New figures published in the Fairtrade Foundation’s 2025 Annual Report show continued growth in Fairtrade sales across the UK. Tea sales rose by 35% – equivalent to around 549 million additional cups of Fairtrade tea. While coffee sales increased by 7%, representing approximately 138 million more cups. Cocoa sales grew by an estimated 20%, banana sales rose by 4% (44 million additional Fairtrade bananas), and flower sales increased by 41%, representing nearly four million more Fairtrade bouquets.
The figures show more people than ever are choosing Fairtrade. But growing demand needs to be matched by more businesses paying farmers properly, particularly as farmers face mounting climate pressures.
Recent research for the Fairtrade Foundation found this summer’s record heatwaves and drought across the UK and Europe have sharply increased public concern about food security. 84% of British adults say they are concerned about the impact of climate change on the UK’s food supply and over a quarter (26%) say they are now “much more concerned” than before. Concern is higher still among young people, 69% of 16-24 year-olds say this summer made them more worried about climate impacts on food. 74% of people support increasing payments to farmers growing tea, coffee, cocoa and bananas to help them respond to climate change.
Farmers are already living with these changes. In the past year, Fairtrade coffee producers in Sumatra have been hit by flooding, banana plantations in Colombia have been damaged by strong winds, and hailstorms have cut tea yields by around a third for some smallholder farmers in Kericho, Kenya. Fairtrade says farmers cannot invest in adapting to these conditions – in irrigation, shade trees, soil restoration or crop diversification – while living on poverty wages. Fair pay, Fairtrade argues, is not only a question of fairness but a condition for a stable food supply.
These figures come during Fairtrade Fortnight and ahead of the Together for Fair Pay, an event in London on 30th September bringing together around 50 decision makers and sustainability and buying professionals. The event will ask businesses across the industry to commit to fairer pay for the farmers and workers who grow the UK’s favourite products, and to back that commitment with long-term investment in communities and supply chains.
Co-op and Lidl making strides, but more businesses need to act
At the event, Co-op and Lidl will share the steps they have taken towards paying farmers fairly – and the Fairtrade Foundation will use their example to press other retailers to follow suit.
Co-op has been a supporter and partner of Fairtrade since 1994 and is one of the UK’s longest-standing champions of ethical trade. Through its commitment to Fairtrade sourcing, Co-op have converted 7 core ingredients to 100% Fairtrade. It was the first UK grocery retailer to convert all its own-brand block chocolate to Fairtrade, the first to source 100% fairtrade roses, and in 2001 it launched the UK’s first own-brand fairly traded wine. At the event Co-op will share what over 30 years of these commitments have meant in practice for the farmers and cooperatives it sources from.
Lidl will present its Way To Go! tea, the first tea product of its kind to pay a Fairtrade-calculated Living Income Reference Price on volumes sourced. The product pays farmers at the FINTEA Co-operative in Kericho, Kenya more than the Fairtrade Minimum Price and Premium, adding a further amount on every kilogram of tea bought, contributing to closing the gap to a living income for those farmers growing tea for this product. These carefully calculated payments aim to help tea farmers earn enough to afford a decent standard of living for their families.
Both retailers show what is possible when a retailer commits to paying farmers fairly over the long term. But progress by a small number of businesses is not enough on its own. Speakers from Co-op and Lidl will use the event to call on stakeholders across the supply chains to collaborate and come together to address the challenges the food system is facing.
Eleanor Harrison, CEO at the Fairtrade Foundation, said: “The British public can see what’s happening to our food system, and they’re right to be worried. Farmers on the front line of the climate crisis are being asked to adapt and build resilience while not being paid fairly for what they grow. That isn’t sustainable and it isn’t fair. Lidl and Co-op are showing what’s possible when businesses commit to paying farmers properly for the long term – but this cannot be left to a handful of companies. Every retailer needs to commit to fair pay for farmers. For fairness and for our food security ”
Together for Fair Pay builds on the Fairtrade Foundation’s wider Fair Pay Campaign, launched during Fairtrade Fortnight 2026, which calls for fairer pay for farmers and workers and stronger UK action on responsible business practices, including Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) legislation.
