I read in Brandweek this week that marketers at Walmart, Target, and Starbucks (among other large retailers) "eye Fair Trade Certified as the new 'green'" marketing tool.
As someone who ran/runs a independent coffee roasting company, trying to compete with big chains is always a challenge. The juggernaut Starbucks not only sells many of the same products, but also has more locations and lots of marketing bucks behind that star. However, its not impossible, despite everything Starbucks does well. And, it helps that Starbucks is closing/has closed eight of its stores in the Detroit area, including three in the city itself. One of the ways that I was able to get a favorable comparison to Starbucks (and other big chains or big roasters) has been to capitalize on selling Fair Trade Certified (F/T) products.
Overall, though this article is good news. This will help the farmers (and that is really the point to the F/T certs). "Every small coffee roaster in Bareto or Santa Cruz is important to us, but the reality is a big retailer is like a faucet," said Anthony Marek, spokesman at TransFair USA. "And if you're a drip, that faucet can help tens of thousands of farmers across the world."
As F/T gets pushed out into Target and Walmart (and hotel chains?!?), independent coffee roasters and retailers are going to be put under even more pressure to find creative ways to differentiate their products and to increase their visibility, particularly in the current economy. Lynn Dornblaser, director-CPG trend insight at Mintel asserts that with the downturn in the economy, Americans are likely to be much more focused on their wallets, rather than third world countries. Savvy marketers for smaller shops can use this along with the things that make independent shops great in the first place: location, atmosphere, quality product, customer service.... to capitalize on the downturn.
Just don't rely on F/T as a differentiator.
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