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Every Fairtrade banana bought in the UK makes a significant difference to the 36,000 Fairtrade farmers and workers who grow them – and their communities.

For farmers and workers in countries like Colombia and the Dominican Republic, growing bananas for a living has always been challenging.

Buying Fairtrade bananas means that producers are guaranteed a minimum price, get an extra premium to invest and have improved workplace conditions and protection.

Read more about Fairtrade banana farmers and workers.

Where to buy Fairtrade bananas

Abel & Cole

100% of the bananas sold in Co-op are Fairtrade

Sainsbury’s

100% of the bananas sold in Sainsbury’s are Fairtrade

100% of the bananas sold in Waitrose are Fairtrade

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They’re one of the most popular fruits in the world, and many people can’t contemplate a morning (or a morning run!) without one. Bananas are also a staple food for millions of people, and a major export that forms the cornerstone of many countries’ economies.

Bananas are grown on both small-scale farms as well as large plantations. But a highly competitive market creates price pressure on bananas, ultimately putting the squeeze on banana growers.

Choosing Fairtrade bananas makes a difference

The banana industry is labour-intensive and demanding. Climate change and plant diseases threaten yields, while large multinationals wield considerable influence in a sector that requires significant infrastructure to harvest and transport the quick-ripening fruits. Retailers often offer deep discounts on bananas, sometimes selling below cost to attract customers. Together, these factors put banana producers in a bind.

Fairtrade aims to empower banana farmers and workers, and consumers who buy Fairtrade bananas play a key part – the higher the sales, the more the benefits for producers accrue.

Fairtrade banana producers are paid a Fairtrade Minimum Price that acts as a safety net against falling prices. This price varies by region, factoring in local conditions and aiming to cover the average costs of sustainable production.

Plantation workers and small-scale banana farmers also receive a Fairtrade Premium – an extra sum of money that farmers and workers invest in business or community projects of their choice. Banana workers have often used the Premium to improve their housing, build schools and clinics, or offer other benefits they see a need for.

The Fairtrade Standards are designed to improve employment conditions and protect the rights of workers in the large plantations where the majority of export bananas are grown. In recent years Fairtrade has undertaken pioneering work to define and progress toward living wages for banana workers.

For smallholder farms, Fairtrade supports these banana growers to improve their income and their bargaining position in banana supply chains that are often dominated by larger entities.

From strengthening workers’ representation to supporting farmers to mitigate the impacts of climate change, every Fairtrade banana you buy contributes to improving the lives of the workers and farmers behind this favourite fruit .

What is the Fairtrade premium?

The Fairtrade Premium is an extra sum of money paid on top of the selling price that farmers or workers invest in projects of their choice.

They decide together and democratically how to spend the Fairtrade Premium to reach their goals, such as improving their farming, businesses, or health and education in their community. Farmers and workers know best what their priorities and needs are.

Since 2014, Fairtrade farmers and workers have received well over half a billion euros in Fairtrade Premium.

This is a unique benefit enabled by your decision to buy Fairtrade products.

Are you a farmer, worker or business interested in Fairtrade certification?

>>> Here’s how to get started.

Looking for Fairtrade Products?

Fairtrade products are widely available. The blue countries and territories on the map below have Fairtrade organizations that promote Fairtrade products. Their websites often include a product finder to show you the full variety of Fairtrade products near you. Even if there isn't a Fairtrade organization where you live, Fairtrade products may still be available – look for our familiar marks on products!

Climate change is killing bananas

Plant diseases, changing weather patterns, soil depletion and water shortages are all affecting bananas and the people that grow them.

What’s make it worse? Low prices in countries like the US mean that banana farms don’t have the resources they need to protect workers or the environment.

Most bananas in the US are grown in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Though they travel thousands of miles, bananas are harvested only 4 weeks before they are eaten in the US.

The average American eats 27 pounds of bananas per year - that's 90 bananas!

