India, Pakistan and West Africa are the main exporters of fair trade cotton, although many countries grow fair trade cotton. [123] [124] Textiles and clothing are exported from Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. [87] According to proponents of globalization, free trade has brought more wealth to the people of the poorest countries and allowed them to cling to the scale of progress and prosperity. From this point of view, wealth gradually „infiltrates“ from the richest to the poorest, which improves the lives of all in the long run. The problem is that it is very often not. Large companies have not relocated their operations to low-wage countries in developing countries to reduce poverty; they have done so to keep prices low and to compete with a market where all the others are also outsourcing. Today, there are many good examples of companies working respectfully with partners in developing countries and offering fair prices that help communities access issues as important as education and primary health care. But there are many more companies that support a shady world of sweatshops, where working conditions are terrifying and wages are too low to meet basic daily needs, let alone lift themselves out of poverty. Without brakes, globalization is rapidly becoming a „race to the bottom.“ If the „trickle-down“ theory works, why are so many people in the world still in poverty? Photo: Fairtrade products must be properly labelled by a recognized licensing system, such as the fairtrade label, which has been authorized by the Fairtrade Foundation. Photo: FairTrade Coffee (left) and tea (right) sold by The Co-op, one of the UK`s leading fair trade traders.

Fair trade looks brilliant — and it is now a very big deal. In the UNITED Kingdom, which remains the largest international market, annual sales of fair trade products increased by about 8% between 2017 and 2018; the total reached 1.65 billion pounds ($2.1 billion) in 2016, up from 1.32 billion pounds ($2.1 billion) in 2011. [8] In the first decade of the 21st century, the United Kingdom recorded strong growth in retail sales of fair trade coffee (up 944% since 2001), tea (up 136% since 2001), wine (up 128% since 2004) and flowers (up 511% since 2004). [9] But fair trade is not without its drawbacks. A clear problem is that fair trade products can cost much more; Although the difference between a fair trade candy lock and an ordinary, often marginal garment or household comes from fair trade, it can be much more expensive than goods traded in the usual way.