ fair treatment. Although people believe that high prices are justified by investments in growers’ well-being, in reality, the compensation and profit of producers are low. The major percentage of prices should support communities through cooperatives. However, these cooperatives pay high certification or registration fees to receive an opportunity to participate in fair trade.
In fair trade, product manufacturers, retailers, and consumers are responsible for growers in the creation of their possibility to sell products for a reasonable price. However, the protection of their interests should be protected by growers themselves through cooperatives’ entering the free market. In this case, they will be free of harsh tariffs and various fees, manage price fluctuation, and contribute to the balance between demand and supply.