No such thing as a cheap product

Even though bananas travel thousands of miles, they cost less than apples that are grown in the US. How is that possible? Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a cheap product. Someone, somewhere is paying for it. In the case of conventional (non-Fairtrade and non-organic) bananas, this often means that banana workers are receive poverty-level wages and are exposed to health & safety risks.

The climate crisis is already part of the every day life on banana farms. From changing weather patterns to soil depletion and water shortages to worsening plant diseases, these additional costs are not being accounted for in US supermarkets. Something has to give.

Plant diseases are getting worse

Tropical Race 4 (TR4) is a fungus that has been rampaging through banana farms for the past 30 years. However, within the last decade, the epidemic has suddenly accelerated due to a rapidly changing climate. It has spread from Asia to Australia, the Middle East, Africa and more recently Latin America, where the majority of the bananas shipped to supermarkets in the US come from.

While this epidemic has been devastating, organic farms have fared better against TR4 because the microbiota in the soil are able to fight the infection. Food security experts warn of banana shortages if we don’t start paying a fair price to workers so they can switch to organic farming to better manage these diseases.

Hundreds of Coliman banana workers in Mexico have dignified living conditions. Fairtrade and sustainable agriculture practices have benefited both the environment and local communities. Fairtrade partner, Coliman

Fairtrade is part of the solution

Though Fairtrade alone won’t solve the climate crisis, we have been fighting for a better deal and better working conditions alongside banana workers for years through:

• Our unique pricing model
• Supporting farmers in going organic
• Pushing for a living income
• Maintaining rigorous standards

Thanks to the Fairtrade Premium, the cooperative has been able to invest in a new water supply system. This is important, because climate change will reduce water in a few years' time. This new system gives hope for the future.  Elisandre, Vice President of a Fairtrade certified banana cooperative in Peru

Your choices make a difference

Learn how to shop sustainably

It's about progress not perfection! Swapping one item (maybe a banana?) during your weekly shopping trip is the first step to living your values.

Understand your impact

All month, we will be sharing more about climate change and how our daily choices can support farmers in adapting. Follow along @FairtradeMarkUS.

Seek the seal

Use our Product Finder to find Fairtrade certified produce in retailers near you. Be sure to bookmark this tool as new products are being added all the time!

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Bananas are a favourite fruit in our grocery basket and are grown by millions of small-scale farmers and plantation workers in tropical regions.

Bananas are grown both on small family farms and much larger commercial plantations. The banana industry provides employment for thousands of people in Latin America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and West Africa. It generates vital foreign exchange earnings that governments depend on to improve health, education, infrastructure and other social services.

The Windward Islands, for example, traditionally earn around a fifth of their total export earnings from bananas alone. For Ecuador and Costa Rica, the figures are around 9 and 8 per cent respectively. In addition, the industry employs thousands of people in distribution networks and supermarkets worldwide.

The trade in bananas is a cornerstone of many developing countries’ economies, but the social problems in the industry are many and complex. Reports about problems in the banana industry often highlight the woefully poor situation of workers: low wages, precarious employment, restrictions on the right to organise themselves, and the handling of unhealthy and environmentally hazardous chemicals without adequate protection, to name a few.

For smallholder farmers dependent on growing bananas for a living, challenges abound too – with rising costs of production but stagnation in prices, and the severe impacts of changing climate and weather patterns making production unpredictable and unsustainable.

Stephen Best, The Windward Islands, St. Lucia

Stephen is the Chairman of the Windward Islands Farmers Association (WINFA), Vice Chair of St. Lucia National Fairtrade Organization, and Chair of Mabouya Valley Fairtrade Group.

Aimeth Fernandez Angulo, Columbia

Aimeth Fernández Angulo is a banana farmer and manager of ASOBANARCOOP, a growers’ co-operative in Magdalena, Colombia.

