Fair Trade Certified in Outdoor Gear, Explained

Table of contents

Fair Trade History

FTC Criteria

Brands Leading the Way

FTC Labeling

Fair Trade USA & Sustainability

Limitations of Fair Trade USA

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If you’re an avid chocolate or coffee consumer, you’re probably familiar with the Fair Trade Certified logo. The symbol—a vibrant green circle surrounding a figure holding a large bowl— signifies that a product meets Fair Trade USA standards. While the logo is more common at Whole Foods than at REI, outdoor gear can be Fair Trade Certified, too. Yet, of the more than 20 clothing brands licensed to sell Fair Trade Certified products, only a handful are outdoor retailers. Let’s explore what the certification means and why its prevalence is growing in the outdoor industry.

The History Behind Fair Trade

Before going any further, let’s make a few necessary clarifications about “fair trade.” The term refers to a global movement focused on promoting more equitable trade practices. Numerous organizations offer fair trade certification programs, but you’re most likely to encounter certifications from Fairtrade International and Fair Trade USA. Fair Trade USA was a member of Fairtrade International until 2012, when it split off to pursue its own approach to the certification. (Fairtrade America is now the U.S. branch of Fairtrade International.)

Headquartered in Oakland, California, Fair Trade USA is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1998 to connect farmers and workers with businesses and consumers and promote fair trade practices. The organization focuses on income sustainability, empowerment, individual and community well-being, and environmental stewardship. To make meaningful progress in those areas Fair Trade USA develops standards for trade and production, conducts audits of certified producers, provides education and capacity building, and collects data to measure progress.

For more than 20 years, Fair Trade USA (originally called TransFair USA) only certified food and beverage products, but in 2010 the organization partnered with Prana to certify outdoor apparel. Today, over 20 clothing brands are licensed by Fair Trade USA to sell Fair Trade Certified (FTC) apparel. According to the latest Fair Trade USA consumer insights report, published in 2022, 65% of consumers recognize the Fair Trade Certified logo, up from 38% in 2012. But, despite being a well-recognized third-party certification, it’s not ubiquitous in the outdoor industry—yet.

How Does Outdoor Gear Become Fair Trade Certified?

Although food and beverages are the most common Fair Trade Certified products, we’re interested in how brands and factories collaborate to produce FTC outdoor apparel and gear. First, apparel must be made at a certified Fair Trade USA producer factory. Fair Trade USA’s Factory Production Standards include an extensive list of criteria for a Tier 1 factory to become certified. A Tier 1 supplier is in charge of assembling the final product and has a direct relationship with a brand; Tier 1 suppliers get the resources and materials to make the final product from Tier 2 suppliers. Those factory criteria are divided into seven categories: empowerment, fundamental fights at work, worker employment conditions, occupational health and safety, environmental responsibility and management, traceability and transparency, and internal management system. Some of the environmental responsibility and management criteria include efforts to reduce raw material usage and ensure proper wastewater disposal. Other examples of Fair Trade USA’s initiatives include banning harmful chemicals or pesticides, eliminating child labor, and promoting best water-use practices.

Once a factory has addressed all the requirements in all seven modules, Fair Trade USA conducts an audit and issues a certification. When a factory is Fair Trade Certified, it can begin producing FTC products, which are then sold by Fair Trade licensed brands, like Patagonia, Prana, REI, or Arc’teryx. For a brand to sell Fair Trade Certified apparel, it must also meet Fair Trade USA compliance criteria, which address trade relationships, traceability, information documentation, and transparency. The criteria are divided into three categories: general requirements, economic development, and product traceability. They encompass basic rules regarding consumer transparency, such as only using the Fair Trade Certified seal for certified products. On the whole, becoming licensed by Fair Trade USA means a business is held to a trade standard focused on responsible sourcing.

Brands selling Fair Trade products must also pay a Fair Trade Premium on top of the product certification cost, which goes towards the Community Development Fund for workers. This additional sum is paid by licensed brands to workers to meet individual or collective needs in their communities. The Community Development Fund is cooperatively managed by the workers, who vote on how the funds should be used. Common community development fund projects include clean water projects, education programs, or improvements in local healthcare. In addition to this fund, Fair Trade USA offers training and tools for workers to improve their working conditions.

