take this with a grain of salt because i know nothing about the specific mechanisms and processes of fair trade economics. however my intuition tells me that it’s something companies do to seem more ethical. maybe i’m just pessimistic but i would assume that the barriers for being a fair trade company just means paying international employees marginally more. i could be entirely wrong though.

If it's produced by self-organized collectives to finance the struggles, i don't see an ethical dilemma. Buy coffee from the zapatistas networks.

Otherwise, every consumption is unfair and "fair trade" in the capitalist system is a myth. Still, it's true that "fair trade" producers often have better deals than the slave farmers of the "mainstream industry", or as another commenter quoted:

Fair Trade certified coffee growers in Nicaragua received an average of only $0.43 more per pound of coffee than conventional farmers. So, where does the remaining $3.57 go? Mostly to retailers, middlemen, and the certification agencies.

So when you fill your pockets at the supermarket, better steal fairtrade! Otherwise, don't bother buying that crap outside of militant self-organized networks.