The tea or coffee you had this morning was probably bought for a variety of reasons. Price, quality and brand recognition all play a role in influencing consumer choice in a supermarket or store.

Another consideration might have been its prominence in the store: if someone can't find the coffee they want, then the likelihood is they take the next best thing.

Yet consumers are also increasingly choosing to buy products which have ethical labels attached to them.

Initiatives such as the Fair Trade mark, which awards a consumer label to products meeting internationally recognised standards of fair trade, can make a real difference to the lives of Third-World farmers.

Among the products currently offered by Fair Trade are teas, coffees, chocolate and fruit.

But when faced with competition from huge multinational companies, what does it take to ensure such products get the push they deserve on supermarket shelves?

Mr Luuk Zonneveld is director of Fair Trade labelling international.

One of the biggest challenges for the organisation, he says, is to convince companies that it can be more than simply a "niche" product.

"When we started out, there was a lot of media interest expressed. Industry was willing to buy into the product and the concept behind it," he says. "But it would often be placed low down on shelves, to see what happened.

"But for us, we have to say to companies that they need to come up with a strategy for Fair Trade, to make it part of their marketing concept Market research has shown, for example, that positioning is the key."

In order to do this, however, supermarkets need to see Fair Trade as a successful business model.

While selling ethically produced products does a supermarket's image no harm, the bottom line is whether they will make money for the supermarket.

In a fiercely competitive market, each and every product has to justify its place on the shelves.

"Nobody is going to buy Fair Trade just out of convenience," agrees Mr Zonneveld.

"But at the same time we're not a political movement. We're talking about being a model for promoting sustainable development.

"It's about informed choice. I believe we're starting to market Fair Trade to consumers and industry as a business model. And I think this is much more sustainable in the long-term."

Fair Trade also addresses a consumer group that is very interesting to businesses, he adds.

"They are willing to put their money where their convictions are. I believe people are intelligent enough if they stumble upon a good idea to adopt it."

There are still a number of challenges which Fair Trade products face, however. Chief among these in the Republic is getting the major retailers interested, he says.

Fair Trade has made significant inroads into the market in recent years. But the real difficulty lies in persuading retailers to broaden their ranges, and to educate customers about what the products mean to the lives of the people producing them.

Tesco Ireland is attempting to address this issue with the recent launch of its own brand of coffee products with the Fair Trade imprimatur.

According to Mr Bill Patterson, Tesco's head of product development, one of the reasons why the retail giant getting involved was customer demand: customers in Tesco stores were asking for its products.

While Mr Patterson acknowledges that any of the products stocked by Tesco needs to sell in sufficient quantities to make stocking it worthwhile, he also points out that this operates by degrees.

"It doesn't necessarily need to sell in the same quantities as bigger brands such as Lyons Tea, for example," he says. "As long as it is justifying its place on the shelves, then we're happy enough.

"I guess its showing we're listening to what customers are looking for."

But is there not an inherent tension in stocking products that openly state they have been ethically produced, next to others that cannot make the same claims?

From Tesco's "own brand" perspective, Mr Patterson says he doesn't see a problem, as it is aware of how important it is to have an ethical supply chain.

But what about other international brand names, which have huge advertising budgets?

"We can't choose or dictate for our customer, so we have to offer them a choice," he believes. "For example, we stock organic and conventional foods as well, which we offer as a choice to consumers.

"It is not our position to say we're only going to sell X types of products. Customers are looking for lots of different things."