Three years after getting a fair trade committee, Olds can now boast of having 18 businesses and offices that sell or use fair-trade-certified products.
“We are not pushing anyone to sell fair trade products. People are mostly catching on of their own accord,” said Kristin Allan, fair trade committee member.
Residents can buy fair trade products at Cocoa Tree, Bean Brokers, Granny Jacks, reFind, Nutter's, Stang's, Health Street, Co-op, No Frills, Sobeys, Auberge Brown tea house, Video Experts, Shoppers Drug Mart and the Crossing Café at Olds College. Moreover, the Town of Olds office and a few churches use fair trade products.
Many of these businesses were selling fair trade products years before the committee was started.
“We have been selling fair trade products for about six years. Just because I thought it was more of an equal opportunity to the people that are producing,” said Cindy Boffey, co-owner of Granny Jacks.
“There are not so many middlemen and the money, as we were told, goes back to the community that the goods are produced in.”
Nutter's Bulk and Natural Foods has been selling fair trade products for five years.
“We decided to sell fair trade products because a lot of them are organic,” said Andrea Morrish, Nutter's owner.
“The more I can find the more I like to bring in, but sometimes, it is just hard finding it.”
Meanwhile, sisters Candice and Caitlin Klimek, owners of Cocoa Tree, decided to use and sell fair trade products after watching a documentary about the subject at Bean Brokers.
“We were shocked that people were being mistreated and we had no idea what everyday products we use and take for granted and that what we think are cheap and made easy are actually hard to make,” said Caitlin Klimek.
To be recognized as a fair trade business, Olds businesses must sell consistently at least two fair trade products.
“We do ask the businesses to put up fair trade promotional material in the store, like little tags that highlight fair trade products on the shelves, posters and stickers on windows that tell people that the businesses have fair trade products,” said Allan.
While some of the fair trade businesses could expand on their product range, high cost is often a deterrent.
“To be really honest about it, we find fair trade products quite expensive,” said Boffey.
“So, to use them on a large scale for everything would be too expensive. Our prices would have to increase substantially.”
Morrish says that her customers will buy regular products, then they will buy organic, then they will buy fair trade.
“It is typically because fair trade products cost a little bit more,” she said.
