The Fairtrade mark is an independent consumer label that guarantees producers get a minimum price for their goods and work.
To produce a Fairtrade certified coffee, smallholders farmers must belong to a democratically elected organised Co-operative. They are inspected against international standards, defined by the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO). Buyers pay a guaranteed minimum price to Fairtrade Certified producers for coffee that is sold under Fairtrade conditions. Not all a certified producers' coffee is necessarily sold as Fairtrade. Smallholder farmers are required to pay an annual inspection fee to FLO which audits the production volumes and provides verification of the financial transparency for Fairtrade coffee sales.
Buyers can elect to include an optional premium for investment in social or economic development projects for the community to undertake. Union Hand-Roasted always includes this social premium.
The Fairtrade organisation is not a development agency and has not directed or undertaken projects in coffee growing communities where we work.
The Fairtrade mechanism is not permitted for single-estate farmers, hence the necessity of our Union Relationship model for the coffees we buy which are not eligible for this marketing programme. See our Fairtrade certified collection of coffees.