Video: Fair Trade USA Celebrates 20 Years of Impact

Twenty years ago, Fair Trade USA’s Founder and CEO Paul Rice brought an idea from his field work in Nicaragua to a one-room office in Oakland, California. What started with coffee and conviction – and not much else – is now the leading market-based model of sustainable production, trade and consumption.

Since its launch with coffee in 1998, Fair Trade USA has:

• Partnered with over 1,300 brands to generate more than $500 million in additional income for farmers and workers around the world.
• Expanded to more than 30 different product categories including coffee, tea, coconut, seafood, cocoa, produce, apparel, home goods, and more.
• Grown into an internationally-acclaimed social enterprise and leading certifier, with an estimated $7 billion in U.S. retail sales of Fair Trade Certified products in 2017 alone.
• Established key brand partnerships with market leaders including: Patagonia, west elm, Gap Inc., Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Starbucks, Nespresso, Driscoll’s, Dole General Mills, PepsiCo, Whole Foods, Costco, Target, Walmart and more.