Harriet Lamb: How we made the doubters eat their words

From a speech by the director of the Fairtrade Foundation to mark the organisation's 10th anniversary

Ten years ago, people laughed at Fairtrade. The vicious logic of the marketplace, they said, is that the lowest price to the consumer is always best. They predicted it would never take off. Today - as millions eat Fairtrade - those detractors are eating their words.

For the British public have shown that they have a vision beyond the size of their till receipt. That they do want to be part of creating a fairer world; that they are ready to pay a bit more if that gives the producers a better deal. Fairtrade fires their imagination - and is empowering. People who too often feel powerless in the face of global injustice, are energised and empowered by Fairtrade, because it gives them the means to be part of the solution. They can buy the products; tell others about them; get their workplace, church or school switching to Fairtrade.

Now there is a real danger companies will want to jump on this and claim credentials without the backing of the independent consumer guarantee that the Fairtrade mark provides. There are companies who still respond by knocking Fairtrade by spreading incorrect or misleading information about our system or by challenging it economically and philosophically. But they look increasingly out of touch with the public's ethical zeitgeist.

In 10 years, there may still be a niche in our shops but a different one - and there will be the odd individual asking bemused assistants where they can find products without the Fairtrade mark, only to be told: "Sorry sir, we used to have a little aisle for that but now all our products from developing countries carry the Fairtrade mark".