Is this the beginning of the end for Fair Trade handicrafts ?

I am noticing more and more Fair Trade handicraft retailers going under, and this article (or see link below) is typical of most, and highlights some of the challenges faced by small business, and in particular Fair Trade retailers. As a Fair Trade producer, Indochine Natural is at the opposite end of the supply chain, and we disagree strongly with the sentiment expressed in this article that "fair trade for hand-crafted products can only work under a non-profit." In our opinion, if this was to become the norm it would be death of fair trade handicrafts.

At the end of the day, as a Fair Trade producer, what we are working towards is a sustainable business model for ourselves and the partners we work with, not one that is based on charity and non-profit……this can never lift people out of poverty and creates dependency. At the retail end, the non-profit approach would kill off competitors who did not have access to volunteers and donations. As a Fair Trade producer this is not an environment we want to be selling into, and it would simply drive down prices that we can expect for our products.

Even more surprising to me is that we do not see any open discussion among Fair Traders on this issue as more and more of these retailers close.

http://www.wauwatosanow.com/news/wauwatosas-fair-trade-for-all-to-close-at-end-of-month-b99441479z1-291273111.html