Fair Trade Coffee

The Fair Trade is a cooperative organization that believes ethics + business + fair trade coffee will equal a better and fairer income for coffee farmers around the world. Many farmers do not have access to international markets or the ability to compete globally. Even if their coffee products make it to the international coffee market, the middlemen often get all the profits on the sales. The farmer is left out in the cold. As a result, the Fair Trade organization was developed with the belief coffee farmers + fair trade = ethical and social responsibility.

Growing gourmet coffee beans takes hard work, but also an understanding of the area and climate soil conditions. Many of the best coffee beans in the world are grown by small farmers in poor countries or areas. The Fair Trade Certified label on coffee is your promise those farmers who produced the coffee you are drinking were fairly paid for those efforts. It is their only chance to rise above poverty. Fair Trade coffee is produced from some of the highest quality coffee beans in the world.

Fair Trade certified coffee is sold by a number of retails stores and coffee shops in the United States. When you buy fair trade coffee, you are contributing to the welfare of the farmers struggling to feed families. Their coffee growing skills get the well-deserved recognition with the certification. Coffee businesses that are concerned with ethical treatment of suppliers will support the Fair Trade Label by only purchasing wholesale coffee from certified distributors. Business ethics + fair trade coffee = more business! Under Fair Trade, the middlemen are eliminated, prices are fairly established, and quality products attract new customers.

Fair trade coffee beans are grown under strict environmental protection standards. No harmful chemicals are allowed in order to protect the farmers, their families, the land, and you as the end consumer. For this reason, many of the organic coffees are Organic Fair Trade coffee.

Fair Trade coffee statistics prove this is an effective organization with over 221 cooperative members. These cooperatives represent over 800,000 farmers. In the USA alone, there are 300 coffee roasters who sell coffee certified as Fair Trade accounting for over $.6 billion annual sales. Canada annually imports over 20 million metric tons of Fair Trade Certified coffee. And the Fair Trade coffee statistics grow regularly. A complete economic assessment of fair trade in coffee would reveal that Fair Trade coffee is a force in the marketplace, but also a force in developing countries. Income earned by Fair Trade coops pays more than farmers. It builds schools, funds community projects and educates farmers.