Consumers opt for Fairtrade more often despite high cocoa prices

Sales of products carrying the Fairtrade label increased by 11 percent in 2025. Dutch consumers purchased over 247 million items. As a result, farming cooperatives in Africa, Asia, and Latin America received 8.9 million euros in Fairtrade premiums. This volume growth occurred despite a turbulent cocoa and coffee market.

Growth in specific categories

The volume growth was driven by the banana, cashew, coconut, and cotton categories. Coconut saw the strongest growth among these groups, increasing by 14 percent. Cashew and cotton both rose by 11 percent. Bananas recorded a 4 percent volume growth. This was driven by demand for the organic product range. Better shelf visibility at retailers also helped boost sales.

Commodities under pressure

Conversely, cocoa, coffee, and tea were under pressure due to historically high commodity prices. Across the market, this led to smaller packaging sizes. It also resulted in higher consumer prices and lower volumes. Cocoa fell 7 percent in volume and coffee dropped 3 percent. Tea recorded an 11 percent decline. This contraction affected the entire supply chain.

Retailers invest in supply chains

Retailers are also investing more heavily in fair and future-proof supply chains. Action launched the Fairtrade Leefbaar Inkomen & Kinderwelzijn program for cocoa. Albert Heijn is combining Fairtrade with Tony's Open Chain for all their store-brand cocoa products. PLUS used an additional contribution to enable a living wage across their Fairtrade banana volumes.

Marloes Groenewegen, director of Fairtrade Netherlands: "Globally, there is still a major challenge when it comes to fair compensation for farmers and workers, but the shift toward fairness is becoming increasingly clear. Especially at a time when climate change and high commodity prices are putting pressure on food supply chains, we see more and more companies and consumers choosing Fairtrade. This is reflected in our figures: 11% more Fairtrade products sold and €8.9 million in premiums for farmers and workers. This demonstrates that investing in fair supply chains is not only necessary, but is increasingly becoming the norm."

Fairtrade.net