Fair Trade Certification Process for Brands and Traders

No, any number of your producers can get certified. Of course, only products from certified producers can be labeled as Fair Trade. If you have a complex supply chain, don’t worry! We can talk it through with you and figure out exactly who needs to get certified or licensed.

When looking for guidance on how to source Fair Trade products, consider these four primary ways to find certified supplies:

1. Existing suppliers: If your current suppliers are certified by Fair Trade USA or FLOCERT, you’re all set.
2. Shift to certified suppliers: Thousands of certified producers are available for fair trade products and ingredients. We can assist you in finding additional Fair Trade Certified suppliers.
3. Work with current suppliers: Help your suppliers get licensed and source from Fair Trade Certified producers.
4. Certify producers in your supply chain: Guide new producers (farms, small producers, factories, or fisheries) through the certification process with Fair Trade USA. Our team is here to support them throughout the entire process.

Fair Trade Certified products and goods span a number of industries and categories including coffee, consumer packaged goods, dairy, factories, floral, produce, and seafood. We are committed to continuously innovating within new categories to best accommodate the needs of our partners. You can learn more about what we certify and our approach to continuous innovation.

To source Fair Trade Certified products means you actively manage your risk and reputation, while improving your operational performance, along with the lives of farmers, fishers, workers, and their communities.

Our Fair Trade standards require safe working conditions, a more sustainable income, and better workforce engagement on important issues like hours, well-being, benefits, and other worker rights. With increased worker satisfaction and retention, there’s less turnover and absenteeism, and supply chains become stronger and more resilient.

Our inclusive programs are built for accessibility and to encourage a journey of continuous improvement.

While our standards include mandatory non-negotiable requirements, we understand that every producer, supplier, and company is at a different phase on its path to sustainability. That’s why we offer a stepped approach to full compliance that makes progress achievable—across more product categories than any other global certification!

Consumers know and trust Fair Trade Certified; it’s the most widely recognized fair trade label in the United States. By participating in our program to become a Fair Trade Certified business partner, you’re demonstrating authenticity to consumers and verifying your ethical sourcing claims.

And as an ISEAL Code-Compliant member, you can trust that Fair Trade USA’s operations and standards have been independently evaluated against ISEAL’s Codes of Good Practice.

The cost of becoming a licensed partner and participating in the Fair Trade Certification process depends on the products sourced. You can anticipate three primary costs:

1. Fair Trade Premiums: These funds create Community Development Funds that benefit the farmers, fishers, and workers at the certified farm, factory, or fishery.
2. Minimum Prices: For a small subset of commodities, like coffee and bananas, Fair Trade floor prices are in place to safeguard producers in volatile markets. You can find a list of prices in our price and premium database.
3. Service Fees: Licensed traders pay a service fee to Fair Trade USA, typically based on volume.

After you fill out an application and connect with our team, we will work closely with you to guide you through pricing.

Retailers and food service companies usually do not pay any Fair Trade fees directly. It’s still important to understand the fees associated with the Fair Trade Certified program, as it can impact vendors’ cost of goods.

We are proud to work with a network of diverse and leading retailers like Aldi, Amazon, Costco, CVS, Kroger Albertsons, Natural Grocers, Target, Walmart, Whole Foods Market, and more!

Retailers that purchase finished, labeled Fair Trade Certified products ready for sale to the end consumer are not required to be licensed by Fair Trade USA or be audited against our complete Trade Standard. However, retailers and food service operators must sign an agreement with us if they wish to advertise and sell Fair Trade Certified products that are either:

1) not individually labeled as Fair Trade Certified, or
2) new products that are created in-store from Fair Trade Certified products or ingredients

This agreement requires such entities to commit to traceability and other rules to ensure the integrity of the Fair Trade Certified label and claims. To learn more, please review our Trade Standard Summary for Retailers and Food Service Operators.

We offer unparalleled support throughout the Fair Trade Certification process from auditing to certification to ongoing compliance, and more!

After you become a licensed partner, we will remain your trusted partner, providing continued support to help you reap the full benefits of Fair Trade Certification. We also offer resources to help you celebrate and communicate your impact to customers and stakeholders.