Formulating Certified Organic and Fair Trade Consumer Products

By Tony Moore


I’m assuming that since you found your way to this publication, you’re already aware of the many environmental and socioeconomic benefits the organic trade offers. I’m also assuming that since you further found your way to this particular article, you’re either already aware of or curious about the Fair Trade Certified system. In the short time we have together, I hope to not only supply you with some facts and history, but also to illustrate how consumer product developers can make a social impact using the Fair Trade Certified system.

What is Fair Trade Certified?
Fair Trade is an innovative, market-based approach to sustainable development. Fair Trade helps family farmers in developing countries to gain direct access to international markets, as well as to develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace. Fair Trade Certified products directly support a better life for farming families in the developing world through fair prices, direct trade, community development and environmental stewardship. Fair Trade farmers market their own harvests through direct, long-term contracts with international buyers, learning how to bootstrap their business and compete in the global marketplace. This empowerment lifts farming families from poverty through trade, not aid, keeping food on the table, children in school and families on their land. The Fair Trade Certified label guarantees that farmers and workers received a fair price for their
product.

The first Fair Trade certification initiative began in 1988, triggered by the fall of world coffee prices and the subsequent exploitation of coffee pickers. The Fair Trade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), the international umbrella organization for Fair Trade labeling, now has representation in 19 countries across the globe, including TransFair USA. TransFair USA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, began certifying coffee in 1998 and has since introduced Fair Trade Certified tea, cocoa, chocolate, bananas, sugar, rice, honey, orange juice, and fresh fruits such as bananas and pineapple, along with a growing range of commercial ingredients to the U.S. market. This has generated $80 million of additional income for farmers, providing lasting benefits for their families and the earth.

Specifically, TransFair USA publishes the following criteria for Fair Trade Certified products:

• Fair Price. Farmer groups are guaranteed a stable price for their products. Farmers invest the Fair Trade premiums in education, quality improvement, healthcare and business capacity building.

• Fair and Safe Working Conditions. Forced labor and child labor are prohibited. Protective clothing and safe equipment are provided for workers. Fair Trade workers and farmers must join associations that are transparent and democratically controlled by their members.

• Environmental Protection. The Fair Trade criteria prohibit genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and a long list of dangerous pesticides that are ‘acceptable’ under EPA standards. Farmers must create and implement integrated crop management and environmental conservation plans. Also, the Fair Trade price structure provides a strong financial incentive and the necessary resources for organic conversion. This is why so many FTC products are also certified organic.

Those companies whose long-time roots have been in manufacturing and selling organic products know that as organic has gone mainstream, the organic label claim alone may not be enough to differentiate these products from their conventional counterparts in consumers’ minds. For this reason, organic processors may want to consider adding a value-add to an already value-added product. This may be where Fair Trade certification makes good business sense for the organic manufacturer.

Nearly 90% of Americans say it’s important for companies to be mindful of their impact on the environment and society, with 70% saying they’re more likely to support companies that do, according to a 2005 study by the Natural Marketing Institute. The record growth of Fair Trade products proves that consumers are voting for a better world with their purchases, demanding sustainable, ethically sourced goods nationwide. Consider the following facts:

• Fair Trade Certified coffee has tripled in the past three years, with an annual average increase of over 75% since its launch in 1999.

• Fair Trade Certified tea grew 187% in 2005, and is projected to grow even more with the rapid expansion of the bottled tea market.

• Fair Trade Certified cocoa grew 84% in 2005.

Fair Trade Ingredients the Organic Way
As more Fair Trade Certified foods become available, so do our sources for creating Fair Trade ingredients. At the time of this writing, many basic and exotic Fair Trade certified ingredients are available for use in foods and beverages from a variety of ingredient manufacturers, including:

• Fair Trade Organic Sugar and other sweeteners in various liquid and dry forms

• Fair Trade Organic Cocoa in various powder, nib, liquid concentrate, extract and flavor forms

• Fair Trade Organic Coffee in various ground, dry instant, liquid concentrate, extract and flavor forms

• Fair Trade Organic Tea in various leaf, dry instant, liquid concentrate, extract and flavor forms

• Fair Trade Organic Vanilla in various bean, liquid concentrate, extract and flavor forms

• Development is also underway for various Fair Trade spices, herbs and florals

TransFair USA has developed a Fair Trade Ingredient program to encourage, facilitate and regulate these ingredients and has also developed Composite Product Guidelines for the labeling of such products used in consumer products. Simply put, as with organic regulations, if a Fair Trade product is available, then it must be used. However, there are some exceptions and more details can be found on TransFair’s website. Briefly, TransFair states that a product can carry the Fair Trade Certified (FTC) label (Figure 1) as long as these three rules are followed:

1. All ingredients that can be FTC must be. The exception to this rule is sugar, as over 80% of sugar used in the U.S. is grown in the U.S.

