As the world’s most recognised ethical certification system embarks on a multi-year reform, cocoaradar.com can reveal long-standing challenges — from low farmgate prices in West Africa to concerns over certification complexity — continue to test its relevance.
The organisation announced a sweeping evolution of all its generic and product standards, including those governing cocoa, one of its largest and most scrutinised commodities. Fairtrade argues the overhaul will make its system ‘more effective’ and ‘fit for purpose’ amid climate shocks, widening inequalities and rapidly tightening human-rights regulations.
“We know the world is shifting, we see the pressure farmers and companies are under, and we will be there supporting them with evolved standards that meet their practical needs as well as the requirements for a trade system that is fair and just,” said Marike Runneboom de Peña, Interim CEO of Fairtrade International.
Spotlight on West Africa
Cocoa farmers in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire — who together grow more than 60% of the world’s cocoa — continue to struggle with historically low farmgate prices, high input costs and climate-driven yield volatility. Certification, once seen as a pathway to higher incomes and stronger protections, is now under pressure to prove it still delivers meaningful change.