Driving thefairness agenda
FAIRTRADE INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL REPORT 2023

Table ofContents
Cover photo: Meri Kusumawati
works with her husband
Amang to collect the coffee
cherry from their farm in East
Java, Indonesia. They are members of cooperative KSU Surya
Abadi Kayumas.
Photo below: Yosvany Finalet
González is a member ofFairtrade certified sugar cane
cooperative UBPC Pita in Cuba.
The cooperative bought a stateof-the-art tractor with Fairtrade
Premium funds to reduce fieldlabour in clearing the land.
Watch

3 Foreword
4 Key Fairtrade figures at a glance
5 Fairtrade’s global strategy
6 Stronger together: our global network
7 Shifting the balance of power to farmers and workers
		 • Living incomes		 • Decent work and living wages
		 • Climate resilience and environmental protection		 • Human rights and environmental due diligence		 • Opportunities for women and young people

13 Growth and innovation
16 Advocacy and citizen engagement
18 Digitalisation for fairer supply chains
19 Partnerships that drive impact
20 Fairtrade International’s financials
22 Fairtrade International Board of Directors

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Fairtrade International

Foreword
So one of our areas of focus through 2025 is continuing
to explore ways of generating more sales for producers,
and deepening impact. We are developing services
that support companies and producers to makeprogress on sustainability goals, such as bringing
innovative sustainability solutions into our pathway
to living wages for banana workers, through which
companies can make sure they are contributing theirfair share and that workers are actually earning
living wages. We published a core component of thispathway – our first-of-its-kind Living Wage Reference
Prices for four banana-producing countries – so thatthe entire industry can work to close the gap to living
wages that workers urgently need. We congratulate
our commercial partners who are taking up thischallenge and commitment. This shared collective
responsibility is a clear example of what can be done
if we embed fair practices into our business and policy
making processes. Another example is the launch of
our new services to reinforce companies’ human rights
and environmental due diligence processes in their
supply chains.

We are pleased to present Fairtrade International’s
annual report for 2023, on behalf of Fairtrade
International’s Executive Management.
We are living in a rapidly changing world. Whether
it’s related to climate, conflict, cost of living, or new
regulations, we are all being called on to adapt andto act. Initiatives that are supposed to protect people
and planet – for instance, a focus on deforestation andhuman rights – have good intentions, but often lead tomore burden and expense for farmers and workers –simply to maintain market access. Amidst all the crises
and well-intentioned initiatives, there is an increasing
call for collective action from all our stakeholders –businesses, producers, policymakers and consumers– to drive solutions together. This has been at the heartof our work over the past 12 months.
In 2023, we conducted a mid-term review of our2021-2025 global strategy. We’re on track in many
areas, including in updating important elements of ourStandards and prices; successful advocacy on European legislation that affects Fairtrade farmers andworkers; and expanding our work and partnerships
related to increasing market access, living incomes,
forest protection, and climate change resilience.

We are also innovating new ways to develop Fairtradefinished products so that producers can sell more
on Fairtrade terms, from value addition for exported
products, to producers marketing Fairtrade products
locally, and more.

Especially when it comes to complying with new
regulations on deforestation and corporate sustainability due diligence, it is essential that companies
share the responsibility to achieve these common
goals with producers and that the tools and data
flow are in place as enablers. This is why data,
digitalisation and access to information for bothproducers and businesses continue to be a highpriority, for instance in traceability within supply
chains, and measuring and publicly sharing impact
data, such as in our recent banana dashboard.

Our work together with producers and partners on
tailored capacity strengthening at the farm andbusiness operations level increasingly focuses on therequirements needed for the highly interconnectedissues of for human rights, living incomes, sustain­
able consumption, and a promising future for the next
generation of farmers.
We thank everyone who has made possible themilestones outlined in these pages – and invite many
more to join us to drive more results together.

With Fairtrade’s global market share in the single
digits for our three core products (coffee, cocoa andbananas), there is plenty of room for growth – growththat would represent benefits for people and planet,and expansion of a fairer way of doing business.

Sandra Uwera Murasa
Global CEO
Fairtrade International

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Annual Report 2023

Melissa Duncan
Executive Director
Fairtrade International

Key Fairtrade figures
at a glance
Fairtrade Living Wage
Reference Prices set forbananaorigins:

Colombia,
Dominican
Republic,
Ecuador, Peru

12

Fairtrade
LivingIncomeReference Prices
available, acrossproducts andcountries

11
56

externally
fundedprojects

activein 2023

Fairtrade Child
Labour andForced Labour
Prevention andRemediation
Programme

€450K

2
8
8

studiesandreports
publishedcommodities

featured on the
Fairtrade Risk Map
for human rights andenviron­mentaldue
diligence

950+

Fairtrade coffee
and cocoa
cooperatives canaccess deforestation risk
monitoring
through
Satelligencepartnership

$1.80

new

Fairtrade
Minimum
Price forArabica coffee
per pound, updated in2023

3

new HREDD
guidance
documents for
traders andproducers
published

8+

FairtradeStandards
and prices
updatedFairtrade ambassadorsand other experts spoke atsessions at
COP28

globalclimatechangeconference

launched with

4

For more information visit our website: www.fairtrade.net

Fairtrade International

Fairtrade’s
global strategy
Our strategic priorities guide our actions as
individual organisations and as a system.
Fairtrade global strategic priorities for 2021-2025 are covered in this report:

1. Shifting the balance of power
to farmers and workers

2. Growthand innovation

3. Advocacy andcitizen engagement

4. Digitalisation for
fairer supply chains

Launchpad for the future

Fairtrade
International

Producer
Networks

Producer representationand support

Fairtrade Standards development,
governance, coordination

Organisation

3

25

Local
Fairtrade
Organisations

Licensing of the FAIRTRADE Mark,
commercial services, raising awarenessRegional
markets
Producers

Exporter / importer

Manufacturer

Audits and certification by FLOCERT

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Annual Report 2023

Brands and retailers

Consumers

Supply chain

The Fairtrade system

The Fairtrade system is made up of more than 25 organisations, 1,000 staff and more than
two million farmers and workers, from 100 countries around the globe. Our fifth strategic
priority focuses on increasing our innovation, partnerships and efficiency as a system.
It’s a cross-cutting priority, weaving through the other areas showcased in this report.

