The Fairtrade marketing system designed to guarantee fair prices and premiums to farmers could be a casualty of the global boom in commodities prices, campaigners and industry analysts say.

Coffee, tea and cocoa prices have soared to multi-year highs in recent months as turmoil in stock markets has sent investors in search of safe places to put their cash. Cocoa has surged almost 150% and coffee has jumped 82% since 2000.

This should be good for the producers of the raw materials but has raised questions over whether the Fairtrade system, on which many of them have relied during lean times, is still needed as commodity incomes grow.

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