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FAIR TRADE? MAYBE "GROWERS FIRST" IS MORE SUITABLE...
I couldn't have said it any better than the friends of bongo java in Nashville. So why say what's already been said well, I raise my mug to this well written info -

BEAN PHILOSOPHY
we believe in an expanded definition of quality that adds concerns about the way the beans were grown and purchased to the usual criteria of cup taste.

Thus, all of our coffee is Organic and Fair Trade, which we purchase from small farmer cooperatives.

We agree that many Estate coffees taste mighty fine. However, after visiting estates throughout Central America and hearing about how the workers live in company housing, shop at company stores and are educated at company schools, the coffee left us with a bad taste in our mouth.

FAIR TRADE
The term “Fair Trade” has become the politically correct buzz word in the coffee industry. On one hand, this is good because it brings attention to the difficulty small coffee farmers have in making a living. On the other hand, many talk more about “Fair Trade” than actually do anything about it.

We believe there is a difference between roasters who promote Fair Trade because it’s good marketing and those who support Fair Trade because it’s a good idea.

Many roasters (including most of the very big companies who make a big deal about their Fair Trade practices) only buy a fraction of their coffee at Fair Trade prices.

We believe there is a big difference between those who buy a token-amount of their coffee at Fair Trade prices and those who buy most or all at Fair Trade prices under Fair Trade principals.

COFFEE ECONOMICS
The Fair Trade system seeks to provide small coffee farmers a livable wage.

Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world. However, unlike #1 Oil, coffee producers live in harsh poverty. Coffee farmers on average make less than $500 per year from their once-a-year harvest.

Economic conditions are so bad that farmers are often forced to pre-sell their coffee to so-called “coyotes” for a fraction of it’s worth or borrow money at exhorbinent interest rates.

Recently, coffee farmers have been hit especially hard with low prices. Basic coffee prices are set by trading at the New York Stock Exchange. The so-called “C” market for coffee sets a price for “basic unroasted coffee.” Specialty coffee (the type sold at most quality coffeehouses) sells for a premium above the “C” market.

Thus, speculators decide whether a Guatemalan farmer with less than an acre of coffee trees will be able to feed his family for the upcoming year.

The market works efficiently to produce perverse results. When Vietnam -- which was barely a player in the coffee market until a few years ago -- suddenly flooded the market with coffee, prices dropped dramatically. The C price fell from a high of $2.00 per pound to a low of 30 cents.

The results of falling coffee prices have been dramatic on small farmers around the world: millions have fled their fields, others have stopped carrying for their crops while a few try to survive.

$1.41
The most talked about component of Fair Trade is price. The Fair Trade model sets the minimum price for specialty coffee at $1.26 per pound for the strangely-dubbed “conventional” coffee and $1.41 for organic coffee.

FAIR TRADE CONFUSION
Paying farmers a fair price is important but it is only one part of the Fair Trade model. However, many roasters don’t go beyond price.

We believe it is important to buy from small farmers rather than from large corporations. Thus, it is one thing to pay $1.41 to a huge estate that may be owned by an American who pays his workers a fraction of this amount and another to pay this price to small farmers who own their fields.

WE SUPPORT THE ENTIRE FAIR TRADE MODEL:

v Working with farmers to create democratic cooperatives that operate in a transparent fashion.

v Providing pre-harvest financing to farmers who request it. (About 50% of our purchases are pre-financed.)

Many in the coffee industry who purport to support Fair Trade only consider the price issue.

LABELING
The importance Fair Trade is too complicated to be solved with a simple label. Our bags don’t carry the Fair Trade label because we don’t support the methods of the organization which issues it.

TransFair USA has done a wonderful job of getting roasters, retailers and consumers to start talking about Fair Trade. However, we believe TransFair has done a poor job of establishing solid principals for a sustainable, long-term Fair Trade movement. We believe they have adopted a strategy of quantity over quality which weakens the Fair Trade movement. For instance, the largest coffee retailer scored huge public relations points by agreeing to buy just 1% of its coffee at Fair Trade prices. Yes, 1% of Starbucks’ coffee is a huge number. But to Starbucks this is nothing. Worse than that, Starbuck’s Fair Trade marketing now confuses consumers into thinking a) that all their coffee is Fair Trade and b) that the economic situation for coffee farmers has been solved.

Thus, we have never been a TransFair member and we don’t believe this tarnishes our commitment to Fair Trade.

v We do everything that TransFair requires except pay them a fee to certify our coffee. Again, we don’t boycott TransFair for economic reasons; we don’t join them for philosophical reasons.

v We buy all our coffee from organic cooperatives that have been certified by the Fair Trade Labeling Organization at Fair Trade prices.

v We believe there is a difference between roasters who buy 1% Fair Trade Coffee (Starbucks & Dunkin’ Donuts) or 12% Fair Trade Coffee (Green Mountain) and those that really commit to the program.

v We believe “openness” is a big part of Fair Trade. Thus, we believe TransFair should open its books and Starbucks and others should be open about how much they pay and who they pay for their coffee.

v We believe in all the principals of Fair Trade. Thus, we try to pre-finance as many of our coffee contracts as possible.