Juliet Arku-Mensah, Vrel, Ghana

Juliet’s role as Fairtrade Officer includes supporting VREL in complying with Fairtrade Standards and maintaining its Fairtrade Certification.

Blas Arismendis Marclelino, Banelino, Dominican Republic

Banelino started its history in February 1996 when 7 small banana producers from the Juliana-Jaramillo region met below a mango tree in a banana plot located close to the Haitian border.

Bananas about Fairtrade

From issue 58. Unpeeling the facts behind the banana industry in New Zealand.

New Zealanders consume on average 18-20 kilos of bananas per person every year. Collectively that amounts to a staggering 81,000 metric tonnes of the yellow goodness. The banana is the world’s most heavily traded fruit, with more than $25 billion spent on them around the globe annually. But just how much do we know about the journey our bananas take from farm to fruit bowl? And what, or more importantly who, are we supporting with our purchases? 

Sixty-five per cent of bananas that arrive in New Zealand come from farms in Ecuador, and about 30 per cent from the Philippines (with the rest coming from other countries including Panama and Mexico). Seven per cent of all bananas for sale in New Zealand are certified Fairtrade, and if you’re buying them you’re helping to make a difference to banana growers. 

In a world where more and more companies, products and services are loosely claiming to come from ethical, fair and sustainable origins (a concept dubbed “fair washing”), it’s important to understand exactly what Fairtrade means, and what it stands for. 

Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand business development manager Pravin Sawmy says buying Fairtrade bananas – or any Fairtrade product, in fact – supports the empowerment of farmers and workers to ensure they are getting a fair say in how their organisations are run. 

The Fairtrade Mark is an independent label indicating that a product has met internationally agreed social, economic and environmental standards set by Fairtrade International. It shows that a product has been certified, and Fairtrade ingredients in the product have been independently audited throughout the supply chain of farmers, traders and manufacturers. There is no government regulation around the use of the term fair trade and no oversight for terms such as ‘ethical’ or ‘sustainable’ if companies choose to brand their products that way. All of which makes it tough for consumers trying to make a difference with their shopping. “Unfortunately there are a lot of misleading or unsubstantiated claims in the marketplace, but the Fairtrade Mark makes it easier for consumers to know their money is going towards fair wages and decent working conditions,” Sawmy says. 

“Fairtrade looks at the three pillars of sustainability – environmental, economic and social elements. Ensuring that we have standards around the environment, requirements around social impact and democratic organisation of the cooperative, workers’ rights and trade unions. All of these are embodied in what Fairtrade stands for.”

Fairtrade ensures banana growers, when they are selling their fruit on Fairtrade terms, are getting at least the Fairtrade minimum price, which covers the cost of sustainable production, if not the market price if it is higher. 

The other key component of Fairtrade is the Fairtrade Premium, an additional sum of money farmers receive on top of the price of goods. For bananas this amount is approximately NZD$1.50 per 18kg box. It ensures the farmers can reinvest in their farms and communities in ways they see fit. 

There are currently 50 New Zealand businesses that use the Fairtrade certification. The majority of these are coffee and chocolate products, closely followed by bananas, a growing category. 

Improving worker and environmental conditions

As consumers we can still opt to do something in a better way, and pay a slightly higher price to make big improvements to the way a product is grown or produced, including limiting the use of carcinogenic pesticides. 

“There’s lots of aerial spraying on banana plantations and often the workers are not given the right health and safety equipment to protect them. There is supposed to be a designated break period between spraying and when farmers go back into the field, and often that’s not happening. Sometimes workers are in the field when it’s being sprayed, so it’s really bad. With all the pesticide use and the way that plantations are set up, there’s a lot of environmental degradation going on,” says Sawmy.

Fairtrade environmental standards have a list of banned chemicals that can’t be used in production, and the organisation is encouraging banana farmers to move towards more natural solutions as well as implementing measures to protect waterways and biodiversity. Currently more than 50 per cent of all Fairtrade bananas in the world are organic. 

