How Fair is Fair Trade Coffee?

Great recommendations, however... (4.00 / 2)

I know some of blame also lies with the certifying top tier organization such as Equal Exchange which has double standards when it comes to big organization such as Starbucks, such as not requiring them to disclose the % they purchase that is organic. Moreover the "fair price" paid out hasn't really changed since it was set in the 80's. I recommend "Brewing Justice" (http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/10607.php) for a good look of how fair trade does(n't) help farmers on the ground and issues with the certifying, and often "first world", fair trade organizations.

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by: clearlydiluted @ Tue Feb 23, 2010 at 20:08:43 PM UTC

Equal Exchange (4.00 / 1)

Since when is Equal Exchange a certifying top tier organization? They might be one of the premier practitioners of the Fair Trade business model, but they ain't TransFair.

the "fair price" paid out hasn't really changed since it was set in the 80's

The Fair Trade price for coffee has increased since the '80s. What is your definition of "really changed"?

You seem fuzzy on the facts.

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by: count @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 13:44:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Aside, (4.00 / 2)

have you heard about this agriculture settlement?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...

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by: martini @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 02:27:10 AM UTC

Excellent article both here and especially the one over at Alternet! (4.00 / 3)

It's interesting the point you make about pricing and pricing the roasted coffee high enough that consumers feel like they're paying enough to help the farms/farmers, but not so high that they can't buy it.

That's always the fine line that has to be walked in the retail environment. You want to charge enough to make a decent living, but if you go too high, people can't afford the product and you wind up not selling anything anyway.  

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 02:33:41 AM UTC

it's not always "can't buy it" (4.00 / 2)

I think in this case it would be "unwilling to buy it."  

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 03:06:08 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

One person's unwilling is another person's can't. (4.00 / 3)

It depends on the person's economic situation. But you're right over all. There are things I simply won't pay more for than I think they're worth, like those $5.99/lb heirloom tomatoes from Mexico that I see at the store every summer.

I think what happens with the coffe prices, at least this is how it looks to me, is that you have the price for the cheap coffee, especially at the discount and club stores like Costco, Bi-Mart, etc., then you have the fancier coffees at the stores, things like the grind it at the store type, and the fancy coffees at places like Starbucks, so people have a price range that they are used to seeing and are desensitized to. Blow through that too far, and people will think they are being ripped off, especially if they find out that only around $2 of the $14/lb coffee is actually going to the farms the consumer wants to support.

At least that's how I would look at it.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 03:31:47 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Coffee prices are an interesting thing (4.00 / 2)

When I had cash, I would get $3-$4 lattes all the time. Now I don't have cash so I buy 1 lb of fair trade organic coffee for $11 at the farmers market, grind it myself, and make my own coffee. That's not a terribly high price for specialty coffee but it's high. I could get coffee MUCH cheaper if I wanted to. But it's fantastic coffee. And my coffee budget is reduced dramatically below what it was when I bought lattes at coffee shops. Now I pay maybe $11-22/mo for coffee plus $20 for milk (I buy expensive milk - organic, non-homogenized, grass fed cows). Compared to $3-$6 per day (which comes out to about $100/mo minimum) for lattes, I'm doing pretty well. It's funny to think how there are people who think nothing of spending $5 on one drink but wouldn't buy Fair Trade coffee if it cost $12/lb because the grower was getting an extra $1 of the price.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 04:05:32 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

prices paid to coffee growers (4.00 / 1)

When discussing coffee prices, always bear in mind that the roaster buys green beans and sells roasted beans. I forget what the ratio of green weight to roasted weight is - I dont't think it is as high as 2, but it's substantially more than one.

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by: count @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 13:56:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

local roaster (4.00 / 2)

Were you able to find a local roaster?

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by: count @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 13:59:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

yep (4.00 / 2)

I have a local roaster who I love. She gives donations from each bag of coffee to a wild animal hospital. It's fair trade and organic too.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Feb 25, 2010 at 06:39:57 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

price of drinks (4.00 / 1)

I'll pay for espresso because good espresso represents training and skill that I don't have and don't want to get, plus an equipment investment. For "regular" coffee, though, I can make an excellent press pot or drip if I start with good beans and attention to detail.

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by: count @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 14:13:11 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

As long as the fair trade companies (4.00 / 1)

make more money than the farmers, fair trade will remain suspect.  They make their money charging for the use of their fair trade seal.  They get more money for the seal than the premium  paid to the poor farmers.  The farmers should get a % of the wholesale/retail price, that would make more of a difference than the small premium they are paid today.

Wal-Mart is helping small coffee growers since there is a glut of fair trade coffee on the market.

Where did this glut come from?  

The fair trade companies that sell the seal.  Their economic model is not based on sustainability but rather volume.

They have created over production that led the collapse of the market and lower prices, which does not help the farmers even with a premium.

In this case Wal-Mart is the good guy.

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by: OrganicGeorge @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 11:30:55 AM UTC

Please substantiate (4.00 / 1)

your assertion that there is a glut of fair trade coffee.

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by: count @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 14:25:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

money for the seal (4.00 / 1)

What fee does a roaster pay to TransFair for the use of the seal, per pound of roasted coffee?

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by: count @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 15:08:05 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Choosing roasters (4.00 / 1)

Buy from a roaster that ONLY sells Fair Trade, not from one who sells only a fraction of their coffee as Fair Trade.

I would say, don't buy from a roaster who sells only a fraction of their coffee as Fair Trade, but whose business practices for other coffee is worse than Fair Trade. Many local and regional roasters, and a few roasters with national reach, do better than Fair Trade and sell a fraction of their inventory as Fair Trade to satisfy customers for whom the label has special significance.

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by: count @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 14:34:25 PM UTC

co-op operations (4.00 / 1)

Jill writes about money retained by a co-op to run the co-op and for community projects.

To be clear about the co-op operations part, it involves more than keeping the lights on and doing paperwork. The co-op is the organization that converts the coffee cherry to green bean (depulping and milling), culls the beans, grades the beans, bags the beans, warehouses the beans, and stores them until the proper moisure content is reached. All important value-adding unit operations.

From the Alternet article,

growers can often sell their coffee to coyotes and receive more money than they would by selling to the cooperative. Mike Moon of Just Coffee says, "Coyotes save the farmers some work by buying ANY quality coffee and often they purchase it in cherry or undried."

Hmmm. The second sentence is true. I question the first one for farmers that belong to a co-op, though. Perhaps the take-away from the quote is Moon's observation about coyotes buying coffee regardless of quality.

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by: count @ Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 15:21:38 PM UTC