Stronger together:our global network
In a sea of certification schemes, here are just a few
things that make Fairtrade different:

and workers, joins with partners and citizens toraise awareness and advocate for fairer and moresustainable global trade.

• Farmers and workers are represented at Fairtradethrough three regional producer networks. As
members of Fairtrade International, producer
networks have a 50 percent vote in the General
Assembly, our highest decision-making body.

Supporting stronger producers
Fairtrade’s three producer networks provide services
to more than 1,900 producer organisations across
68 countries. Strong, democratic and resilientorganisations can better serve farmer members andemployees, and grow as innovators and sustainability
champions.

• We set Fairtrade Minimum Prices for majorcommodities, with a mandatory Fairtrade Premium
paid on top, which producers decide how to invest
in their businesses and communities.

Producer networks conduct trainings on the FairtradeStandards and in key areas such as gender and childrights, good agroecological practices, value addition to
products, governance best practices, and much more.
They also deliver custom programmes and projects inpartnership with governmental or corporate financial
support. Many of these initiatives are described in thisreport.

• We are paving the way in fair and sustainableapproaches to achieving living incomes and wages,
supporting human rights and environmental due
diligence, building climate resilience, and more.
• The Fairtrade system, representing more than 25
Fairtrade organisations and two million farmers

Fairtrade
producer country

Local Fairtradeorganisation country

Fairtrade
producer networks

Latin America and Caribbean(CLAC)

Fairtrade Africa

Asia and Pacific(NAPP)

340,206 farmers and workers
16% of total

1,445,265 farmers and workers
71% of total
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Fairtrade International

259,915 farmers and workers
13% of total

1. Shif ting the balance ofpower to farmers and workers
Our ambition: We will secure decent
and sustainable livelihoods, build resilience
to climate change, and support women andyoung people as leaders of the future.
Living incomes
Influencing policy and practiceIn 2023, we worked on multiple fronts
to advance understanding and momentum toward living incomes. In May,
Fairtrade Africa and Fairtrade International organized the first producer-led
industry summit on living incomes forcocoa farmers, held in Abidjan, Côte
d’Ivoire. More than 100 participants
took part in this one-day event, with
about half being farmers or representing cooperatives, while the remaindercame from business, government, civilsociety organisations and academics.
The result? A joint declaration callingfor sustainable procurement practices
and policies that support living incomesand enforcement of laws to protect
people and the environment.
We also joined with chocolate companies Tony’s Chocolonely and Jokolade,
the retailer Aldi, and sustainable
trade initiative IDH to publish a jointstatement sharing evidence of the
combined elements that work together
to improve farmers’ incomes in specificsupply chains. These include long-term
commitments between buyers andproducers, which Fairtrade Standards
have long promoted, and paying a fairer
price to farmers.

Expanding living incomesupporting prices

Promising results fromliving income pilot projects

Living Income Reference Prices arewhat a farmer needs to earn to support
a decent standard of living, based on
local costs and assuming sustainableproductivity level is reached. With theaddition of three coffee Living Income
Reference Prices for Ethiopia, Peru
and Nicaragua, we ended 2023 with 12
generic reference prices available, infour products and across 11 countries.
We also initiated the review of thecurrent reference prices for Ivorian and
Ghanaian cocoa.

In our 2023 Living Income Progress
Report, we shared the results of a
project with two major brands – Tony’s
Open Chain and Ben & Jerry’s – thatwere paying the reference price andalso investing in other aspects necessary for living incomes. These actions
included support to diversify incomes,
subsidised farm inputs, and innovations like subsidised “labour brigades”
of trained young adults who helpedwith pruning and other good practices.

These prices are now recognised asindustry standards and can be paid
voluntarily by any commercial buyer.
The potential is significant: thecountries and products covered byour reference prices represent morethan 758,000 Fairtrade farmers.
We have also developed supply-chain
specific reference prices on demandfor companies and their supplying
cooperatives for a range of products
and origins, including cashews, oranges
for juice, robusta coffee and fine flavour
cocoa.

2023 highlights:

Together we analysed farm datacollected by 1,200 households in six
Fairtrade Ivorian cocoa cooperatives
over a period of two years. On average,
the households sold almost half of theircocoa at the Living Income Reference
Price, and earned 22 percent morefrom their cocoa sales overall. Per kilo
sold at the Living Income Reference
Price, farmers received on average
63 percent on top of the farmgate
price when factoring in extra cash andin-kind income. In the second year,
18 percent of the participating farm­ers were earning at or above a living
income.

We know how to promote good farming
practices. We know how to encourage
farmers to work on income diversification.
But how can we better pay producers?
That is the elephant in the room!”• Held first producer-led living income summit in Abidjan,
Côte d’Ivoire in May• Released a new coffee Living Income Reference Price for
Ethiopia, finalised prices for Peru and Nicaragua• Results from cocoa living income projects showed that

Alex Assanvo, Executive Secretary of the
Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana Cocoa Initiative, at
the Abidjan living income summit in 2023

farmers earned up to 22 percent more on their cocoa soldat a Living Income Reference Price

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Annual Report 2023

Doraine Pacheco prepares bananas for packing at Fairtradecertified BANAFRUCOOP in northern Colombia.

Decent work andliving wages
An integrated approach
to living wages
Our pathway to living wages for banana
workers, launched in October 2023,
integrates new components to ourprevious framework, so that companies
and producers can work transparently
together to close living wage gaps.
Three elements now connect
seamlessly:• Fairtrade base wage – all certified
Fairtrade banana plantations are
required to pay at least 70 percentof the living wage benchmark to all
workers. This is supported throughpayment of the Fairtrade Minimum
Price.
• Fairtrade Premium – up to 30 percent of Premium funds, controlled bya workers’ committee, are earmarked
as a cash top-up for workers.

