Fresh Fruit

Taste the Fair Trade Certified™ Freshness

Fair Trade ensures that farmers receive a fair price for their top-quality fruit, and that farmworkers have good working conditions and receive fair wages. Without Fair Trade, fruit farmers often receive only a few cents a pound for their crop, far below the cost of production. For example, in Ecuador the cost of basic necessities for a family of four is $9.60 a day, but on non-Fair Trade farms, workers may earn as little as $3 a day. These disparities have lead to the wide-spread need for children to join their parents in the field to supplement the family income.

Fair Trade farmers receive a price for their crop that is designed to cover the costs of environmentally sustainable production and provide a decent standard of living for their famlies. This fair price allows small family farmers to stay on their land, put food on the table, and keep their kids in school.

By setting a floor price and production standards criteria, plantation owners can offer higher wages and improve working conditions. Fair Trade farms are thoroughly inspected at least once a year to ensure that these standards are met.

In addition to the fair price, small farmer cooperatives and plantation worker organizations receive a premium to use for social and environmental development including education, healthcare and crop diversification.

Protecting the environment

All Fair Trade farms adhere to strict environmental standards that limit the use of pesticides, reduce erosion and waste, and protect natural waterways, virgin forest and other ecosystems. The Fair Trade certification system bans the use of the most harmful pesticides, greatly improving the health of workers and the surrounding environment. The Fair Trade premium allows many of these farms to fund organic conversion.


Click here to view a list of companies offering Fair Trade Certified fruit.