Fairtrade Premium reached record high

Continuing to steadily grow and positively impact the lives of more than two million farmers and workers, the Fairtrade Premium neared 223 million euros in 2022, a 10 per cent increase from the year earlier, Fairtrade International announced in May 2024.

Fairtrade Premium received by producer organisations for Fairtrade’s top seven products – banana, cocoa, coffee, cotton, flowers, sugar and tea – totalled about 210 million euros, while the Premium for the minor products topped 12 million euros. The Fairtrade Premium is an additional amount on top of the selling price that is paid to producer organisations and which they democratically choose how to invest in their business and communities.

The small-scale producer organisations invested 36 per cent of their Premium into improving production and farming practice, such as building processing plants and warehouses, as well as purchasing farm materials for members. Another 23 per cent was spent on financial benefits for farmers, whether direct cash payments to top up incomes or credit services. Meanwhile, workers in Fairtrade-certified plantations allocated 75 per cent of their Premium to social investments, including education and housing. Another 15 per cent was invested in financial benefits for workers and their families.

As of the end of 2022, 1,910 producer organisations were Fairtrade certified, comprising 1,563 small-scale producer organisations (including those certified for contract production) and 347 larger farms that depend on a hired workforce (known as hired labour organisations). These organisations were made up of 1,848,268 farmers and 197,118 workers.

Sixty-four per cent of the 231,188 metric tonnes of Fairtrade coffee sold by producers in 2022 was organic, as were a similar 63 per cent of the 730,176 metric tonnes of Fairtrade bananas sold. In addition, organic cotton made up half of all cotton producers’ Fairtrade sales.

Women accounted for 21 per cent of all Fairtrade farmers in 2022, with the highest proportion of women growing Fairtrade certified cereals (60 per cent), oilseeds and oleaginous fruit like olives (41 per cent), and dried fruit (35 per cent). Forty-four per cent of Fairtrade workers were women, with workers on farms producing fruit juices topping the list at 74 per cent, followed by flowers and plants (54 per cent), and tea (52 per cent).

(Fairtrade International/ile)

Read more on the Fairtrade International website