Fairtrade Coffee in 2024: Building on Three Decades of Partnership

Last year, we celebrated a milestone 30 years of partnership with Fairtrade. That’s three decades of shared commitment to fairness, sustainability, and community empowerment in coffee supply chains, making our collaboration one of the longest running at DRW. 

As we look ahead to Fairtrade Fortnight 2025 (September 22nd – October 5th), we reflect on the impact our work together has achieved in the past year. More than numbers on a page – it’s about the people, communities, and environments we’ve had the privilege to support, and if you have a Fairtrade coffee range, there’s no better time for you to tell your customers about it! 

DRWakefield Fairtrade Footprint 2024

In 2024, DRWakefield sourced the equivalent of 276 million cups of Fairtrade coffee from 33 producer organisations across 14 countries, covering 142,774 hectares, with approximately 113,530 farmers in the supply chain, 26% of whom are women. 

These relationships are not transactional, but rather, they are built over years. Many of the cooperatives we work with have been our partners for decades, allowing for trust, consistency, and measurable long-term impact. 

Fairtrade Premium: Where it’s Making a Difference

In 2024, producers in our supply chain allocated their Fairtrade Premium towards: 

• 49% Producer Organisation Investment and Capacity Building: Producers invest funds in strengthening their business and trade, including training infrastructure improvements. Fairtrade Premium is also spent on activities that contribute to producers maintaining Fairtrade certification status, for example the costs of administration of the Fairtrade premium.  

• 40% Social investment for Farmers and their Families: Investments that support farmers and their families, both in and outside of work, are important to producers. Initiatives like these can contribute to the enabling environment required for a living income, investments may include cash distribution or projects related to education, gender or producers rights.  

• 9% Productivity, Quality and Climate Change Adaptation: Initiatives specifically targeted at increasing yields, or improving the quality of crops, aim to ultimately generate more income for producers. Its more important than ever that producers have access to the training, tools and resources to adapt to the climate crisis, and maintain adequate crop production. This category of Fairtrade Premium investment may cover initiatives that support farm adaptation and mitigate climate change by reducing the environmental impact of farming through, for example, improved water management and land rehabilitation.  

• 2% Social Investment for the Wider Community: Producers invest Fairtrade Premium in supporting their wider communities, which can contribute to the enabling environment required for a living income, investments are in areas such as community infrastructure and education.  

• <1% Environmental Services: This investment includes community investment in projects to reduce the environmental impact of daily life and to protect biodiversity and local wildlife, for example planting trees and recycling.  

Stories from the Field

The best way to understand Fairtrade’s impact is through the people behind the coffee. 

Peru – Sol & Café
With Fairtrade Premium earned from their coffee sales, members of the Sol & Café cooperative set up a community health clinic to provide regular check-ups and early diagnosis of illnesses such as anaemia and diabetes. Over time, the clinic expanded to include dental services, addressing a widespread but often overlooked health need among farming families. 

As Veny Chaquihuanca, Administration and Finance Manager, explains, the Premium can support the costs of medical personnel, medicines, and equipment maintenance. For producer, Marbin Asuncion Villegas, the impact has been clear: “the change in the lives of the farmers has been a real 360-degree leap, and all this has been possible thanks to Fairtrade.” 

Ethiopia – Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union
Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (OCFCU) is one of our oldest Fairtrade partners in Ethiopia, representing more than 200,000 smallholder farmers across 217 cooperatives. Through the Fairtrade Premium, Oromia has invested in training for more sustainable farming practices, promoted intercropping with citrus and bananas to improve soil health and food security, and distributed beehives to diversify incomes and encourage biodiversity.  

Fairtrade Premium funds have also gone into environmentally focused infrastructure, from building washing stations that reduce water waste to providing loans for eco-friendly processing equipment. As OCFCU member Workineh Heldaja explains, “Fairtrade has definitely helped our community – it has helped us improve our school and water supplies. It has also made a big difference in the price we get for our coffee with the guaranteed payment.”  

Looking Ahead

The 2024 results reaffirm that Fairtrade is not only a system of standards but a driver of tangible change, standing with producers, protecting the environment, and strengthening communities. As consumer demand for ethical sourcing continues to grow, we remain committed to building on these achievements. 

Here’s to continuing the work we began over 30 years ago, and to celebrating the next chapter during Fairtrade Fortnight this September. 

Take Action

• Interested in Fairtrade certification? Get in touch with our team to learn more about the process and how to get started. 

• Support the Fairtrade mission by exploring and purchasing the featured coffees below. 

• Join Fairtrade Fortnight from September 22nd to October 5th and help spread the message of fairness and sustainability in coffee.