“Injustice doesn't just cure itself. Money isn't always the best solve for that, but it does solve a lot for workers.”

Annie Agle, the Vice President of Impact and Sustainability at Cotopaxi, says the Fair Trade program advocates for workers' ability to address their needs and make good investments on behalf of their communities. “Injustice doesn't just cure itself,” she told us. “Money isn't always the best solution for that, but it does solve a lot for workers.” Licensed partner brands must also pay a service fee to Fair Trade USA based on production volume and the minimum prices set by Fair Trade USA for raw goods.

Brands Leading the Way in the Outdoor Industry

Only a few outdoor gear brands produce Fair Trade Certified outdoor gear. Outdoor industry leaders in the Fair Trade movement include Prana, Patagonia, and Arc’teryx. A few other outdoor brands, including REI, Mountain Equipment Company, and Cotopaxi also offer FTC products.

Of the many products Better Trail has reviewed, only a handful are Fair Trade Certified. And, while the brands above participate in the Fair Trade system, a brand itself cannot be Fair Trade Certified; instead, Fair Trade USA offers brand licensing and product certification. FTC is only available to producers—farms, fisheries, or factories—or for individual products produced in Fair Trade Certified factories. To find out where a brand is licensed by Fair Trade USA, check the Fair Trade Partner Directory, which has over 2,300 entries listing Fair Trade factories and licensed brands, around 40 of which produce or sell clothing (by comparison, nearly 1,000 produce or sell coffee).

Prana was the first outdoor brand to join the Fair Trade system. Since 2010, it has converted eleven of its factories to Fair Trade Certified, impacting more than 26,000 factory workers across the globe. Prana produced its first piece of FTC apparel in 2011 and aims to manufacture 100% of its products in Fair Trade Certified factories by 2028. The brand says that it joined Fair Trade USA to ensure safe workplaces for its supplier’s employees and to contribute to the Fair Trade Community Development Fund. Check out Prana’s Fair Trade Certified products for women and men.

Patagonia has worked with Fair Trade USA since 2014, encompassing more than 85,000 workers across the world. According to the most recent available data, over 80% of Patagonia’s products are made in an FTC factory, totaling around 1,000 styles. The brand says that it participates in Fair Trade certification because apparel workers are among the lowest-paid employees in the world. Because Patagonia doesn’t own the factories that produce its products, it uses Fair Trade Certified factories to ensure that workers are treated and paid fairly. The company also encourages other outdoor brands to join the Fair Trade movement.

Arc’teryx announced its focus on Fair Trade certification in 2020 and has since committed to certifying 80% of its products by 2025. Within its first year in the program, 20% of Arc’teryx’s products were Fair Trade Certified. The brand’s president stated that the COVID-19 pandemic “revealed massive global imbalances and reiterated how few social protections exist for garment makers worldwide, 75% of whom are women whose families depend on this industry,” spurring Arc’teryx’s move to join the Fair Trade movement. In 2025, the brand added many Fair Trade Certified styles but has not yet published an update on its progress toward certifying 80% of its products.

How to Tell if a Product is Fair Trade Certified

The Fair Trade Certified label can apply to a wide range of products, from produce, dairy, and coffee to apparel and home goods. In the case of apparel products like outdoor gear, a certified product will be labeled as made in a “Fair Trade Certified factory.” This means that the facility where the garment was manufactured was audited and approved by Fair Trade USA, and that a brand purchased the item on fair trade terms, or alignment with fair trade standards like fair working conditions, meeting Fair Trade price requirements, paying into the Community Development Fund, and product traceability, to name a few. Many outdoor brands don’t own their Tier 1 factories; instead, they contract with third-party, Fair Trade Certified suppliers to ensure that high worker safety and environmental standards are met at the factories where their garments are made.

If you are looking for Fair Trade products, keep an eye out for the Fair Trade USA logo on product hang tags, which is a green circle around a person holding a bowl. Or, look for a line on a product’s webpage that says “Made in a Fair Trade Certified Factory” or “Fair Trade Certified product.” There are also other fair trade labels out there that you might encounter: FAIRTRADE (indicating a product as certified by Fairtrade International) or Fair for Life (a certification that covers a variety of product types, including food, cosmetics, and artisanal textiles). Typically, outdoor apparel that has been Fair Trade Certified received the certification through Fair Trade USA.

