ABSTRACT
The farmers' payment is shortened by middlemen in the form of buyers, brokers, wholesalers and retailers who receive most of the profit from end-sales to consumers. The Norwegian fair-trade labelling organisation, Max Havelaar, was started in 1997 by 12 non-governmental organisations, most of which where labour unions, environmental groups and Christian organisations. The structure of the Norwegian food supply sector is characterised by concentration of power, with a small number of big actors dominating the market. World market prices for coffee, rice and other commodities are highly volatile and often below the costs of production. Fairtrade Max Havelaar Norge (FMHN) hopes the concept of fair-trade certified towns could be a way of boosting sales of Fairtrade-labelled goods in Norway. Sales of Fairtrade-labelled chocolate are low in Norway compared with other countries. With a marketing and communications budget of just over NKr1.2 million in 2005 FMHN does a great deal of informational and educational work.
