The report, entitled “Adapting and innovating for a fairer future,” showcased the organisation’s progress towards its impact last year despite uncertain economic conditions, climate change, geopolitical risks, and an expanding regulatory landscape.

While the organisation separately publishes information on certified organisations, sales, and other product details in its monitoring reports, the annual report focuses on aspects of Fairtrade’s work beyond certification-related data.  For instance, in 2024, 58 projects were active across the Fairtrade system, which includes 25 local Fairtrade organisations and three producer organisations representing almost 1.9 million farmers and workers.

Reporting on its first strategic pillar, “shifting the balance of power to farmers and workers,” Fairtrade described its progress in the areas of living incomes, decent work and living wages, climate resilience, human rights and environmental due diligence, and opportunities for women and young people.

One example is an ambitious project called Dignified Opportunities Nurtured through Trade and Sustainability, funded by Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and supporting tailored projects in seven African countries. In Ethiopia, the focus is on improving working conditions and stronger trade unions in the flower sector through training, social dialogue, and advocacy. In 2024, a total of 575 workers, 77 percent of whom were women, were trained at three flower farms.  A group of 25 trade union officials and management representatives were trained on workers’ rights and social dialogue, and six collective bargaining agreements were revised and updated to better reflect worker needs.

In the area of climate resilience and deforestation prevention, Fairtrade supported coffee and cocoa producer organisations to prepare for the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). This included establishing a new partnership with Satelligence, a leader in deforestation tracking, to provide risk reports to producer organisations based on their farm geolocation data, while Fairtrade producer networks provided hands-on support to organisations to collect high-quality and EUDR-aligned geolocation data.

In the “growth and innovation” pillar, Fairtrade brought businesses and producers together by testing new approaches to Fairtrade Standards and supply chains. In fact, Fairtrade had seven active pilot projects in 2024, including a new model to set several spices and coconut prices more quickly based on the cost of sustainable production.

Fairtrade also expanded supply-chain-related services, such as strengthening due diligence dialogues between producers and companies aiming to result in collaborative solutions to address human right and environmental risks. Producer networks ramped up their efforts supporting producer organisations to market themselves, including building the profile and availability of Fairtrade products locally and regionally.

Plus, Fairtrade updated four of its Minimum Prices and Standards last year. Building on the earlier inclusion of specific due diligence requirements to Fairtrade Cocoa and Coffee Standards, in 2024 Fairtrade added similar requirements to its Standards for traders and for very large farms (known as hired labour organisations).

Fairtrade’s work in “advocacy and citizen engagement” pillar focused especially on EU regulations in 2024, including the EUDR, the EU Corporate Sustainability and Due Diligence Direction, and the EU Organic Regulation. Fairtrade producer networks inform members, cooperatives, and producer organisations about the regulations, support readiness, and advocate for implementation that shares the burden of compliance beyond just farmers, to all supply chain partners.

For the fourth pillar, “digitalisation for fairer supply chains,” the annual report highlighted several Fairtrade data-driven platforms and services, including FairInsight, where producers report and share information with their trade partners. They can now add detailed information about their members, product qualities, and Fairtrade Premium investments to generate a high-quality profile to market their business to existing and potential buyers.

Other digital platforms are making key information for accessible, such as a new online resource that shows all Living Income Reference Prices.

Finally, Fairtrade International continued to establish strategic alliances, including with the International Cooperative Alliance to help maintain sustainable and well-governed cooperatives and their communities; the Centre for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry, to share proven agroecology and biodiversity initiatives with producer organisations; and the Global Coalition for Social Justice to address social justice deficits.

Fairtrade’s General Assembly is held annually and is the highest decision-making body for the global system. It brings together all members, including producer networks and national Fairtrade organisations, to discuss governance matters, and in particular, this year, to provide input on the development of Fairtrade’s next global strategy that will begin in 2026.  

Click here to read the 2024 Fairtrade International Annual Report.