Just Change is part of the wider ‘fair trade movement’.  We are not in competition with fair trade, although we do have a radically different approach.  Our concept of fair trade does not focus on negotiations around price, but seeks to redefine how communities work together and challenges the constraints of conventional trading relationships. As a result Just Change goes beyond fair trade in a number of ways. 

i)    Just Change challenges the assumptions underlying the mainstream economy within which fair trade operates.  It shifts power away from financial investors and gives equal value to the contribution of producers and consumers.  Stan Thekaekara explains it as follows:
“Fair Trade does not change the fundamental relationship between labour and capital. Paying a higher price will definitely alleviate the suffering of the producer but Just Change argues that we need to go further. We need to change the structure under which we conduct our trade and our economy in a way that will change the power relationship between labour and capital. We need a structure that recognises that labour and capital have a role to play in the economy but in a way that ensures they are not in competition with each other but work in tandem for mutual benefit.” 

ii)    Just Change offers an alternative model based on a more equal relationship between producers, consumers and investors.  To quote Stan again:
“Just Change is not about fair prices alone - it is about the relation between capital and labour, between ‘investors’, producers and consumers. It is about creating a true market chain where all the forces of the market work collectively. So that one person is not the controller of market forces and another the victim of it.” 

iii)    Just Change also makes fairly traded goods accessible to low income families who, for the most part, cannot afford to buy them.  Many resent being excluded from the ‘ethical market’.  But by keeping costs down, through a simpler trading chain, we are able to make our products affordable.  We also ensure that production and processing costs are transparent so people can decide for themselves what is a ‘fair price’, and we make it integral to the cost of the product, rather than an added premium on top of other costs.

iv)    The surplus generated from Just Change transactions is used to create a ‘community investment pot’ to benefit all the member groups.  In India, each group decides how to use their share of the surplus – either for community projects or as family dividends.  A proportion is also retained for further investment in the JC network.  In the UK, we intend to operate on similar principles.  At present we are just breaking even and have yet to deal with the issue of surplus.  But the adivasis have insisted that, until we are well established, any surplus we generate should be invested in JCUK, since they are in a stronger position and have already been paid a ‘fair price’ for the tea at the point of transfer to the UK (see vi below). 

v)    This reflects another distinctive feature of Just Change – the idea that development can be two-way and mutually beneficial to poor people in the north as well as in the south.  Our aim is to use the Just Change trading network to create meaningful jobs within poor communities in the UK. There are lots of economic models that encourage self-help, resourcefulness and enterprise, but we are the first to root this in direct relationships, solidarity and an equal partnership between producers, consumers and (in future) social investors with a stake in improving condition in both the north and south.

vi)    These principles are reflected in the Just Change concept of ‘ownership’ and in the way the trade is managed.  The tea and other products are 100% owned by the members of Just Change India – the producer cooperatives.  (This is very unusual, especially in relation to tea production.) When tea is imported from India, JCUK makes what we call a ‘down payment’ reflecting the real costs to that point and based on the adivasis having been paid a ‘fair wage’ up front.  But we treat this as a transfer of tea rather than a sale – Just Change India still ‘co-owns’ the product with us, and therefore has a stake in the UK sales and a say in how the surplus will be used.  It is this relationship that has led to Just Change India making the unprecedented decision to underwrite JCUK during this setting up period and to share the risks with us.