Coffee article
Fair Trade, Direct Trade, and Regular Coffee - What's The Difference Anyway?
Have you ever wondered how coffee is made? From ground coffee beans, you would say. I see
your point. But have you ever thought of the amount of labor needed to make coffee? It’s a labor
of love, it’s a labor of pain. In Africa, they call coffee “black diamond”. And just like diamond,
coffee is a valuable commodity. How valuable?
Well, according to statistics, over 1.6 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day. That’s
about 18,500 cups per second. Coffee is a fast-moving good. Because of this mass
consumption, the demand for coffee beans is always high.
However, coffee beans do not grow overnight. A typical tree of coffee Arabica will bear fruits
after three to five years and this tree can produce coffee cherries for 50 to 60 years. A coffee
tree, on the average, can yield one to two pounds of roasted coffee.
Red coffee cherries are picked, washed, dried and hulled. This results to green coffee beans
which are roasted and ground to make coffee.
Did you know that coffee cherries do not ripe evenly? This means that harvesters need to make
several visits to the same tree during harvest season. It can be pretty labor intensive.
Brazil and Vietnam account for 50 percent of the world’s coffee production.
You see, there’s a lot of things going on before coffee is served to you. That is why coffee
trading is an important discussion among coffee lovers.
Today, let’s discuss about fair trade, direct trade and regular coffee. What are their differences?
And why should you bother to know these things.
What is fair trade coffee?
According to Fairtrade International, the international association of fair trade organizations, fair
trade strives to support farmers to earn a dignified living from the coffee they produce. In
addition, fair trade farmers are encouraged to diversify their sources of income, involve the next
generation in the coffee business to assure the industry’s future, establish long-term
relationships with traders, and to pursue their right to a fair share of the global coffee industry.
Fair trade also consider how coffee farming affects the environment and how farmers benefit
from the industry. According to Ethical Coffee, fair trade standards encourage sustainable
agriculture practices, but farmers do have some leeway. Most fair trade coffee is also certified
organic, for example, but agrochemicals can be used by those not certified as organic. Farmers
must also follow sustainable practices for disposing of hazardous and organic wastes, maintain
buffer zones around bodies of water, and minimize water use, avoid erosion and conserve the
soil.
The very basis for establishing fair trade is to set a minimum price for coffee. A guaranteed price
keeps small farmers in business. It enables more families who rely on coffee farming to benefit
from the sales of coffee beans.
In essence, coffee farmers under fair trade can submit their harvested coffee beans to a
cooperative. The cooperative pays the farmer based on the fair trade price standard. This
process protects the farmer in case of coffee price changes, weather problems, agricultural
problems and even natural disasters.
Fair trade coffee facts
There are 812,500 small-scale coffee farmers organized in 445 producer cooperatives
Coffee farmers from 30 countries produce fair trade coffee
80 percent of fair trade coffee are from South America (Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Nicaragua and
Costa Rica)
Fair trade coffee farmers harvest mostly Arabica (milder but more expensive) and Robusta
(stronger but less expensive) coffee beans
If you are wondering what coffee brands are fair trade coffee, here is a sample list:
Cafédirect
Ethics | Fair trade, re-invest ⅓ of profits
Location | London, UK
Equal Exchange
Ethics | Worker owned, fair trade
Location | St. Paul, MN
Higher Ground Roasters
Ethics | Fair trade, organic, shade-grown
Location | Leeds, AL
Grumpy Mule
Ethics | Fair trade, Rainforest Alliance, organic
Location | London, UK
DOMA
Ethics | Fair trade, organic
Location | Post Falls, ID
Stumptown Roasters
Ethics | Direct trade, organic
Location | Portland, OR
Rise Up Coffee Roasters
Ethics | Fair trade, organic
Location | Easton, MD
Pura Vida Coffee
Ethics | Fair trade, organic, shade-grown
Location | Tukwila, WA
Larry's Beans
Ethics | Fair trade, organic, shade-grown, B Corporation
Location | Raleigh, NC
Café Mam
Ethics | Fair trade, organic, shade-grown
Location | Eugene, OR
Allegro Coffee
Ethics | Fair trade, organic
Location | Thornton, CO
Conscious Coffees
Ethics | Fair trade, organic, B Corporation
Location | Boulder, CO
Salt Spring Coffee
Ethics | Fair For Life, B Corporation, 1% for planet
Location | Richmond, British Columbia
Kickapoo Coffee
Ethics | Fair trade, organic
Location | Milwaukee, WI
What is direct trade coffee?
Unlike fair trade which uses a cooperative to pool together coffee beans from different farmers,
direct trade eliminates this middleman process and goes directly to the coffee farmers to buy his
harvest. According to Ethical Coffee, direct trade proponents believe that their business model
is better because they provide better opportunities to farmers. They build mutually beneficial
and respectful relationships with individual producers or cooperatives in the coffee-producing
countries. Some roasters do it because they are dissatisfied with the third-party certification
programs, while others want to have more control over aspects ranging from the quality of the
coffee, to social issues, or environmental concerns.
Direct trade is also known as “beyond fair trade coffee” and “single origin”. Famous brands that
are known for direct trade coffee are Intelligentsia and Counter Culture Coffee.
What is regular coffee?
Today, coffee lovers are become more conscious about the products they buy. This is a good
thing. They understand about environmental concerns, labor issues and economic conditions.
However, this has also led to so many names, terms and certifications such as organic, natural,
eco, and green, to bird-friendly, reef-safe, and cruelty-free, with additional certifications from the
Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade International, Fair Trade USA, FSC, MSC and more!
Whew! Can I just have a regular coffee?
Basically, regular coffee is brewed coffee with milk and two sugars. Isn’t it something that we all
love?
But regular coffee can also mean black coffee, or coffee with cream with no sugar or coffee with
sugar but no cream.
Whichever it goes, regular coffee means coffee just the way you like it, regardless of its origin.
What are the differences?
One of the main differences between fair trade and direct trade is the pricing of coffee beans.
Direct trade has a higher price paid to growers. There are no minimum price set because there
is no cooperative operating between the grower and the companies. Also, there are no price
cuts for premiums which are pooled together to support coffee farmers. Under direct trade, the
company and the farmer discusses the price under their own terms.
However, direct trade also lacks third party certifications. Meaning, consumers could not really
tell whether this coffee brand is a direct trade or not. Coffee quality can be questioned.
However, companies with direct trade relations to coffee farmers often do visits to the farm and
check with farmers to maintain the company’s coffee quality standards.
Regular coffee can be fair trade or direct trade depending on the brand that you are using.
If you ask me, all these coffee are good. Fair trade protects farmers from sudden price changes
that could affect their harvest. Direct trade gives a strong relationship between the roaster and
the farmer. But if you can’t decide which one to buy, I’ll say stick to regular coffee.