Independent Research Project Timeframe: Ongoing Location: Boston, MA (USA) Key competencies: Social entpreneurship, market research, networking

The Fair Project is a focused entrepreneurial research project with the mission of finding creative ways to increase the presence of Fairtrade throughout the United States. Fairtrade is a price labeling scheme that ensures producers in developing countries are receiving a fair and stable price for their produce. Without Fairtrade, these farmers are subject to large fluctuations primarily in the prices of agricultural products and, as a result, they may not be able to cover their costs of production, let alone provide their families with a basic living standard or their children with an education. The Fairtrade movement was started in the Netherlands in 1988 and has now spread to 23 countries, including the US, whose representative Fairtrade organization, Transfair USA, was founded in 1998.

The Fairtrade industry has shown impressive success and growth throughout the world and in the US, where the market had an estimated retail value of €730.8 million in 2007, representing 46% growth from the previous year (FLO Annual Report 2007). Looking at these figures, the US Fairtrade market can be considered the single largest in the world, however, other statistics like, consumer awareness, throw a different light on the story. Consumer awareness regarding Fairtrade in the US was estimated at around 27% in 2006 (Transfair USA Annual Report 2006), compared to an estimated 57% in the United Kingdom (Fairtrade Foundation UK). Consumer awareness is an important metric to assess the true saturation of Fairtrade within a market and, thus, the rather low figures in the US suggest that there is significant potential for the industry to develop well beyond its current state. In addition, many of the successfully performing Fairtrade products in Europe, like bananas and fruit juices, have little or no representation in the US, representing further potential for development.

The Fair Project is a manifestation for my passion and interest in the idea of social entrepreneurship. This is one of many entrepreneurial projects that I hope to work in the future which will provide direct benefit to some of the most vulnerable members of our global society. In my opinion, the use of entrepreneurship as a force to achieve sustainable development in communities of all sizes is a compelling one, as it is a force which has proved its success in many parts of the developing world. As part of the Fair Project, I have been building up a large number of contacts and have been gaining a lot of experience in the field which will be useful in the future when I hope to run and encourage others to run a host of social ventures.

A website for The Fair Project is currently in development.