Thursday, October 22, 2009

Fair Trade is just the Start

Fair Trade - the absolute minimum necessary to get people to stop questioning how you source, or pushing you to do better. Not enough.
http://www.jimseven.com
This is a great quote from a recent blog post by World Barista Cup Winner, James Hoffmann.
I get a lot of people who, wanting to do the right thing, ask is my coffee is Fair Trade. The answer is complicated and there are no easy answers. Some of our coffees are certified Fair Trade, so you can be assured that FLO, the global fair trade certification body has verified that at least the Fair Trade Minimum has been paid for the coffee. But wouldn't the coffee farmers be better off if they got more or even much more then this minimum for the coffees they grow? Higher Quality=Higher Prices.

Recently we began to buy a lovely green coffee from the east African country of Burundi. This coffee is not certified to be Fair Trade, but much more then the minimum was paid for the coffee. So, is this coffee technically Fair Trade, no, but is it more then fairly traded, yes! Any kind of certification demands fees, inspections and infrastructure that are not cheap. For small estates, developing countries and new coffee roasters these things are be a major hurdle.

Ask questions about the coffee you get from your coffee roaster. Fair Trade Certification is not enough. There are no easy answers.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

What is Fair Trade Coffee Anyway?

Fair Trade: What Price for Good Coffee?

This was a great article written a week or two ago on Fair Trade Coffee in Time. It dealt with whether coffee farmers are really getting what Fair Trade certification has promised them. This article does a fine job of touching on the complexities of making sure coffee farmers are fairly compensated.

Certification has its cost. There are many small coffee roasters and small coffee farms that cannot afford the certification fees, but still want to make sure everyone a getting a wage for their contribution in the seed to cup coffee food chain.

Have had Fair Trade certification for a year but decided we could not afford to pay the fee anymore. We still buy Fairly Traded coffee but we just don't get the fancy sticker to put on our bags anymore. We also proudly roast coffees from countries like Congo and Burundi where there is not Fair Trade certification but they need our premium dollar for their premium product.

Unfortunately we do not live in a black and white world. Take time to get your coffee from a roaster that goes beyond stating that a coffee is Fair Trade. Demand more information because Fair Trade is not always enough. Who grew your coffee?