Strengthening trade unions forflower and wine grape workers
To factor the Living Wage Differential
into the price for a box of bananas, we
set the first-ever Living Wage Refer­ence Prices for bananas in four major
origin countries: Colombia, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, and Peru (organiconly). These prices are voluntary, set
per-box, and factor in the contributions
above to reach living wages for workers
in proportion to the volumes bought by
a commercial partner. With wage gaps
and payments to workers checked by
FLOCERT, companies can have transparency into what they are paying
and the impact on wages through acustomised dashboard.
UK retailer Sainsbury’s was the firstto commit to paying the Living Wage
Reference Price for its bananas.

• NEW: Fairtrade Living Wage Differ­ential – this is the remainder needed
to close the gap to the relevant living
wage benchmark.

Funded projects are making a differencein specific sectors. The Ministry ofForeign Affairs of Finland is supporting
Fairtrade Finland’s Dignified Opportunities Nurtured through Trade andSustainability (DONUTS) programme,
which includes several projects related
to workers’ rights. In Ethiopia, one
project is supporting trade unions
operating on seven Fairtrade certified
flower farms to achieve sectoralcollective bargaining agreements,
and to become more democratic andinclusive. To date, six out of the sevenorganisations have gender, youthand disability inclusion policies, andthree-quarters have effective grievancemechanisms. Another project in South
Africa aims to create better collective
bargaining agreements, increase
dialogue with rightsholders, andimprove relationships between tradeunions and management on 26 wine
grape farms with 28,000 workers in theWestern Cape Province.

Study: Impact of Fairtrade on flower workers
and market access of flower farms in East Africa
Published in February 2023, this study found that Fairtrade
flowers workers in Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda experiencehigher wages, better working conditions, more effective
educational support, and greater engagement in workers’
rights issues and gender equity than their non-Fairtradecertified counterparts. Recommendations included continu­
ing to work toward living wages, strengthening unions,and requiring stronger environmental management plans.

2023 highlights:• Launched first-ever Living Wage Reference Price andDifferential for Fairtrade bananas• Projects with South African wine workers and Ethiopian
flower workers are strengthening trade unions,
inclusion, and collective bargaining agreements

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Fairtrade International

Having learned agroforestry practices, Adhany Ilhamof Fairtrade coffee cooperative KSU Surya Abadi Kayumas
in Indonesia plants an avocado seedling on his land.

Climate resilienceand environmental
protection
A new sustainable agriculture policy
Our new policy, launched in July, isintended to guide our actions towarda truly sustainable global food systemand focuses on agroecology. This
concept encompasses the ecological,
social and economic dimensions of ourfood systems, reflecting our founding
ethos and touching on elements fromclimate change, to land stewardship, tofood security, to incomes, to a future foryoung people in farming.
Advancing climate resilience throughplanning, training and support
Key results in 2023 include:• Around 38 percent of all Fairtradecertified producer organisations (720
organisations) are adopting climate
adaptation plans, and 32 percent(610) are reporting implementationof environmental risk mitigation.
• Seven new climate projects werelaunched, and three strategic
partnerships. Visit our impact
map to find related projects:
https://impactmap.fairtrade.net.
• We made progress in developing
a Fairtrade service prototype forcarbon footprinting, based on learnings from 20 carbon footprint studies
conducted over the past four years.
• As of 2023, 1,134 producer organisations (60 percent) have been trained
on Good Agroecological Practices.

• Between 2020 and 2023, the firstphase of the Climate Change andOrganisational Strengthening
Programme built the resilience of
cocoa farming households acrossnine unions of cocoa cooperatives in
Ghana. The programme was implemented by the Fairtrade Foundation
and Fairtrade Africa, with funding
by Mondelēz International. Morethan 1,570 farmers were trained on
climate-smart agricultural practices
in relation to soil fertility and pest
and disease management, and 259
communities developed climate
adaptation action plans to reduce
vulnerability to climate change,
including projects such as adoptionof dynamic agroforestry.
Forest protection
We also made significant progress instrengthening forest protection andsupporting producers to prepare forcompliance with the European Union
Deforestation Regulation (EUDR),
which takes effect at the end of 2024.
We have updated our product-specificstandards for cocoa and coffee to alignwith the EUDR. Uniquely, our standards
also require Fairtrade traders to

support producer organisations with
their deforestation prevention efforts,
so that the burden of compliance does
not fall on farmers alone.
Following a pilot project in 2022, ournew partnership with Satelligenceseeks to support more than 950
Fairtrade coffee and cocoa producer
organisations representing more than
one million farmers to meet the risk
assessment and verification requirements of the EUDR – free of charge
to producers. Producer organisations
can provide geolocation data for eachof their members’ farm plots, and theSatelligence platform analyses it for
deforestation activity or risk, supporting
producer organisations’ risk assessments and generating a report they canshare with their buyers.
Farmers speak up for a fair approachto global climate resilience
Fairtrade became an active memberof the Climate Action Network (CAN)
Europe and the Farmers’ Constituency
in 2023, to amplify calls for climate
justice and social justice.
Visit the Advocacy section of this reportfor more on our policy work.

2023 highlights:• Launched our sustainable agriculture policy• Continued aligning key Fairtrade Standards with European
deforestation regulation• Began a new partnership with Satelligence to provide deforesta­
tion risk information to coffee and cocoa producers

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Annual Report 2023

Human rights andenvironmental due
diligence

Linah Chepkurui is a flower packer on Kongoni River Farm Ltd Longonot Division in Kenya. “Fairtrade projects improve not
only our working conditions, but also our life outside the farm.”

Fairtrade’s due diligence
services

Reporting on Fairtrade’s human rights
and environmental progress

Digital map spotlights key risks inglobal commodities

In 2023, we defined the services we canprovide to support companies with their
human rights and environmental due
diligence (HREDD) processes: overall
HREDD advisory services, risk assessment advisory services, tailored risk
reports, and prevention and mitigationplans. These services complement
Fairtrade’s holistic approach, which
includes incorporating due diligence
principles into the Fairtrade Standards,
fair pricing mechanisms, dialogue withrightsholders, providing risk information via our risk map), advocacy, andmuch more. We can support companies at any step of their due diligenceprocess.

Fairtrade International’s first humanrights and environmental due diligence(HREDD) report, published in December,features aggregated audit data on
issues such as labour rights, childprotection, and biodiversity. As thefirst of its kind for a sustainability
certification, the report also describes
Fairtrade’s HREDD process, drawing
attention to poverty and inequality as
underlying causes of persistent humanrights and environmental harms andthe need for collective action.

