Comments on: What’s in a sticker?: Coffee Crisis 104

By: bruce

bruce — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 17:52:03 +0000

I work with coffee producers in Latin America and Africa. Some of our cooperatives sell to Fair Trade, but only when better buyers are not present. The reasons are as follows:

1. Fair Trade pays a single price regardless of quality. So, when prices are good, we sell our good coffee for prices that are higher than Fair Trade’s. Then we sell the leftovers – coffee worth $1.26/lb or less – to Fair Trade.

2. When prices are really low, we also sell to Fair Trade. The problem is that out of the 10 containers we produce, Fair Trade will only buy two. So either the price premium is shared among all the farmers (and diluted to almost zero) or it ends up in the hands of the cooperative’s leaders. The latter is the more common outcome. Either way, the premium does very little to the average farmer.

3. Fair Trade’s insistence on cutting out the middlemen makes it hard for us to work with multinational exporters and other large companies that offer economies of scale. Yes, more money stays within the cooperative this way, but more money also gets wasted in the supply chain. The result is less money for farmers.

By: Siel

Siel — Thu, 18 May 2006 20:08:23 +0000

What’s even sadder is that back in the day, soda bottles were not just recycled, but reused! There’s a v. informative article in the LA Times today about the death of wine bottle reuse — If a Californian organic winery or brewery developed a reuse program, I’d seriously become a life-long loyal customer…

By: Kevin Lewis

Kevin Lewis — Thu, 18 May 2006 17:54:47 +0000

It is strange that Coffe Bean wouldn’t make a bigger effort to show how they compensate well for their specialty coffee. I imagine it would take one big company to make an intentional effort to deal with issues of fair trade and consumerism in America to put them at the forefront of these issues. Off topic: When I think of all the plastic bottles of gatorade, pepsi, etc., sitting in grocery stores right now that will end up in land fills, I get sick to my stomach and overwhelmed with a sense of “what can I do?” I would love for a larger company to say, “we will put forth the effort and research to develop a product that cuts down on the wasteful consumerism in America” This would be costly and risky, but it is similar to the research Toyota put into alternative fuel technology fifteen years ago. Now they are the leaders in the Hybrid market. I am not necessarily a full supporter of the Hybrid, but I am impressed with the intentional effort to put time and money into something well before its time.

By: Will Pillage For Yarn

Will Pillage For Yarn — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Yes. Well said. It’s not such a small thing to get that little sticker – heck, even Starbucks has a Fair Trade offering (though how “fair” it is, one does wonder) on the shelves.

Have you discovered http://www.ravensbrew.com Ravens Brew Coffees? Great coffee, great ethics. Love them.

By: Siel

Siel — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Checked out Ravens Brew — But I don’t think they do Fair Trade — Am I missing something? Glad that they’re organic and shade grown though :)

By: Jenn

Jenn — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Well said! Still browsing your blog! Lots of great stuff! Mind if I ask….what do you do from home?