Notes

1. I recognise the second symbol having seen it often below. I don’t immediately recognise the first, however it’s quite self-explanatory about what it is.

The symbols to me represent that a company has taken an active effort to try and support the suppliers of whatever it is that’s being sold to give them a fairer way of life and not exploit them in their trade.

I don’t tend to connect particularly strongly to the symbols but I do feel that if the symbols are on more and more foods these days then a good change is happening.

2. I understand that the mission is to help the suppliers in usually 3rd world countries get a fair price for their products. This in turn gives them a better way of life, however it also pushes up the price of said products in the knock-on effect. It’s an good cause, however I do remember having read somewhere that, as with all these “marks of good cause” there’s a different story behind the scenes, and in fact a lot of these products, even though they show the symbol do a negligible effort down the line on the supplier side.

3. I see it most often on bananas and chocolate. Other places I feel I’ve passively spotted it are certain textiles, other fruits and coffee.

The symbol does not affect my shopping habits at all. I do not actively seek out the symbol, instead focusing on my two main importance factors of quality and price. As it happens, a lot of the more quality bananas that I buy do tend to have that symbol on them which I suppose has a very marginal subconscious feedback that what I’m buying is good, but other than that my shopping habits remain unchanged.

Seeing the symbol on different products has a slight different meaning, but I think this is because there new products using this symbol more in current times so whilst it’s second nature to see the symbol on a selection of bananas and coffee, for me it’s less common to see the symbol on an item of clothing. However as above, seeing the symbol does not impact my willingness to spend money on it.

4. Seeing the fair trade symbol on a can of Pepsi would, on a subconscious level make me feel marginally better about drinking it, however in real terms it wouldn’t have a significant impact on my Pepsi drinking habits or perception of the brand to have the symbol on the can. If we’re comparing it to the competition of Coca Cola which (I believe) does not have the symbol on its cans, it wouldn’t make me more likely to buy Pepsi if I saw the symbol, and especially so if the price of the Pepsi can went up to compensate for the symbol.