Launched in January 2023, the Fairtrade
Risk Map (https://riskmap.fairtrade.net)
shows the greatest human rights andenvironmental risks in the sectors
where we are active. Users can also
explore the root causes of these risks –such as poverty, inequality, and exploitation – and how Fairtrade prevents andmitigates them. Currently, eight commodities or areas are covered: bananas,
cocoa, coffee, cotton, honey, sugar cane,wine grapes, and carbon credits. Nine
more products will be added.

Because audits can only provide asnapshot and are no substitute for
HREDD, the report aims to contribute to
discussions on the role of multi-stakeholder initiatives, and make the casefor companies to invest long-term andaddress root causes rather than “cutand run” from higher-risk origins.

New resources for producers andbusinesses on HREDD

We also work with companies oncustomised supply chain projects. One
example is a project with two cocoa
cooperatives in Sierra Leone to conduct human rights risk analyses andrightsholder engagement, combinedwith activities to tackle these risks,
especially related to deforestation andimproving incomes. The project is acooperation between the Due Diligence
Fund of the German International
Cooperation Agency GIZ, on behalf of theGerman Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development, alongside
German drugstore brand dm and Swisschocolate manufacturer Maestrani.

HREDD regulations are complicated,
especially for producers and small
businesses. Adding to our guide forfarmer cooperatives, in 2023 wepublished three more guides withpractical advice: for traders, large
farms (plantations), and small andmicro enterprises (in partnership withB Lab). We also published spreadsheet
tools for cooperatives and plantations
to conduct risk assessments.

2023 highlights:• Defined Fairtrade’s services to support company due diligence• Published first-ever Fairtrade Due Diligence Report• Launched the digital Fairtrade Risk Map of human rights and environ­mental risks across various sectors – and how Fairtrade mitigates them

• Released three new guides on HREDD and two risk assessment tools
10
Fairtrade InternationalA participant speaks at the graduation ceremony
for the Women’s School of Leadership andYoung Cooperative Managers Academy in Côte d’Ivoire.

Opportunities
for women
and young people
The inclusion of women and young
people is an essential componentof sustainable, thriving farming
communities. From developing new
economic opportunities, to thegovernance of cooperatives, to earning
promotions in the workplace, tocommunity leadership and household
decision making, everyone does better
when women and young people havepower and opportunity.
Here are a few 2023 highlights.
• Fairtrade Africa graduated the firstcohort of cocoa farmers from theirwomen’s school of leadership in
Ghana, following the success of theschool in Côte d’Ivoire, and launched
the young cooperative managers
academy, thanks to funding from theNorwegian Agency for Development
Cooperation (NORAD). Seventy-nine
cocoa producer organisations in Côte
d’Ivoire and Ghana took part. The
project has doubled the number ofwomen and youth participating indecision making in the participatingproducer organisations. Nine outof ten graduates have initiated an
economic or social activity so far.

one new practice to benefit women.
Forty-three women and 18 men arebeing trained through a women’s
school of leadership, and 281 workers
are participating in new gendercommittees. Women are being
mentored for leadership positions
and appointed to traditionallymale-dominated jobs, such as
drivers and store supervisors.
• The Café Mujer Ubiriki project in
Peru worked with 120 women coffee
farmers in Peru to increase theirproductivity and income, build
resilience to climate change, andimprove women’s participation in
their cooperative’s decision-making
processes. Funded by German
retailer REWE, the project supported
the participants to share theirlearnings and leadership within therest of the 500-member cooperative.
Funding from the European Commission
FPA grant, which wrapped up in 2023,
supported all three Fairtrade producer
networks to train young leaders anddevelop long-term strategies tocontinue the work.

• In Asia Pacific, NAPP developed acomprehensive youth strategy
from the bottom up, developed byyoung farmers and endorsed byparticipants at the inaugural NAPP
Youth Conference in Jakarta in 2023.
• CLAC established a leadershipschool for 61 young people (twothirds of them women) in three
regions across Latin America.
Over five years culminating in 2023,
CLAC conducted 16 workshops andtwo regional forums specifically foryoung farmers on leadership,
entrepreneurship, inclusion,
governance and climate change.
• Fairtrade Africa developed a rightsbased youth-inclusive workplan
across seven producer organisations in five countries (South Africa,
Eswatini, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire,
Ethiopia). Together the organisations
are working to develop youthinclusive policies, action plans,and “shadow” boards so that young
people get exposure to andparticipate in governance issues.

I never thought I would ever be a supervisor.
I thought that the role was for people betterthat myself. But through training and changeof attitude, I can be counted amongst the supervisors in our farm. This makes me proud.”• Another NORAD-funded projectwith Fairtrade flower producers in
Kenya is addressing women’s rights
and opportunities. The producer
organisations have strengthened
their sexual harassment policies, and58 percent have adopted at least

Agripina Gakii, Flower worker and Fairtrade Women’s Schoolof Leadership graduate, Equinox Horticulture

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Annual Report 2023

I’m a professional organic
coffee farmer. [In our cooperative] there are many
people helping each other.
Despite the obstacles, it isstill going well because of
our solidarity.”
Somphone Sengphachan

Somphone Sengphachan is a member of Coopérative des Producteurs de Café du Plateau des Bolovens in Laos,
which has been Fairtrade certified since 2009. As one of more than 600 farmer members, she benefits
from better prices, technical support, microfinance loans, organic fertiliser production, and more.
Watch

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Fairtrade International

2.Growthand innovation
Our ambition: We will strengthen existing
relationships, develop Fairtrade markets in new
directions, and offer supply chain services that
benefit everyone – fairly and sustainably.
Expanding
Fairtrade sourcing
and services
As part of generating more opportunities for Fairtrade producers, we test
new approaches that aim to make iteasier for companies to create or
market new Fairtrade products, andadd new benefits.
For instance, Fairtrade Germany andtoom Baumarkt, a home and garden
improvement retailer, developed a project to expand toom’s Fairtrade plant
offerings in other seasons since they
had been selling Fairtrade poinsettias
since 2015. Through this pilot, nurseriesin Germany and the Netherlands canbuy Fairtrade seedlings or cuttings – ofdahlias, asters and African daisies,
for instance – and cultivate them to afinished state alongside non-Fairtradeplants. Only the quantity that the nurseries buy as Fairtrade can be sold as
Fairtrade, which is verified by FLOCERT.
In addition to the regular Fairtrade
Premium, toom Baumarkt pays an extra
one euro cent per Fairtrade plant to awage fund for the Fairtrade workers in
Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Costa Rica.
Another kind of pilot project expands
Fairtrade certification to certain
products that are locally grown inEuropean countries, aimed at extending
fair prices and conditions for more
farmers. Since 2022, for example,
French shoppers can find products that
contain certified French dairy.

