Comments on: A few things about fair trade coffee

By: David

David — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:17:26 +0000

Of course the Transfair website is going to make its claims seem valid. What is little written about and makes a lot more sense is that there are suppliers in the US such as Atlas Coffee Importers who seek to build relationships with local farmers in the producing countries and pay them directly so that the middle man (including Fair Trade) are eliminated. The result of this is really good quality coffee at a ‘fair price’. I agree, my experience of fair trade coffee is that it has been invariably inferior in taste and costs more.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:54:31 +0000

and the farmers that may benefit from this farce are going for quantity over quality, as this article clearly states.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:52:29 +0000

That’s what I’ve been telling people for years!!!! People always ask me if my coffees were fair trade and I tell them fair trade doesn’t exist.

And that’s the truth.

By: Meryl

Meryl — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:48:03 +0000

I disagree with that statement. You need to do more research on TransFairUSA.com. Any type of fair trade does not hurt farmers especially with this economy. Also try watching the movie called Black Gold and see what many of the retailers do with their product to make the price higher, not the Fair Trade.

By: Thos Weatherby

Thos Weatherby — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:18:58 +0000

Any type of fair trade hurts the farmers long term. It has never worked and never will. It feels good to those of us who buy the coffee but in the end you are only rewarding the retailer. To pay more for a product doesn’t help any cause.

By: Adron

Adron — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:49:12 +0000

David,

Alex is quoting the book “Starbucked” here. If there is incorrect information presented I don’t think it is on the part of the author of this page.

Fair Trade Coffee hurts small farmers and coffee growers. Fair Trade Coffee prices do not change fast enough to accomodate a single season; coffee prices are set once a year and do not take into account climate and seasonal variances that can affect a coffee crop.

Fair Trade coffee is one of those do nothing programs that makes people feel good about themselves as they order their triple skim soy latte and climb into their gas guzzling SUV’s (that they left running in the car park) and feel that they helped “save the world” today.

By: David

David — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:38:00 +0000

Well, after reading this article which only discusses some of the supposed negatives of the Fair Trade label, I was almost certain that many of the claims were false (in addition to the assumptions and faulty logic). However, I was reluctant to post anything as I would be very embarrassed to claim to know about something without being relatively certain.
Apparently, this is a rule the author does not care to follow. Within one minute of reading the TransFair USA website, I confirmed my suspicion that the information provided in this article was entirely false. As taken from the “Frequently Asked Questions-Advanced” section:
“For washed Arabica, the highest quality coffee, the Fair Trade minimum price is set at $1.25 per pound, plus an organic differential of $.20 if the coffee is certified organic. Should the world market price rise above these prices, the Fair Trade minimum price rises accordingly and becomes the world market price. In addition, importers pay farmer groups a Fair Trade premium, which is $0.10 per pound, over and above the Fair Trade minimum price.”

That’s just a start. Perhaps the author did not think the advanced section was for him, or didn’t know what “minimum” meant.

Cheers fellows, and don’t let mis-informed trash talkers keep you from buying socially and environmentally responsible goods.

By: J03P

J03P — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:55:48 +0000

Doesn’t quite seem like much of a fair trade, for anyone involved.