Fairtrade will be raising its Minimum Price and price premium for cocoa with effect from 1 October 2019. “Most cocoa farmers are unable to afford decent housing, food and education, and that will continue as long as chocolate traders, manufacturers and brands fail to address the issue of price,” said Fairtrade International CEO Darío Soto Abril. “Many farmers still live in extreme poverty.”

As part of the solution to what it described as “the huge power imbalances in the cocoa supply chain,” the Fairtrade Minimum Price will increase by 20 % for conventional cocoa from 1 October 2019 and by an unspecified, larger amount for organic.

At the same time, the Fairtrade Premium will also rise by 20 %. Growers decide for themselves how to spend the Premium – for example by building community facilities or investing in their farms to improve productivity or diversify crops.