Building market opportunities
in producer countries
While Fairtrade remains highly
recognised and trusted in European
and North American markets, Fairtrade
producer networks are supporting
producers to develop and market
their own brands locally, and raise
consumers’ awareness about Fairtrade.
India is a prime example. Through theefforts of Fairtrade India, Fairtrade
NAPP and the support of grants,
achievements include:• People in higher socioeconomic
groups in metro areas increased theirawareness of Fairtrade from 10 to 25
percent between 2019 and 2022.
• Through the four-year SWITCH-Asia
grant, more than 235 new sustainable Fairtrade-labelled food,fashion and cosmetics products werelaunched, and sales of Fairtradecertified cotton products in India
increased by over 270 percent.
• The ACCOR Group of hotels opted
to source sustainable, Fairtradecertified bath amenities from a local
manufacturer, emphasising local
ingredients and innovative packaging
to minimize plastic waste.
• In 2023, Fairtrade India facilitateda sustainable, Fairtrade certified
supply chain for L’Oréal, leading to
the launch of sustainable Fairtrade
towels for corporate merchandisingacross India—a pioneering initiative
for the company in Asia.

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Annual Report 2023

The Added Value Fund, created by CLAC,
Fairtrade International and the Interamerican Foundation, has supported
85 organisations to either improve theirproduct quality and product packaging,or to buy equipment to improve theirproduction processes. The funding supported Fairtrade certified cooperative
PROEXO to create a new line of coffee
produced by women, Café Brisas.
Fairtrade Africa has trained cooperatives in Kenya, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire
and Eswatini on coffee roasting, tea
blending, chocolate making, value
addition of shea butter, chilies, andhoney. The training also included
the topics of business management,
financial modelling, market planningand business performance manage­
ment. As of early 2024, there are fivetea brands, three chocolate brands, andthree coffee brands selling in markets
including Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire and Egypt,with more to come. Fairtrade Africa
has also fostered sourcing relationships
between cooperatives and local
retailers such as Greenspoon, Montys
and Healthy U in Kenya, and Faithful to
Nature and Pick N Pay in South Africa
for their own-brand Fairtrade labelled
products.

New approaches
to sustainability
challenges
The challenges facing producers andcompanies are ultimately similar –higher costs, the effects of climatechange, human rights abuses,
complying with new legislation, andthe uncertain future of young people
in farming, to name a few.
Fairtrade works with producers,
companies and institutional donors todevelop innovative projects, many ofwhich are described in other sections of
this report. Here are some that include
new ways of partnering or addressing
multiple challenges at once.
• We developed a banana impact
dashboard as a one-stop-shop for
all data and information on Fairtradebananas. Users can find information about specific origins, as well
as Fairtrade Premium amounts anduses, the new Living Wage Reference
Prices, research findings, and more.
Customised dashboards can be
developed for specific supply chain
partners.
• The Sustainable Banana project,funded by the French Development
Agency and Carrefour, supported five
Peruvian and six Dominican banana
producer organisations to improvetheir yields by 19 percent between
2021 and 2023. Eighty percent of participating farmers (up from 42 percent) now integrate climate-friendly
practices, and 93 percent now use
organic fertiliser and pesticides.
Nearly one-third of management

Ten Fairtrade Golden Cup competitions in 2023 showcased the high-quality
coffees produced by Fairtrade farmers and help them to find new buyers.
Some participants in the Peru Golden Cup competition (left to right):
Jefer Guzmán, Carlos Altez, Ana Salazar, Luko Saric, Elisa Hinojosa.

positions in the cooperatives areheld by women, and 10 percent by
young people.
• In 2023, the French Development
Agency partnered with Max Havelaar
France and Fairtrade Africa to launch
the three-year Ghana Agroforestry
for Impact project. This projectworks with 1,200 Fairtrade cocoa
farmers in 20 communities, aiming toconvert 100 hectares of monoculture
parcels into dynamic agroforestry,enhancing productivity, soil fertility,
crop diversification and climatechange resilience. It also seeks toincrease inclusion of women andyoung people, and strengthenincomes and household savings.
• Through funding from Fairtrade Max
Havelaar Switzerland, FairtradeFinland and the International Trade
Centre (ITC), the Fairtrade Coffee
Development Plan has supported
cooperatives from 23 countries totackle multiple challenges – fromclimate change to market access –with the aim of increasing resilienceand incomes for coffee farmers.
In Asia Pacific, Fairtrade producer
network NAPP is working with46 coffee cooperatives and morethan 6,000 farmers in India, Indonesia,
Laos and Vietnam to deliver trainings
on topics such as climate resilience,value addition, processing, branding
and marketing.
In October, Fairtrade Africa hosted the
Fairtrade Global Awards in Nairobi,
featuring eight awards categories
celebrating excellence in ethical andsustainable trade practices on the partof traders and companies, from climate
action to living wages and income.
The partner of the year award went
to Ben & Jerry’s, for excellence andstrong commitments above andbeyond Fairtrade certification, strong
relationships with producer groups,
and testing new approaches with
Fairtrade.

Businesses have the potential to be remarkableagents of positive change. Let us use their stories asa source of inspiration, a testament to what’s
possible, and a call to action for others to follow
suit in the pursuit of a more sustainable world.”
Sandra Uwera Murasa, Global CEO of Fairtrade International,
at the 2023 Fairtrade Global Awards

14
Fairtrade International

Fairtrade Standards andMinimum Price updates in 2023
Fairtrade Standards and prices are regularly reviewed to better meet the needsof producers and companies. Announcements are public on our website.
Some of the significant changes in 2023 include:•

The new Fairtrade Minimum Price and organic differential for coffee took effect for contracts asof 1 August 2023, reflecting analysis of costs of sustainable production and consultation with 540
entities.

