Fair Trade

[Steve]

There is a lot of smoke around figures to do with coffee. There’s no differentiate between Robust and Arabica often when someone is compiling an argument to say coffee production is doomed. The Robusta market is not sustainable. There’s loads of it everywhere for little or no money. The figures get distorted by this. Quality Arabica from good farms which look after there workers and land get a good price, whatever Oxfam say. And a fair price starts with the product, if it’s not good enough for the market place then it won’t make money. I agree that prices at the moment are way to low, but they are on the up (a little).

The farmers biggest threat is the commodities market. Whilst the suits control the price they will always be poor. Instead of fairtrade, finding a way the product can be delivered to the consumer without these guys getting involved, (something one of the leading green suppliers is trying hard to do) can solve this price problem.

[Sunnyfield]

http://www.adamsmith.org/pdf/groundsforcomplaint.pdf

I couldn't agree more with the study in the link above.

Btw coffee prices have been on the rise the last couple of months (+40%), still too low to feed many families, but it seems that the free market mechanism is working.

[johara]

I have tried a fairly traded and organic coffee from a roaster in Notting hill in London.
The roaster is 'Tea and coffee Plant'

http://www.coffee.uk.com/index.html

I quite like their espresso blend 2 and 3 (I only know that 2 has a lot of peruvian and 3 has peruvian and mexican)
2 is quite low in acidity 3 has a little bit more acidity.

I'd be interseted to know if anyone else has tried them and what they think.

I like them in Lattes and Caps - my espresso technique possibly requires inproving.

[Joey]

I would have voted "no", although I must give that organisation the credit of bringing that problem of farmers being not paid enough on the table.

But how does it encourage the farmer to take good care when growing and harvesting the beans if he gets the same price anyway?
The good qualities are sold expensive as single origins and the bad ones are in the Fairtrade packages in the supermarket.

And most people I meet think "Fairtrade = organically".
I have to explain to them that there is a big difference and that I rather look for protecting the environment by trying to get as many good as possible single origins organically grown and "fair traded", too. (note: fair traded - not Fairtrade)
About the farmers salary - with every bag of coffee I buy I do keep a family in business longer. I don't want to have a guilty concience because I don't buy Fairtrade because with opening my shop I am alreday helping lots of workers in coffee producing countries....

A dear friend from the internet send me a good article, I have copied the good part first:

Fairly confusing?

Specialty-coffee retailers have added a variety of social and environmental terms to their labels. Here's what they mean:

Organic: Generally applies to coffees grown without chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, although specific standards vary according to each certification program's organic criteria. Growers are paid premiums of 10 to 15 cents for each pound of coffee. Consumers usually pay more.

Shade-grown: Coffee is grown under a canopy of shade trees, preserving ecosystems that are home to migratory songbirds. Growers receive premiums of 10 to 15 cents for each pound of coffee.

Fair Trade Certified: Carries a stamp of approval from Oakland, Calif.-based TransFair USA, which has certified that coffee farmers and workers have been paid a fair price — $1.26 a pound — for their product. Roasters and farmers pay TransFair to use the stamp.

Fairly traded or fair-traded: Implies that the roaster bought the coffee for around $1.26 a pound, although the coffee has not been certified as such by TransFair.

Sustainably grown: Farmed in a way that respects the environment and fairly compensates workers. Usually involves some combination of organic, shade-grown, Fair Trade Certified and fairly traded.

Jake Batsell


...Find the whole article here.....

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/s ... fee20.html