home > Fair Trade coffee > what is Fair Trade coffee?

what is Fair Trade coffee?

So, you want to know what is Fair Trade coffee? Well, depending on whom you ask to, the answers may be quite different. Let's see a collection of them.

the newcomer:

"I know that one: Fair Trade coffee is the one for which producers have received a fair price. I once saw a pack of it at the supermarket but it was expensive, so I didn't pick it. Starbucks supports it!"

John Doe

Largish City, North Country

the activist:

"Undoubtedly, Fair Trade is a valuable tool to achieve poverty alleviation and economic justice, allowing producers in the South not only make a living out of growing coffee, but also getting empowerment and learning to organize themselves."

"Also, on a second thought, it is self-evident that if we need to label a Fair Trade coffee it is because the rest of it is unfair. This is an attention call to us about the international trade practices that have caused the ruin of many people in the South"

Roberto Valbuena

Madrid, Spain

South view. Photo from CRS

the happy producer:

"Before Fair Trade we were thinking of quitting coffee and migrate, so we could have a better life. Now we can feel pride about our produce, we have built a community sense and we can make a living of coffee right here, in our ancestors' land. We are still poor, but not desperate"

Juan Pérez

Smallvillage, South Country

the not-that-happy producer:

"The rich are becoming more choosy every day. They invent new barriers to enter their markets. For them, switching to organic coffee is as easy as picking a different brand from the shelf. For us, getting organic certification takes two or three years of effort and financing."

"Fair trade certification may not be as burdensome as organic but certainly it is not free for us: we must offer a higher quality coffee, pay certification fees, keep auditable trails... Do North retailers bear some of that?"

Olulale Lelalou

Anothervillage, Another Country

North view. Photo by H. Nakano

the critical insider:

"Fair Trade coffee could have been the lever to overturn world capitalism, but those certifiers have allowed large transnationals to co-opt our movement. It is funny -to say the least- that the very same companies that dominate world coffee markets and caused the crisis to millions of producers now appear as equals to those of us who have spent years concerning consumers about coffee farmers situation"

Jack Roaster

100% NGO, NorthEast State

the corporation:

"We have found that our customers demand this new product, and we want to please them. We are quite aware of what is Fair Trade coffee and have contacted the sales representatives of the product to close mutually beneficial agreements. Our company has a tradition for supporting communities in the countries in which we operate"

John V. Doe III

Chairman from abroad, ReallyLargeCorp Inc.

Back to the top of this page about what is Fair Trade coffee ?