•

The Fairtrade Minimum Price for bananas was updated in October 2023, alongside the launch of a
new Living Wage Reference Price. We updated the methodologies for calculating base wages forbananas and floor wages for other fresh fruit.

•

Our Cocoa Standard added additional requirements on Internal Management Systems and risk
management.

•

Our Coffee Standard now includes ten requirements to monitor risk and prevent deforestation andmanage biodiversity, which were announced in early 2024.

•

We held consultations on adding HREDD requirements to the Fairtrade Hired Labour Standard
and Trader Standard. The updated standards were launched in early 2024.

•

The Fairtrade Standard for Small-scale Producer Organisations was updated with 14 requirements
on working conditions and occupational health and safety that are more broadly applicable toworkers hired by producer organisations or farmer members.

•

Our Flowers and Plants Standard was updated with additional requirements, for instance on
Fairtrade Premium use, environmental protection, retro-certification, and new bouquet composition rules.

•

We updated our methodology for collecting cost of sustainable production data for setting
Fairtrade Minimum Prices, and began collecting cocoa cost data. We announced new Fairtrade
Minimum Prices and Premiums for organic hazelnuts from Georgia and organic rice from Sri Lanka.

15
Annual Report 2023

3. Advocacy andcitizen engagement
Our ambition: We will champion
change that addresses human rights risks,climate change, inequality, and power
imbalances in supply chains.
Ensuring
sustainability
legislation reflects
producers’ priorities
Several regulations in the European
Union became more concrete in 2023,
and were stronger thanks to advocacy
by Fairtrade producers and partners.
The European Union Deforestation
Regulation (EUDR) entered into force
in June 2023, and we are working to
influence implementation of theregulation, for instance by callingfor more research into the effects on
smallholder coffee and cocoa farmers.
Read more about our support to producers related to the EUDR on page 9.
The EU Corporate Sustainability Due
Diligence Directive (CSDDD) was
strengthened in late 2023, as elements
important to Fairtrade and our partners

were added: reference to the rightto a living income and living wage;
and requirements for meaningful
stakeholder engagement, responsible
disengagement, and the obligation toaddress purchasing practices. Althoughsome provisions were weakened during
the recent passage of the directive
earlier this year, it still achieves acommon framework for EU companies.
We were also proud to see the resultsof years of work related to an EU com­
petition law. Guidelines accompanying
the law were adjusted to include awhole chapter on sustainability,
mentioning living incomes, living
wages and other social aspects.

Together with the World Fair Trade
Organisation and the Fair Trade
Advocacy Office, we are calling for theEuropean Green Deal to become a
Global Green Deal, so that Europeanstake more responsibility for the impact
of goods produced elsewhere for European consumption. This work started in
2023 and continues in 2024.
We organised public sessions on genderequality in global supply chains, and therole of voluntary sustainability schemes
to adjust to EU legislation. We also influenced EU directives aimed at addressing
greenwashing: the Empowering
Consumers Directive adopted at the endof 2023, and the Green Claims Directive,
proposed in early 2023 and which will be
adopted at the end of 2024.
Producer advocacy
Through the European Commission
Framework Partnership Agreement
grant, Fairtrade International launcheda programme for farmers between theages of roughly 20 and 35 to build theirskills as leaders, communicators andadvocates. These 25 Fairtrade ambassadors – 48 percent of them women– participated in a high-level talks withEU policy makers and at global events.

Fairtrade cocoa farmer Deborah Osei-Mensah speaks at the first producer-led
cocoa living income summit, hosted by Fairtrade in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in May 2023.

16
Fairtrade International

The same grant also supported each of
the three Fairtrade producer networks
to develop a regional advocacy strategy. Fairtrade NAPP in the Asia PacificFairtrade campaigns raise awareness of theimportance of everyday shopping choices.

Engaging
citizensregion selected five countries to focus
on in the next few years. Fairtrade
Africa developed advocacy priorities
bottom-up from their country networks
and based on major product areas. In
Latin America and the Caribbean, CLAC
is working through national platforms
to influence relevant legislation.
Climate resilience andenvironment in the spotlight
A delegation of Fairtrade farmers
and other experts attended COP28 in
Dubai, seeking to focus attention on
the urgency of climate solutions for
agricultural communities. The event
included a day on food and agriculture,and more than 130 countries signed adeclaration on sustainable agriculture.
Ana Laura Sayago, a Fairtrade organic
honey producer in Argentina and a
Fairtrade ambassador, spoke at theplenary session. We co-organised twoside-events addressing the role ofyoung people, and a farmer-centric
approach to market creation andstandard setting for carbon and nature,and spoke at 12 other events. We alsoorganised a demonstration of farmers,
together with the Farmers’ Constituency.
In line with the launch of our sustainable agriculture policy in July, we are
dialling up our advocacy for policies
that support agroforestry and raise
the bar for sustainable production andconsumption. See page 9 for more.

Campaigns raise awareness about
what Fairtrade is, increase demand
for more sustainable goods, and spur
citizens to take action.
In 2023, Fairtrade Max Havelaar
Switzerland, Fairtrade Austria andFairtrade Denmark turned February into
“Fairbruary”, encouraging shoppers to
try new Fairtrade products during themonth. In Switzerland alone, around
5.6 million people saw billboards,
materials and social media content as
part of the campaign.

Fair Trade Towns and Fairtrade schools
and universities continue to expand asplaces for engaged citizens to celebrate,
learn, and advocate within theirschools or local governments to
support sustainable consumption,
today and for future generations.

