But the familiar story has a new chapter. Beginning in the 1980s, some
consumers learned that cacao farmers were living difficult and uncertain lives.
The farmers received money for their crops based on world markets, and the
market price for cacao was sometimes so low that the farmers received less for
their crops than the crops had cost to produce. In response, groups of
consumers in Europe and the United States developed "fair trade" organizations
to guarantee that farmers of cacao, as well as coffee and tea, would receive fair
and consistent prices for their crops.