Fair trade: record turnover of 2.65 billion euros in France

Tea and coffee from around the world, as well as French beans and yogurts... Fair trade sales jumped 25% in France in 2024, driven by the growth of domestic products, according to the annual report from the French Fair Trade collective on Tuesday.

Products bearing this logo, which guarantees fair remuneration for producers, generated €2.65 billion last year, according to the collective, which brings together the eight labels ( Fairtrade Max Havelaar , Fair for Life, Agri-Ethique, etc.). These sales, after having virtually stagnated at +1.8% in 2023 in a context of a general crisis in purchasing power, have benefited from a relaxation of inflation and, above all, the rise of labeled French products.

Nearly half of these products (mainly food) were sold in large and medium-sized stores ; the share of collective catering is increasing.

"We are back in a phase of significant growth, and the first signs for 2025 are positive," emphasizes Julie Stoll, general delegate of Commerce équitable France, who sees this as both a "supply and demand" effect. "More products are labeled, and they also sell better," she summarizes. The surge in global coffee and cocoa prices has had "little impact" on the balance sheet, because it has not yet been reflected in final prices, she believes.

From bananas to Breton crisps and bread, fair trade now offers 15,000 product references, compared to 3,500 in 2014. Its objective: to secure farmers' incomes while ensuring a stable supply for brands.

Producers (milk, fruits, vegetables, cereals, etc.) and processors enter into contracts, according to principles anchored in French law: for at least three years, based on a minimum price with review clauses. The process is monitored by the label.

While fair trade was created more than 30 years ago to guarantee the income of coffee and cocoa producers in southern countries, the model is being adopted by French players.

In 2024, sales of "French origin" products increased by 65% ​​year-on-year, while tropical products increased by 1%. They now represent more than 49% of sales.

Agri-Ethique, the leading label for French products , for example, has announced a third more referenced products and a 75% increase in sales. Among the latest brands to arrive are Brets chips and Labeyrie for duck.

In total, some 600 companies, mostly SMEs, established in France and holding certified brands and 12,000 French farmers are concerned. Today, brands are in discussions with French producers of organic sugar beet, while sales of fair trade sugar from tropical sources (sugar cane) increased by 42% in 2024. France is the European leader in "national" fair trade, according to the sector collective.

For Julie Maisonhaute, its deputy delegate, this success is linked to a regulation unique in Europe, which enshrined these principles in two laws in 2014 and then 2021: this framework “ensures the security required to encourage economic players to participate, while strengthening the credibility of fair trade in the eyes of consumers” .

This boom also comes at a time when the issue of remuneration is at the heart of demands in the agricultural world. "This penetration of French sectors is a satisfaction because the fair trade project is to recognize the importance of properly remunerating those who produce our food," emphasizes Julie Stoll.

"It's a form of renewed social contract. It contributes to social cohesion, it recreates bonds of solidarity between those who produce, those who transform and those who consume. And we feel that this is a consensus in society," she adds, while acknowledging the margins for progress (fair trade coffee, for example, represents around 5% of the market share in France, tea 15%).

Furthermore, 78% of fair trade products are organic, particularly exotic products. Some labels require it, others don't, but often the label helps start the process, notes Julie Stoll.