Where do you live in South Africa?
The people behind the harvest don’t always get a voice.
Seasonal and migrant workers in South Africa’s wine sector can be especially vulnerable to insecure terms and lower pay. Fairtrade’s worker-rights work supports representation, stronger bargaining and a route toward living wages; its hired-labour standards set requirements for worker rights.
Fairtrade Impact Platform, South Africa Wine Workers’ Rights; Fairtrade International, Hired Labour Standard.
A minimum wage is the floor. Families live above it.
Since 1 March 2026, South Africa’s national minimum wage has been R30.23 per ordinary hour, including for farm workers. It does not, by itself, establish that a worker earns enough to live on. Fairtrade’s standards address working conditions and worker voice, while its wine-sector work uses living-wage research to push for better pay.
South African Department of Employment and Labour (2026); Fairtrade International, Cape Winelands living-wage study (2026).
How familiar are you with this logo?
A cheap cup can hide a costly childhood.
Child labour remains a risk in coffee supply chains. Hazardous work and work that keeps children from school are the concern. Fairtrade prohibits child labour in its standards and requires action when cases are found; a label is no guarantee that the risk has disappeared.
International Labour Organization, CLEAR Supply Chains; Fairtrade International, Child Labor.
How would you describe your coffee ritual?
The kettle boils. So does the pressure on growers.
In a 2025 survey in Kenya, only one in five tea growers and pickers surveyed said their monthly income covered family essentials. That matters to South African shoppers buying tea from global supply chains. Fairtrade tea sales generate a Premium that producer groups can invest in needs they choose.
Fairtrade Foundation and Fairtrade Africa, Brew It Fair report (2025), Kenya survey.
How do you feel about tea?
Notes of blackberry. Hints of a wage gap.
A 2026 Cape Winelands study estimated that a worker needs about R7,921 gross per month for a decent standard of living in that region—more than the legal minimum. Fairtrade is using that benchmark to support wage discussions among workers, producers and buyers. Buying Fairtrade wine supports that work; it does not mean every worker already earns a living wage.
Fairtrade International, Cape Winelands living-wage study (2026).
Between us friends, how much wine do you actually drink?
The wrapper is cheerful. The sourcing question isn’t.
Child labour in cocoa production remains documented in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Fairtrade standards prohibit it and require action when cases are detected. The Mark signals a system for addressing the risk, not proof that the risk has reached zero.
U.S. Department of Labor, Côte d’Ivoire child-labour findings; Fairtrade International, Child Labor.
What best describes your relationship with chocolate?
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A nice promise on a packet isn’t an audit.
Words like ethical can sound reassuring without telling you what happened on the farm. The Fairtrade Mark identifies a product checked against specific social, economic and environmental standards, including applicable Price and Premium requirements. Check the product’s Mark, rather than assuming everything from a brand meets the same standard.
Fairtrade International, How Fairtrade Certification Works.
Nature doesn’t offer unlimited refills.
South Africa’s 2025 National Biodiversity Assessment finds many ecosystem types under serious threat and inadequately protected. Fairtrade standards require environmental risk work and encourage improvements in farming practices. That is a practical response, not a promise that every landscape is safe.
SANBI, National Biodiversity Assessment 2025; Fairtrade International, Objectives of the Standards.
When you decide what to buy, where do you fall on the slider below?
I don’t really look at labels (and don’t intend to start)
I look carefully at labels to ensure I’m buying ethically