During the UK’s Fairtrade Fortnight,
the Fairtrade Foundation built an
immersive “endangered aisle” pop-up
shop in London that allowed citizens
to understand how climate change
threatens some favourite products andfarmers’ livelihoods, and how shopping
choices can make a difference. The
Foundation hosted seven online events,
and Fairtrade supporters held morethan 600 local events.
We continued to promote the Good
Clothes, Fair Pay campaign, started in
2022and calling for the European Union
to adopt legislation requiring companies
selling textiles and garments in Europe
to ensure that workers in their supply
chains earn a living wage. More than
240,000 citizens signed the petition,and more than 50 European NGOs
and trade unions mobilised for the
campaign.

17
Annual Report 2023

Members of the Fairtrade delegation
spoke at 15 different eventsat the COP28 climate conference.

4. Digitalisation for
fairer supply chains
Our ambition: We will unlock
the power of fair supply chainsthrough data, transparency
and traceability.
The power of
information to drive
sustainability
Access to data is essential in today’s
marketplace. From information tocomply with regulations, to the ability
to trace a product from farm to shelf,
to impact stories – everyone needs
the right information at the righttime. There is a data component toeverything mentioned in this report.
Our Digital Data and Information
strategy, adopted in 2022, guides ourprogress toward robust systems that
respect producer ownership of data,
and also meet next-generation market
demands and opportunities.
FairInsight: Producer
information with one click

features, which will simplify reportingfor producers and centralise information that they can choose how to share.
FairMarket: Traceability forsupply chain partners
In 2023, we developed a user-friendly
traceability solution that we tested
with coffee, using existing data fromthe enterprise resource management
systems of other supply chain actors.
This approach aims to minimise thedata reporting burden, while facilitating two-way transparency: enablingcompanies to trace product origins, andalso allowing cooperatives to track
their products’ final destinations.

FairInsight is our platform forproducers to share information withtrade partners. The Fairtrade producer
networks train and support producer
organisations to upload data to
FairInsight and use it to strengthen
their trade relationships.

We are transitioning from a pilot phase
to a full rollout for all Fairtrade coffee,
and we plan to extend this approach to
Fairtrade banana and cocoa supply
chains.

By the end of 2023, nearly one in four
producer organisations had reported
their Fairtrade Premium plans andexpenditures into FairInsight, which isthe first functionality available.

• Expansion of an impact map thathighlights more than 100 current andrecent Fairtrade projects and studies
around the world, plus country-levelproducer data, filterable by product,
topic, and keyword.

The next phase in development willallow producer organisations to add
detailed information about products togenerate a commercial profile to sharewith potential buyers, among other

Havelaar France supported 25 cooperatives to set up Internal Manage­
ment Systems to improve their data
management, internal governance,risk reduction and social responsibility. By the end of the three-year
project, all participating cooperatives
had shifted to digital data collection
and storage. About two-thirds of thecooperatives were able to analyse
their own data and make datainformed decisions at their general
assemblies.
• Launch of a partnership with Satelligence to scale up deforestation
monitoring and risk assessment
for Fairtrade cocoa and coffee
cooperatives (see page 9).

Other 2023 highlights include:• Funded by the Equité 2 programmeof the French Development Agency
and French Facility for Global Environment, Fairtrade Africa and Max
Maria Laura Salazar works at
Hoja Verde flower producer in Ecuador,
Fairtrade certified since 2000.

18
Fairtrade International

Watch

Partnershipsthat drive impact
Fairtrade’s partnerships with governments,
development agencies, businesses, research
institutes and civil society organisations support
producer organisations to deepen their skills, test
new ideas, and accelerate change.
Our newly expanded interactive impact map showcases projects ranging from improving the rights
of workers on South African wine grape farms to
responsible gold mining in Peru. In total, 56 externally
funded Fairtrade projects across the Fairtrade systemwere active in 2023 including 10 funded by businesses,
29 by institutional grants and 17 by both.
Fairtrade International’s partnerships

Shantiben Navinbhai Makwana, memberof Rapar and Dhrangadhra Farmers Producer
Company in India, harvests her cotton.

Financial support from the European Commission(EC) made it possible for Fairtrade International tostrengthen our system and build support for fair trade
globally.

Watch

One of these was through the EC’s Framework
Partnership Agreement, called Unlocking the Powerof Producers and Workers to Drive Inclusive Tradeand Development through Fairtrade (2019-2023).
This multi-stakeholder project supported Fairtrade’s
strategic priorities in strengthening governance;
promoting inclusion and efficiency; and building ourcollective capacities in policy advocacy, including
through research and producers’ involvement in highlevel discussions (such as the UN COP28). Twenty-fiveyoung farmers became “Fairtrade ambassadors”
through a training programme that developed public
speaking and communications skills. A follow-on grant(2024-2027) has already begun to further advance EU
policy objectives and support producer organisations
in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.

and stresses caused by spiralling food, energy andfinance costs, by investing in resilient food systems
that protect smallholder producers and workers.

The EC-funded SWITCH-Asia grant, Switching to Greenand Fair Fashion (2023-2026), builds on the successful
first SWITCH-Asia grant (2018-2022), to promote theadoption of sustainable production in India’s cotton
textiles sector. Among other things the first grant
resulted in a network of more than 100 Indiansustainability-minded institutions and businesses.

• United Nations Industrial Development
Organisation (UNIDO): to support producers with
implementation of human rights and environmental
due diligence, transition to agroecology, market
access, and more.

Fairtrade International also implemented an emergency relief and resilience fund aimed at mitigating
the cost of living crisis (2023-2024), with the financial
support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The main
objective of the project was to build the resilience ofagricultural production systems against future shocks

In addition, Fairtrade International established new
and reinforced strategic alliances with:• International Trade Centre (ITC), the joint agencyof the World Trade Organisation and the United
Nations: to support producers to make progress
toward the Sustainable Development Goals andaccess new markets.
• Satelligence: to scale up deforestation monitoring
and risk assessment for Fairtrade cocoa and coffee
producer organisations (see page 9).

• MPS, the Dutch certification scheme for thehorticulture sector that focuses on environmental
footprinting and environmental data exchange: toimplement a joint project reviewing banned active
substances and exploration of combined audits inthe future.
A full list of Fairtrade International funders andpartners can be found on our website.

19
Annual Report 2023

Fairtrade International’s
financials
Statement of Accounts for 2023

The summarised key financial figures outlined below have been extracted from internalmanagement reports and from the audited financial statements for 2023. The latter,as in previous years, received an unqualified opinion (DHPG). Fairtrade International’s
accounting practices comply with generally accepted accounting practices and relevant
German legislation (HGB).

