ABSTRACT
Fair trade is arguably one of the most successful private regulatory initiatives involved in the promotion of more sustainable production and consumption. 1 From humble beginnings as a collaborative project between small producers and development non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to promote more just supply chain relations, fair trade certification now regulates the commercialization of goods with a retail value of well over three billion euro. As fair trade has grown, however, pronounced tensions have emerged and one of the major regulatory bodies, Fairtrade International - formerly Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) - has come under criticism for its mainstreaming approach to promoting growth, including from key internal constituencies. There is little doubt that FLO's certification strategy of ever increasing involvement by corporate actors has been responsible for expanded fair trade sales and heightened awareness about fair trade (Doppler and Gonzalez 2007; Tallontire 2009: 1005). Moreover, it is also clear that many producer groups have benefited from FLO certification (Le Mare 2008; Smith 2008: 57–67). Yet, many are beginning to question if FLO's strategic approach has reached a point where it is now offering more benefits to the corporations that fair trade was originally established to challenge than to the small producers that it was designed to assist.
