It’s Fairtrade Fortnight and BAFTS is proud to be supporting the campaign to ‘Do It Fair’! That means fairer to people, fairer to the planet and fairer pay for producers and artisans in the Global South. However, as BAFTS is a Fair Trade membership organisation, not a Fairtrade organisation. Our members are Fair Trade aligned businesses rather than Fairtrade certified businesses. So there can be some confusion as to what actually defines “Fair Trade” and “Fairtrade”.
And where does that leave BAFTS and our members during Fairtrade Fortnight?
Here are five areas where Fair Trade and Fairtrade differ, and where they overlap. And why BAFTS is supporting Fairtrade Fortnight, despite not holding the logo.
1. What Each Term Actually Covers
The clearest place to start is what each word is actually describing.
Fairtrade (one word) is a certification that focuses on the people who prouduce raw materials and ingredients – things like coffee, cocoa, tea, sugar, cotton and gold. It looks at how producers farmed, mined or harvested these commodities. It also concentrates on commodities which have historically been produced under unfair and exploitative conditions. For a product to earn the Fairtrade mark, certified farms must produce the specific ingredients listed on the label (e.g., cocoa).
Fair Trade (two words) is a broader movement covering the entire production and manufacturing process. It is not just what makes up a product, but how people make it, who creates it, and what conditions they work under. This makes it a natural fit for handcrafted and manufactured goods rather than agricultural commodities. And these type of products are what most of our BAFTS network sell.
2. Trademarked Certification vs. Movement-Wide Principles
Fairtrade is a registered trademark, owned and awarded by Fairtrade International (FLO). Only once a product has passed FLO’s certification standards can the famous blue, green and black mark be used. This means the buyer has paid not only at least the Fairtrade minimum price, but also a Fairtrade premium and a licence fee to allow use of the mark. The Fairtrade Premium is ringfenced for business, community and environmental projects chosen by producers.
Fair Trade isn’t a single trademark. It’s governed instead by the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) and its 10 Principles of Fair Trade, covering everything from fair pay and safe working conditions to gender equity and environmental responsibility. BAFTS is the UK’s network member of WFTO and some of our members are also members of WFTO
Rather than certifying individual products, WFTO accredits organisations as a whole. It is based on peer review and ongoing monitoring against those principles.
To become a BAFTS member, a business must pass a rigorous peer-led assessment, which BAFTS reviews and updates with new targets every two years.
It should be noted that as ‘Fair Trade’ is not legally protected. Businesses can put ‘fair trade’ on a label without official oversight from WFTO or BAFTS, so make sure to look for WFTO or BAFTS logos!
3. Product-Level vs. Organisation-Wide
This is a subtle but important distinction. Fairtrade certification applies at product level – a company might have one certified product line while the rest of its range isn’t certified at all. There are companies whose whole range is Fairtrade for example Café Direct or Divine chocolate.
Fair Trade/WFTO accreditation applies to the whole organisation. Every part of the business – sourcing, pay, working conditions, environmental practice – has to reflect the 10 Principles, not just a single product. So a WFTO-guaranteed member or a member of BAFTS isn’t just selling a fair product; they’re run as a fair trade business, end to end.
4. Accessibility for Small Producers and Businesses
Fairtrade’s certification process is extremely thorough – but that rigour comes with real costs and time commitments, which can be genuinely tough for very small producers, makers and importers to take on.
WFTO application of Fair Trade principles, with assessment through organisations like BAFTS, is built with small and micro businesses in mind. Membership is accessible and affordably priced, while still maintaining a rigorous, peer-led review process to verify that members genuinely meet the 10 Principles. It means smaller, artisan-focused businesses can be part of a credible, monitored fair trade system without needing the scale to absorb a full certification process. For more information on prices and processes, have a look at the BAFTS Membership Pack.
5. The Products and Producers Each System Suits Best
Fairtrade’s commodity-based model is built for long, traceable agricultural supply chains – think coffee beans travelling from farm to cup. Because it has high recognition among the British public, the mark helps customers identify fairly traded products on supermarket shelves
Fair Trade/WFTO tends to suit artisan, handcrafted and manufactured goods – textiles, homeware, jewellery, baskets – where the story is less about a single traceable ingredient and more about the people, skills and working conditions behind the whole product. It’s why so many craft-based and artisan trading organisations, like BAFTS members, sit naturally under the WFTO model. This is also why fair trade shops are so important to the movement as they can help tell the artisanal story
However, consumers will also find foods labeled as Fair Trade. Ethical Consumer breakdown fair trade food labelling brilliantly.
The Common Ground
Both Fair Trade and Fairtrade share the same origins. The movement champions fair pay, dignified working conditions, and long-term trading partnerships with marginalized producers.
As a network, we support the mission and drive of any organisation that pushes for trade that’s fair by design, not by accident. And Fairtrade Fortnight is celebration of that core principle.