Fair Trade Certification:
What We Certify
What is Fair Trade Certification
Fair Trade Certified™ is an award-winning, rigorous, and globally recognized sustainable sourcing model that improves livelihoods, protects the environment, and builds resilient, transparent supply chains.
Working with Fair Trade USA™ makes you a partner in empowering individuals, building strong communities, and taking steps to protect the planet. Since 1998, we have gradually expanded our partnerships to include more than 1,500 responsible businesses.
The Power of Fair Trade Certification
Thinking about pursuing Fair Trade Certification for your farm? Learn how Fair Trade can help strengthen farming communities, increase workforce stability, and encourage consumer trust.
Fair Trade Certified Products by Industry
Fair Trade Certified products are found across a number of industries including:
Coffee
Coffee was one of the earliest beneficiaries of the Fair Trade movement, and remains an important pillar of our work and innovation.
Consumer Packaged Goods
From yogurt to sugar to snack bars, Fair Trade Certified products are becoming prevalent in every supermarket aisle.
Dairy
Launched in 2021, the Fair Trade Certification program for the U.S. dairy industry helps dairy brands better protect farmers and resonate with consumers.
Factory
Respected brands in home goods, clothing, furniture, and other categories are embracing Fair Trade to improve the lives of factory workers and their communities.
Floral
Fair Trade Certified flowers offer an assurance that bouquets come from farms with the best social and environmental practices.
Produce
There are more than 45 types of Fair Trade Certified produce items, sourced from more than 125 farms.
Seafood
Now more than ever, consumers look for sustainably sourced seafood with third-party verification.
These are just some of the industries we partner with. Check out brands and products that carry the Fair Trade Certified products across all categories.
Continuous Innovation
Fair Trade USA will continue to innovate to improve the Fair Trade model. And technology enables us to provide even better oversight and measure the performance of our partners. Our vision is to create a tech-enabled, data-rich, scalable model for equitable trade that delivers greater financial benefit and supply chain transparency to key stakeholders.
So what does that look like? Consumers will one day be able to virtually “meet” the farmers who grow their produce. Sourcing professionals will get real-time updates on their supply chain. And sustainability officers will be able to see what kinds of improvements are being made in the lives of the people behind your products. Our aim is to modernize every aspect of our business processes and services to deliver best-in-class value to all stakeholders.
Category Expansion
Along with our efforts with technology innovation, Fair Trade USA continues to innovate within new categories to best accommodate the needs of our partners. In 2019 we began exploring whether the rigorous standards that we have developed in the agricultural sector could provide the same kind of positive impact for the farmworkers, dairy farmers, and manufacturers who help bring dairy products to market. The dairy certification program was built into our Agricultural Production Standard (APS) – the backbone of our Fair Trade Certification model.
As with our dairy sector program, we recognize that there are critically important differences across sectors. As such, we build new mechanisms into our standard where need has been identified. We’re eager to make sure all categories of consumer goods have appropriate Fair Trade standards — it makes for a better shopping experience and a more sustainable planet!
Fair Trade Frequently Asked Questions
If you have more questions about the Fair Trade Certified program, see our Freqently Asked Questions (FAQ) page to find answers to common inquiries.
Get started with Fair Trade Certified
Contact us to begin your Fair Trade journey!