Workers’ rights are often suppressed too. The NZ Banana Report (The Big Squeeze 2017) highlights that less than one per cent of the Ecuadorian workforce is unionised and while there is a government minimum price in Ecuador, research found that the Fairtrade price is between 20-60 per cent higher. 

“Fairtrade is committed to supporting workers’ rights, ensuring safe working conditions, training in safe practice, and the use of protective equipment. Companies are required to increase wages annually and consult with worker representatives in doing so. Fairtrade is also working to establish living wage benchmarks and to implement the use of these in plantations,” he says. “At this end it’s about educating people about why they need to pay a little bit more and what that means.”

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They’re one of the most popular fruits in the world, and many people can’t contemplate a morning (or a morning run!) without one. Bananas are also a staple food for millions of people, and a major export that forms the cornerstone of many countries’ economies.

Bananas are grown on both small-scale farms as well as large plantations. But a highly competitive market creates price pressure on bananas, ultimately putting the squeeze on banana growers.

Choosing Fairtrade bananas makes a difference

The banana industry is labour-intensive and demanding. Climate change and plant diseases threaten yields, while large multinationals wield considerable influence in a sector that requires significant infrastructure to harvest and transport the quick-ripening fruits. Retailers often offer deep discounts on bananas, sometimes selling below cost to attract customers. Together, these factors put banana producers in a bind.

Fairtrade aims to empower banana farmers and workers, and consumers who buy Fairtrade bananas play a key part – the higher the sales, the more the benefits for producers accrue.

Fairtrade banana producers are paid a Fairtrade Minimum Price that acts as a crucial safety net for producers and a way to build their resilience amid market fluctuations. Fairtrade reviews this price regularly, in consultation with producers and traders.

Plantation workers and small-scale banana farmers also receive a Fairtrade Premium – an extra sum of money that farmers and workers invest in business or community projects of their choice. Banana workers have often used the Premium to improve their housing, educational services for their families and communities, or offer other benefits they see a need for.

The Fairtrade Standards are designed to improve employment conditions and protect the rights of workers in the large plantations where the majority of export bananas are grown.

The Fairtrade Base Wage , which came into effect on 1 July 2021, is a significant step towards a living wage for thousands of banana plantation workers worldwide, with plantations also required to negotiate a plan to progress to a full living wage. Read more .

We have set Living Wage Reference Prices for each major banana producing country. By paying the Living Wage Reference Price per box, workers on a banana plantation can earn at least a living wage as per the applicable Anker Research Institute benchmark. The aim of the Living Wage Reference Prices is to support banana producers and companies in their journey towards Living Wages. The Fairtrade Living Wage Differential is a voluntary contribution that commercial partners can pay after the Fairtrade Minimum Price and Fairtrade Premium for a worker to earn a living wage. The Fairtrade Premium Committee is the best mechanism to distribute the Fairtrade Living Wage Differential among the workers to temporary increase workers’ income, until higher wages are achieved through collective bargaining, governmental regulations or increase of the Fairtrade Base Wage. Read more .

Small banana farmers participating in the Productivity Improvement Program run by CLAC are improving the soil health of their farms, resulting in better yields, higher incomes and lower cost of production due to less use of synthetic fertilisers and agrochemicals. Those farmers have also reduced the carbon and water footprint in their farms. Read more .

Do you know our Banana Dashboard?

Visit the Fairtrade Banana Dashboard , a unique tool to learn more about Fairtrade bananas and the path to a fairer banana sector. You’ll learn about Fairtrade producers and origins, services and programmes, insights into human rights and environmental topics, and ways to deepen impact in living wages, climate adaptation, and more.

From strengthening workers’ representation to supporting farmers to mitigate the impacts of climate change, every Fairtrade banana you buy contributes to improving the lives of the workers and farmers behind this favourite fruit .