How Fair Trade USA Fosters Sustainability

Fair Trade USA focuses primarily on positive social and economic change for workers at factories, farms, and fisheries. But social, economic, and environmental sustainability are all profoundly interconnected, and the organization works to improve each of those attributes for its members.

Fair Trade USA reduces environmental risk by ensuring legal compliance and proper management systems for the disposal of waste, hazardous materials, and wastewater. The management systems are enforced through audits to ensure environmental laws and regulations are met. Fair Trade also promotes environmental sustainability by empowering workers with the knowledge and funds to produce products sustainably and safeguard the environment where they live and work. That said, while the Community Development Fund can be used for sustainability projects, funds are used at the workers’ discretion and are not specifically earmarked for environmental or sustainability projects.

Additionally, Fair Trade USA is exploring how the global fair trade model can be better leveraged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote carbon sequestration. Two factories working with Fair Trade USA, Al-Karam Textile Mills, in Pakistan, and CKT Apparel, in Sri Lanka, are concrete examples of that progress.

Al-Karam Textile Mills has been using the Fair Trade Factory Standards for seven years, and 40% of the fabric produced there is Fair Trade Certified. Al-Karam has set a goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and using 80% recycled water. As it works towards those targets, the factory uses the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) 14001 environmental management system and self-reports progress toward emissions reduction using the Higg Index. Al-Karam also reduces material usage and incorporates recycled materials into the production process, and optimizes or entirely eliminates plastic packaging from its products.

Like Al-Karam, CKT Apparel in Sri Lanka has been a part of the Fair Trade USA system for seven years, with 26% of the factory’s production sold on Fair Trade terms. The production facility is LEED certified, meaning the building’s infrastructure minimizes climate impact, and CKT Apparel uses the Higg Index to measure and track its environmental impacts. The company set a Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi)-verified emissions reduction target and uses the ISO 14001 system to track its progress. CKT Apparel has also been carbon neutral for 10 years.

Al-Karam and CKT Apparel are just two examples of factories in the Fair Trade USA system that are taking action toward sustainability. As Fair Trade continues to augment its standards for environmental responsibility, its global impact will only increase.

Limitations of Fair Trade USA

While Fair Trade USA achieves a lot of good through its certification program, there are limitations to the system. For one, Fair Trade USA doesn’t operate in some countries, such as Vietnam, where a great deal of textile manufacturing occurs. Another is that Fair Trade only certifies Tier 1 suppliers, which assemble the final product from materials produced by Tier 2 suppliers. Tier 2 factories are responsible for manufacturing the fabric that will ultimately end up in a brand’s product, but those factories typically do not have a direct brand relationship and are out of the scope of Fair Trade Certification. Not only would certifying Tier 2 or 3 suppliers be an additional strain on the capacity of Fair Trade USA as an organization but that prospect is also complicated by the fact that brands do not have a direct connection to those suppliers.

Compared to the broader fashion and textile industry, relatively few factories around the world can manufacture some of the more technical outdoor gear and products. Many of the processes specific to making outdoor gear, including adding performance coatings and other fabric treatments, occur at the Tier 2 or 3 supplier level. Therefore, more environmentally damaging and labor-intensive practices are happening in factories where Fair Trade USA does not operate.

"Although the Fair Trade Certification and licensing process can be expensive, from Agle’s perspective, that’s just the cost of doing business right. 'If you’re not showing up with a check, you’re not showing up, period,' she said."

Additionally, the process for a factory to become Fair Trade Certified can be lengthy. Annie Agle, Cotopaxi’s Vice President of Impact and Sustainability, estimated it takes from two to five years to complete the process. Cotopaxi has worked with a number of its suppliers to navigate the Fair Trade certification process by explaining what the organization does, how certification works, and paying for factories to be audited. Although the Fair Trade Certification and licensing process can be expensive, from Agle’s perspective, that’s just the cost of doing business right. “If you’re not showing up with a check, you’re not showing up, period,” she said.

Limitations aside, Fair Trade USA positively impacts the environment and worker well-being, and its influence in the outdoor industry will hopefully continue to expand. To learn more, read our article Responsible Manufacturing in Outdoor Gear, Explained, which breaks down other certification programs similar to Fair Trade USA.