Ethical Branding

The notion of ethical branding emerged in Europe in the 1980s. It accompanied the emergence of ethical consumerism, which represented a segment of less than 5 percent of consumers in western markets (but significant enough to those NGOs and church-based organizations calling for a fair deal for developing world farmers in particular, and for fairer supply chains more generally). The fair-trade movement, exemplified by Max Havelaar (Switzerland) and the Fairtrade Foundation (UK), began to gain media coverage for their claims that brands, and coffee brands in particular, were exploiting farmers in the developing world. In 1998 the Ethical Trading Initiative was formed in the UK as an alliance of mainstream corporations, trade unions and NGOs, with the intent of improving transparency and the protection of human rights in company supply chains through adopting the “Base Code.” The early fair-trade brands campaigned for social justice, animal welfares and the promotion of natural substances in the production of groceries (e.g., Gepa), beverages (e.g., Café Direct), chocolate and ice cream (e.g., Green & Blacks and Ben & Jerry’s), textiles and handicrafts (e.g., Traidcraft and Gepa), and cosmetics (e.g., The Body Shop).