Fair Trade Federation
The Fair Trade Federation is a trade association of North American businesses built on fair trade. Instead of labelling single products, it screens the whole business: who it buys from, how it sets prices, and how it treats the people who make its goods. Every brand on this page is a member, which we confirm before listing.
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Here's what Fair Trade Federation membership actually means
Fair Trade Federation membership is a business-level verification, not a product label. Members are brands, businesses and nonprofits that work directly with artisans, farmers or producers who face barriers to employment. Retailers can also join if at least 75% of what they source comes from fair trade aligned brands.
To join, a business completes a detailed questionnaire about its trading practices and supplies references, including one from a producer it works with, a financial statement, and a list of its producers and suppliers. A screening committee drawn from the fair trade community reviews each application against the Federation's nine principles.
That makes it a different kind of assurance from a product certification. Much handmade work comes from small workshops and cooperatives where labelling each product is often impractical, so the Federation looks at how the whole business operates instead.
The nine Fair Trade Federation principles
| Principle | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Create opportunities for marginalized producers | Use trade to reduce poverty and open markets to communities that have been shut out of them |
| Develop transparent and accountable relationships | Keep partnerships open, fair and respectful, and be transparent about the supply chain |
| Build capacity | Help producers become self-sustaining through training, finance, technical support and dialogue |
| Promote fair trade | Raise awareness and help customers and producers make informed choices |
| Pay promptly and fairly | Set prices on the true cost of labour, materials and skill, and share income equitably, including equal pay for equal work |
| Support safe and empowering working conditions | Safe, healthy workplaces free of forced or exploitative labour, with workers included in decisions that affect them |
| Ensure the rights of children | Protect children's rights to security, education and play, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child |
| Cultivate environmental stewardship | Consider environmental impact and use resources responsibly |
| Respect cultural identity | Celebrate cultural diversity and support community-led preservation of traditional techniques |
Why this all matters
Much of the handmade work on this site happens in small cooperatives and family workshops. Many certification schemes were designed mainly for commodities like coffee and cocoa, so they often don't fit handmade goods, which can leave careful, fair businesses without a way to show how they work.
Membership gives those businesses a credible way to show it: prices based on the real cost of labour and materials, long-term relationships, and producers treated as partners rather than interchangeable suppliers.
None of this is charity. It's trade on terms that let skilled makers earn a living from work they already do well, and every purchase from a member business adds to the demand that keeps those terms possible.
With and without Fair Trade Federation: a quick comparison
| Without membership | With Fair Trade Federation membership |
|---|---|
| Fair trade claims are self-declared | Practices screened by a committee before membership |
| Pricing practices unknown | Prices based on the true cost of labour, materials and skill |
| Suppliers kept private | Producers and suppliers disclosed for review |
| No commitment to producer development | Training and support so producers can grow |
| Children's rights not addressed | Children's rights to education and play protected |
Shop verified Fair Trade Federation brands
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Alegria Accessories
Beaded and gemstone jewelry handmade in Honduras by a small team of women artisans working full time.
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Amasouk
Handwoven and hand-stitched bags, totes and accessories made with artisans in Morocco, Mexico, Peru and Japan.
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Awamaki
Handwoven bags, textiles and knitwear made by Quechua women's cooperatives in Peru's Sacred Valley.
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Conscious Coffees
Organic specialty coffee roasted in Boulder, Colorado, by a fair trade roaster buying from growers in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
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Crazy Love Africa
Fabric animals, paper bead jewelry, baskets and bags made by women's cooperatives in Uganda, through a Colorado-founded nonprofit.
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Darzah
Shoes, bags and accessories hand-embroidered with Palestinian tatreez by women artisans in the West Bank.
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Deux Mains
Leather bags, sandals and accessories handmade at a solar-powered workshop in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, by a women-owned brand.
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Ecodunia
Bags, jewelry and home goods made in Nairobi, Kenya, from small-farm cotton, canvas and leather.
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It's Cactus
Haitian metal wall art, hand-cut from recycled steel oil drums by artists in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti.
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Jubilee Trading Company
Leather bags, home decor and gifts made with artisan partners in Morocco and Kenya, sold by a nonprofit shop in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.
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Maison d'Haiti
Hand-embroidered and knit linens, aprons and children's clothing made by a women's artisan cooperative in rural Haiti.
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Mata Traders
Earrings, necklaces and dresses made by fair trade cooperatives in India and Nepal, from a Chicago brand started by three friends.
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Matr Boomie
Jewelry, home decor and gifts handmade by more than 2,000 artisans across India and designed by a team in Austin, Texas.
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Mélange Collection
Knit and crochet toys, ornaments and gifts handmade by women artisans in Peru, Armenia and Guatemala.
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Nature's Essentials
Cold-pressed black seed oil and an all-natural hair and body oil, made in Orlando, Florida.
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Passion Lilie
Women's clothing designed in New Orleans and made in India with handwoven ikat, hand block prints and organic cotton.
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Rosie's Boutique Haiti
Handstitched greeting cards and gifts made by mothers in Haiti, through a social enterprise started by the nonprofit Touch of Hope.
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Starfish Project
Handmade jewelry from Starfish Project, a social enterprise in Asia that employs women leaving exploitation and trafficking.
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The Mended Company
Tea towels and table throws hand block printed in South Asia by survivors of modern-day slavery, from a Dallas-based brand.
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Tulia's Artisan Gallery
Nature-inspired jewelry, ornaments and home decor handmade by artisans across Colombia, from a Chicago gallery named for its founder's grandmother.
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Upavim Crafts
Handmade kitchen goods, ornaments and gifts from UPAVIM, a women's cooperative in La Esperanza, Guatemala.
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Zambeezi
Lip balms, body balms and soaps made in Wyoming with beeswax and mungongo oil from wild forests in Zambia.
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About Fair Trade Federation membership
Is Fair Trade Federation membership a certification?
No. The Fair Trade Federation verifies businesses rather than certifying products. Members are screened as whole businesses against nine fair trade principles. Both approaches are tools for reducing risk, and neither replaces ongoing checks.
What kinds of businesses can join the Fair Trade Federation?
Brands, businesses and nonprofits that work directly with artisans, farmers or producers who face barriers to employment, mainly in handmade goods and agriculture. Retailers can join if at least 75% of what they source comes from fair trade aligned brands.
How does The Labour Movement check Fair Trade Federation membership?
We confirm a brand's current Fair Trade Federation membership before it's listed and ask for supporting documents where we need them. Every brand is also vetted against our own fair trade standards and reviewed each year, because a certification is a strong signal but not a substitute for ongoing checks.