Java Justice: Fair Trade Coffee and Cutting Out the Coyotes

How Does Fair Trade Certification Bring Higher Profits to Small Coffee Farmers

People care about their coffee, it can make or break your day, but drinkers have acquired a taste for the economics in their cup too. Fair Trade Coffee is a serious growth market and it came at a time when the industry was recovering a coffee crisis. Many new coffee labels have started up with the Fair Trade motto and well known brands, like Starbucks™, Seattle’s Best™, Newman’s Own™, Millstone™, Diedrich Coffee™, Peet’s Coffee Co.™ and Costco's Kirkland SIgnature Brand™  have joined a growing list. Dunkin Donuts™ even hopped on the bandwagon with a Fair Trade Certified Espresso, as did McDonalds™ in selected stores throughout Northeast America.

Just about every grocery store, superstore and coffee shop carries at least one Fair Trade brand. The TransFair USA certification also reaches teas, cocoa, fruit, rice and sugar, all major exports from the Global South, but Coffee certification has seen the widest success by far. Fair Trade Coffee is progressing from the Specialty Coffee category to being a standard in some households and stores. 

A past article of mine on AC about Fair Trade generated the same curiosity I see in coffee shops when someone says “Fair Trade.” One reader asked how exactly does cutting the middleman out of the supply chain provide coffee farmers more income through fair trade? The trade route of coffee, the 2^nd most exchanged commodity on the planet, has always been a fascinating ride from Bean to Cup. There are all sorts of characters along the way from hard working farmers, coffee cuppers sipping hundreds of blends a day to eccentric roasters and café owners. The Fair Trade labeling phenomenon and the people at TransFair and the Fairtrade Labeling Organization add another dimension in this business of java justice.