Characteristics of Companies involved in the Fairtrade Platform

Abstract

Fair Trade is a business model whose basic idea and goal is greater fairness in international trade with the developing world. In particular, it offers fair trading conditions that do not exploit the grower but take into account his possibilities and production costs. It prides itself on the sustainability of trade and therefore supports environmental protection in the area. An integral part of this system is the involvement of businesses as intermediaries between producers and consumers. The companies enter business processes with a clear vision aimed at orienting themselves in the area of fair trading, while others consider this to be only an opportunity for visibility. For this reason, the idea of Fair Trade has its criticisms, and like all certifications, the Fairtrade have their shortcomings. Criticism is often based on ignorance of the thing or unrealistic ideas of "how it should be to make it work". At other times, criticism of the ethical concept overlaps with the rules of a particular certification, or it blames the system for misuse of the logo by some of the merchants.  The article reveals some theoretical aspects and also deals with a selected sample of companies based on a quota selection from the set, which is part of the certification company Fairtrade Czechia and Slovakia. Based on the chosen methods, we answer the research question and the verified hypothesis.