2. The ingredients list should say which ingredients are Fair Trade Certified.

3. If the products are less than 20% FTC by dry weight, at least one FTC ingredient must be significant, meaning the product can’t live without it, like coffee in coffee ice cream, or tea in chai. If the product is less than 20% FTC by dry weight, the ingredients that are FTC must be listed on the front of the package.

TransFair states that it will allow exceptions to these guidelines in two special cases:

1. If a particular ingredient is unavailable, or if the quality available does not meet the product specifications (for instance, it is not organic).

2. If the net interests of Fair Trade producers is better served by excluding a particular ingredient. For instance, if getting a particular ingredient is so expensive that it makes the product unviable, it might be better to exclude that ingredient so that the other ingredients can be sold as Fair Trade.

According to the organization, these exceptions are not automatic, but must be granted in writing by TransFair USA. The company must demonstrate to TransFair that it is making a good faith effort to source all possible ingredients under FTC conditions. A complete list of Fair Trade ingredient manufacturers and their products can also be found within the TransFair website.

An Organic-Fair Trade Case Study
Until recently, only whole foods such as coffee and tea were available as Fair Trade for consumers to purchase. Fueled by visionary and socially responsible consumer product companies, a need for Fair Trade Certified ingredients that can meet the challenges of formulating complex, prepared organic foods and beverages is being created. In early 2006, for example, Stonyfield Farm began the task of creating an organic ice cream using Honest Tea’s Fair Trade certified tea. Obviously, the thought of mixing tea leaves and spices directly into ice cream wasn’t appealing and adding brewed tea to the ice cream wasn’t technically feasible. Moore Ingredients was asked to create a Fair Trade and Organic certified flavor system using Honest Tea’s Fair Trade Organic Chai Tea blend. After overcoming regulatory, sourcing and technical hurdles, a flavor system containing custom-created extracts of Fair Trade Organic Makaibari green tea and organic spices such as cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and vanilla were successfully blended to create Stonyfield Farm’s Vanilla Chai ice cream with Honest Tea’s signature Chai profile. This product was launched in the summer of 2006 and is now available at many retail stores throughout the U.S.

The manufacturer’s themselves are pleased with the result: A certified organic product that goes beyond the obvious environmental and health benefits associated with these foods to a place where social consciousness is an important value-add—both for the processor and the consumer. “It is increasingly important to consumers where their food comes from, and how it is produced,” says Gary Hirshberg, president and CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm. “By using this Fair Trade designation, we have shown our commitment to equitable wages, safe working conditions and fair employment opportunities for workers across the globe.”

“Throughout history, tea has been consumed by some of the world’s wealthiest communities yet produced by some of its poorest,” agrees Seth Goldman, president and TeaEO of Honest Tea. “By producing a Fair Trade certified tea, we are directly supporting improvements in education, healthcare and housing for tea-growing communities. Honest Tea’s Fair Trade efforts include developing a computer learning center at the Makaibari Tea Garden in Darjeeling, India, where the children of third-generation tea pickers have access to technology and information that would otherwise be beyond their reach.

“We’re especially glad to see our Fair Trade tea move beyond the beverage cooler to the freezer,” Goldman adds. “Stonyfield’s Vanilla Chai ice cream is as delicious as we hoped it would be.”

Get Fair Trade Certified!
It’s really not difficult—and certainly much less painful—than many other regulatory procedures we endure in the organic trade. To carry the black-and-white “Fair Trade Certified” logo, you will need to sign a contract with TransFair to become licensed to use the certification mark, and allow TransFair to audit your Fair Trade ingredients purchases to ensure that Fair Trade standards were followed whenever the label appears. It’s simple, just send an email to ingredients@transfairusa.org to get started.

As an organic and Fair Trade consumer, I choose to purchase products bearing the Fair Trade symbol because it communicates that company’s commitment to values and issues that I consider important. It’s not often that folks have the opportunity to make a social impact in their daily work. As an ingredient developer, I was drawn to the organic trade with a desire to make an environmental contribution with my work. Now with Fair Trade, the opportunity to make a true social contribution is available to any ingredient or consumer product developer by simply using Fair Trade ingredients in their formulations.

Tony Moore is Vice President – Creative and Technical Director, with Moore Ingredients, Ltd., a family owned and operated company based in Hamilton, OH, which creates and manufactures natural and certified organic specialty ingredients. He is responsible for all product development at Moore Ingredients, including its organic and Fair Trade efforts, and has worked in the flavor industry for more than 20 years. Tony is a certified member of the Society of Flavor Chemists and the Organic Trade Association. He can be reached at tony@moorelab.com.