Worldshops or world shops are retail outlets that practice the principles of fair trade. The first worldshop was founded by Oxfam in 1959. The Oxfam shop sold Chinese bric-a-brac that had been sourced from Chinese refugees that had escaped the Communist revolution to Hong Kong.
The shops were not called worldshops at that time, however. Alternative trading organisations imported various third world goods, such as cane sugar starting in the 1960s, and still continuing today. These goods were sold in "third world shops" or "developing country shops" (the actual name differing from country to country). The most active organisations were operating in the Great Britain and the Netherlands. The term "worldshop" came into existence in the 1990s. In 1994, worldshops organised themselves under the auspices of NEWS!, Network of European Worldshops. The Max Havelaar label, which is used on fair trade products, has its roots in the 1980s worldshop movement.
Worldshops' aim is to make trade as direct and fair with the trading partners as possible. Usually, this means a producer in a developing country and consumers in industrialized countries. The worldshops' target is to pay the producers a fair price that guarantees substinence and guarantees positive social development. They often cut out any intermediaries in the import chain.
The model has been criticised of inefficiency, as the volumes of worldshop's goods are so small that they are not making a real effect on the world trade. However, on an individual and producer community level, this may still be significant. The fair trade labelling system has been created to make the volumes larger by bringing the goods into conventional retail outlets such as supermarkets.
Other aspects and related criticism are discussed under fair trade.
