The Birmingham Spring Fair, which ended on 7 February, is the UK’s largest trade show for home and giftware. It’s massive, with over 80,000 trade visitors attending. Walking round all the halls is like running a marathon.

The catalogue for the Fair included, for the first time, a section listing Fair Trade exhibitors. I was disappointed that only 9 of the 43 on the list were importers which had been accredited by BAFTS (British Association for Fair Trade Shops). And indeed, there were some who were jumping on the bandwagon. “Can you tell me about your Fair Trade policy?” I asked one exhibitor of Christmas decorations from the Far East. “Oh, I don’t think you could call us fair,” he said, adding quickly, “though we don’t buy goods made by children.” This was the perception of other exhibitors too – that Fair Trade just means avoiding child labour.

But the majority of exhibitors not recognised by BAFTS were genuine about what they were doing, and knew a lot about Fair Trade. Some had wonderful products too. There were, for instance, some fantastic ceramic pots from Indonesia, selling largely to garden centres; some beautiful jewellery from Kenya, selling to upmarket boutiques; and some cute woollen dolls from Bangladesh, selling to craft and children’s shops. All supported worthy projects and were giving excellent support to the producers and communities involved. And they were selling to the mainstream market, not just to Fair Trade shops.

Fair Trade exhibitors were still a small minority overall, but there were significantly more of them than there were just two years ago. The organisers of the show were also aware about Fair Trade and keen to promote it. A big change from two years ago when they were either suspicious or just not interested, and an excellent sign that consumer demand for Fair Trade is growing fast. This was backed up by sales at Shared Earth’s stand, which increased by over 50% on last year. Fair Trade is on a roll!

Bookmark It