Income10% Sales

Expenditure
12%

9% Contributions

and donations

7% Monitoring and

Product management,
programmes,
policyevaluation(Global Impact)

14% Brand, communications,fundraising and advocacy

6% Standardsetting andpricing

14%

Governanceand global resources

6% Other
81% Membership fees

41% Funding to producer networks

Membership fees: As a membership organisation,
Fairtrade International receives membership feesfrom the national Fairtrade organisations (NFOs),
which receive fees from companies that license the
FAIRTRADE Mark for use on their products. The membership fee is unrestricted funding and is calculated asa percentage of the license fee income of each NFO.

Funding to producer networks: Three
Fairtrade producer networks receive this funding toprovide support services to producers in their regions.

Sales: This includes income from cross-border sales

Brand, communications, fundraising andadvocacy: This includes some grant pass-throughProduct management, programmes andpolicy: This includes costs associated with personnel

related to these functions.

and international licensing.

funds to partners (€0.8 million), in addition to personnel
related to these functions.

Contributions and donations: This includes
grant funding.

Governance and global resources: This
includes costs associated with the Board and General
Assembly, as well as for finance, IT, human resources,
legal services, and international licensing functions.

20
Fairtrade International

Income Statement
Fairtrade International’s
institutional funding partners in 2023

2023 (€’000) 2022 (€’000)
Total income

31,78431,067

Total expenditure

31,22030,602

Income from investments

531

750

Taxes on income

387

338

and Development (BMZ)

Earnings after taxes

708

877

German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ)

Profit carried forward

3,600

2,264

Changes in reserves-1,858458

Retained earnings

2,450

3,599

European Union – Framework Partnership Agreement
and SWITCH-Asia programme
German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation

Additional institutional funding partners
to the Fairtrade global system in 2023
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Beyond Beans Foundation

Balance Sheet 2022 (€’000)

Belgian Directorate-General for Development Cooperation and
Humanitarian Aid
Co-op Foundation (UK)

31.12.2023

31.12.2022

1,373

1,348

Intangible fixed assets

13

5

Tangible fixed assets

197

180

Financial assets

1,163

1,163

Current assets

12,062

15,505German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ)

Receivables

5,339

7,554

International Trade Center (ITC)

Other assets

208

470

Liquid funds

6,515

7,481

Pre-paid expenses

140

225

13,575

17,078Fixed Assets

TOTAL

Engagement Global - Service für Entwicklungsinitiativen(Service for Development Initiatives)
European Partnership for Responsible Minerals
French Development Agency (AFD)
German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation andDevelopment (BMZ)

Italian Buddhist Union
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD)
Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa
Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)
Veneto Region, Italy

31.12.2023

31.12.2022

10,313

9,521

Restricted anddesignated reserves

3,101

1,088

General reserve

4,762

4,833

Net income for the year

2,450

3,600

Provisions

486

3,655

Liabilities

2,735

3,902

For supplies and services

1,796

1,987

Other liabilites andaccruals

939

1,915

41

0

13,575

17,078EquityDeferred income
TOTAL

Waterloo Foundation

21
Annual Report 2023

Fairtrade International
Board of Directors 2023
The international Fairtrade system is governed by the General Assembly
and an elected Board of Directors (shown below as of 31 December 2023).

Laurence Tanty
Chair(National Fairtradeorganisation representative)
Bill Barrett
Vice-Chair(National Fairtradeorganisation representative)
Miguel Ángel Munguía Gil
Vice-Chair(Producer representative)
Frank Harnischfeger
Treasurer(Independent)
Rhea Beltrami(National Fairtradeorganisation representative)

Wambui Chege(Independent)

Andrea Debbané(National Fairtradeorganisation representative)

Kouame N’dri Benjamin-Francklin(Producer representative)

Pravakar Meher(Producer representative)

Merling Preza Ramos(Producer representative)

22
Fairtrade International

Biodiversity is important –with it come animals that
fertilise the soil, which
benefits the plantation andprotects it at the same time.
In a diverse environment,
one species does not thrive at
the expense of the others.”
Balbino Reyes Rosales

Balbino Reyes Rosales is an agronomist for Fairtrade certified banana cooperative APBOSMAM in Peru.
To make their soil more pest- and disease-resilient, farmers plant a variety of trees and plants alongside
the banana trees to boost biodiversity, such as coconut, chili peppers, oranges, mangoes and legumes.
The cooperative has used its Fairtrade Premium to invest in organic fertiliser production, among other things.

23
Annual Report 2023

Fairtrade International Bonner Talweg 177 53129 Bonn Germany
Telephone +49 (0) 228 94 92 30 Fax +49 (0) 228 24 21 713 info@fairtrade.net www.fairtrade.net
Follow us at ‘Fairtrade International’ on

Disclaimer
Data in this report were collected through various monitoring and data collection systems within Fairtrade, reported in somecases by producer organisations through the audit process and in other cases by other supply chain actors. Fairtrade International
is not responsible for the accuracy of the data. The report has been compiled to the best of our knowledge and is provided for
informational purposes only. Fairtrade International reserves the right to update the data as new information becomes available.
The data are provided “as is” and no warranty of any kind is given for the accuracy and reliability of the data. Fairtrade International
will not be liable for any claims or damages related to the quality and completeness of the data, as far as it is permitted under law.

Credits
Photos: Rosa Panggabean (cover), Carlos Gasparotto / Teresa Iarapoli (p. 2), Zamira Ramírez / Sergio Calderón (p. 8), Fairtrade NAPP (p. 9),
Lubomír Kadaně (p. 10), Fairtrade Africa (p. 11), Fairtrade NAPP (p. 12), Kevin Rosales (p. 14), Fairtrade Belgium / Kamil Hammenecker (p. 16),
Fairtrade Sweden (p. 17 top), Fairtrade International (p. 17 bottom), Iñaqui Mantz / Martín Jaramillo (p. 18), Fairtrade NAPP (p. 19),
Andrej Barát (p. 23) · Layout: Dreimalig, Cologne