The Role of the Co-operative Movement in the development of Fair Trade in Britain, c. 1960-2000

Today the influence of the co-operative on the Fairtrade movement can be seen in a number of ways. Most clearly through the Co-operative Group’s retail support for the Fairtrade label, but also the Fairtrade Foundation’s preference for supporting producer co-operatives, and in more abstract terms the apparent ethical and moral links between the original principles of the Rochdale Pioneers and Fairtrade values. This chapter will seek to address the, hitherto under-researched, subject of the historical context and significance of this relationship.

This chapter will argue that the Co-operative Movement, through its membership of the International Co-operative Alliance, had in the early 1970s, the potential to be a key player in the development of the Alternative Trading concept, (the forerunner to Fair Trade). But during this period the Co-operative Movement was unable to overcome the apparent dichotomy that existed in consumer/producer relations. It was not until the late 1980s that the Co-op gave a lead with its Green retailing and Ethical Banking and then became the first mainstream retailer to introduce Fairtrade products in the early 1990s. This chapter will demonstrate that there has long been an affinity between the Co-op’s ideals & values, and Fair Trade’s emphasis on international development. But it will argue that for the Co-operative Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, applying these values in practice proved problematic. This chapter will draw on research from a range of sources including the Co-operative Archives, Oxfam Archives and the ICA Archives. This chapter will cover a number of themes such as: the Co-op contribution to the emergence of an ‘ethical consumer’ movement; the role of gender and women within the Co-op membership and their campaigns for Fair Trade; the ‘Co-operative difference’ and the dilemma between values & principles and value for money. This chapter will show that in the 1960s and 1970s, a time when may Societies were fighting for survival, Fair Trade principles were seen by many as an idealistic luxury. It was not until the late 1980s that there was a growing appreciation within the Movement that ethical and Fair Trade principles could be made commercially viable.