Fairtrade NAPP and its partner, Fairtrade Germany, together organized the digital marketing workshop in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, between 30th April and 1st May 2019. The workshop was conducted with an objective of strengthening the organizational capacities of Fairtrade certified small producer organization (SPO) located in the Jasmine Rice Belt in Thailand.
Thailand is one of the main sources of Fairtrade market on rice. While demand for rice is growing, the price from Fairtrade market is shrinking gradually. Rice SPOs are looking for alternatives to address the decreasing Fairtrade rice prices, eliminate middlemen, while maintaining the volume and quality of their produce which is also affected by unprecedented changes of climatic conditions.
Eight rice producer organizations participated in the training. The learning model used for workshop composed of 2 modules :
Throughout the course of the workshop, participants developed their understanding on principle of marketing, marketing strategies, Fairtrade market, possibility and channels to connect themselves to potentials traders, buyers or exporters to exercise their relationship and connection within Fairtrade System. The discussion focused on the challenges and opportunities that Fairtrade market has faced, is currently facing and possibilities in the future.
Participants has an opportunity to understand what the customers are looking for when they go online on internet or social media. The workshop created an opportunity for participants to practice writing their story about the organization and rice production. This information has been uploaded to the B2B portal of NAPP website. The development of rice producer’s story and profiles is a marketing strategy which enables better access to Fairtrade market, promoting rice products and exchange and providing market information. The training feed-back survey reflect good satisfaction levels on the digital marketing training.