Are you a farmer, worker or business interested in Fairtrade certification?

>>> Here’s how to get started.

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The unfair trade of the Fairtrade bananas

As much as it is true that the fruits of the wise man (as translated from the banana scientific name musa sapientum) could help people to feel better because they contain a protein converted into serotonin by the body, Fairtrade bananas should be a source of happiness - they secure a better life to thousands of farmers, workers and their families. The main purpose of Fairtrade is in fact to help producers living in developing countries to get a fair price for their produce, guarantee the ethical treatment of workers and importantly, reduce poverty.

This is a huge industry made of millions of medium and small-scale farmers and which secures employment for thousands of people in Latin America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and West Africa; it also generates a $1 Fairtrade Premium per case sold to invest in business or community projects chosen by local people. Asotrapam is a national workers’ association launched to exchange ideas and gives advice to all plantations workers on how to better invest the premium.

However, many of these farmers still live in poverty. What is the point of having Fairtrade bananas when the workers of their estates in tropical regions get paid $5 per 8-hour workday, then?

Despite varying figures from one country to another, this is what happens in the Dominican Republic, one of the top producers of Fairtrade bananas in the world. In fact, 70 percent of its total crops carries the special green, blue & black logo.

Haitians are the main victims and make up most of the workforce in the Spanish Caribbean Island because locals carefully avoid being exploited in the banana plantations. Moreover, they generally live in wood slums called batey located far away from the residential areas and some of them no longer hold a valid document: according to a 2013 constitutional court verdict, in fact, the descendants of Haitian immigrants born in the Dominican Republic after 1929, are no longer entitled to the Dominican nationality. Therefore, there is an entire group of country-less hard-working people all over the island. Meanwhile, all work associations within the local companies are managed by Dominicans.

The only possibility of safeguarding the interest of both Dominican and Haitian workers is Sintranor, the first banana workers’ trade union and the brainchild of Eligio Almonte, a local man who has always have the workers’ rights close to his heart, regardless of their nationality. Despite its over 300 members, the union still goes undercover to avoid threats from those companies which profit from the Fairtrade banana business by exploiting the poorest labourers. Unfortunately, the abundant manpower can only facilitate such a modern, legalised slavery.

Another move having negative repercussions on the poor Haitians is the supermarket price war happening in the UK, where around half of the bananas produced in the Dominican Republic end up. Despite the hard work required to produce the popular fruits and their enormous journey, the price of a banana bought in a UK big store dropped from around 18p ten years ago to the current 11p, all due to the competition among big grocery stores.

Nicola Frame, previous media & PR manager at the Fairtrade Association, launched a campaign in 2014 to make banana fairer by encouraging some of the main UK supermarkets to stock more Fairtrade fruit :

“Bananas are the UK's favorite fruit and so many of the banana farmers and workers that grow them are living in poverty, but that is not what UK shops want. They really care about the conditions of the banana workers and these, in turn, want an independent insurance that retailers are doing the right thing”. 

Current figures show the success of Ms. Frame’s campaign in terms of Fairtrade stocks filling the English grocery baskets. However, poverty is still an issue in those faraway lands where the rich fruit is grown.

Retailers could make a real difference to the lives of banana workers and farmers in the developing world by increasing the selling price of their produce and it is very likely that consumers, in turn, would buy more expensive bananas without grumbling.

Banana Link , which is actively involved in Fairtrade efforts, has highlighted the discrepancy between the success of Fairtrade bananas in the Western world and the low salaries of those who make this business happen:

“Today Fairtrade bananas account for an increasing percentage of the total world trade in bananas and over a third of those sold in the UK carry the Mark. However, the wages achieved by Fairtrade workers remain below a minimum income standard which would cover the cost of food, education travel, housing, clothing and cultural activities. Fairtrade International is actively working on how to ensure a living wage is paid, by incorporating this into the Fairtrade minimum price paid for bananas”.

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