by Ted Ketcham
This morning cup of coffee I’m drinking means I’m not alone. The International Coffee Organization reports that my cup is one of 1.4 billion to be consumed on our planet today, and that even though the U.S. will account for 400 million of today’s cups, we’re only number 22 on the world list in per capita coffee consumption.
Still, our 400 million equals about 30 percent of the world total, and thus the “what” and the “how much” of U.S. coffee drinking constitutes a major impact on the world economy and on the lives it supports.
More numbers: According to Ric Rhinehart, executive director of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, “the number of people who depend on coffee for all or most of their living is in excess of 75 million.” Ethiopia alone, he adds, accounts for 15 million who cultivate, harvest, clean, and transport this crop. Virtually all of Ethiopia\’s annual 260,000 metric tons of coffee beans are processed by hand. Process sorters, all women, spend eight hours per day removing inferior coffee beans. In 2006 they earned less than 50¢ per day. For these workers and their families, sufficient food, shoes, clean water, and school for their children would be considered luxuries.
The lion\’s share of profits from Ethiopian coffee beans goes to the four multinationals who control the markets: Kraft, Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, and Sara Lee.
The Good News About Fair Trade
Fair Trade certification means, among other things, living wages and safe working conditions, cooperative grower partnerships, and more recently, paying a premium that goes towards community and educational opportunities for workers and their families.
Since GreenMoney\’s article about Fair Trade coffee in July 2001, Fair Trade Certified™ imports have grown by an average of 50 percent each year. According to TransFair USA\’s 2009 Coffee Impact report, TransFair certified 110 million pounds of coffee in 2009 alone, and more than five million coffee farmers have benefited.
The report states, “Since 1998, U.S. imports of Fair Trade Certified coffee have generated $220 million in additional revenue (measured against the market price for coffee) and premium funds for coffee producers. Coffee cooperatives democratically choose how to use the Fair Trade premiums, and they\’ve invested them in some truly life-changing programs, including village health clinics, clean water wells, new schools and women\’s leadership training programs, to name a few. Furthermore, 47 percent of Fair Trade Certified coffee imports in 2009 were also Certified Organic.”
Six percent of U.S. Fair Trade Certified coffee is from Africa; Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, says TransFair, “are poised to become major sources of sustainable coffee in 2011.”
TransFair USA also reports that in 2008, Fair Trade Certified sales amounted to approximately $4.1 billion worldwide, and that in 2009, despite the economic downturn, “the U.S. Fair Trade Certified coffee market grew by 25 percent, exceeding expectations and offering a powerful testimonial to the commitment of U.S. consumers and companies to more ethical and sustainable products even in challenging economic times.”
Where to Buy
Fair Trade Certified coffees and chocolates are generally priced competitively with other gourmet, specialty coffees and chocolates. They are, though, more expensive than mass-produced, low-quality coffees and chocolates.
TransFair USA licenses over 900 U.S. companies to display the Fair Trade Certified label on agricultural products, and these products are now available at over 40,000 retail establishments in the U.S.
Obviously, we\’re not going to attempt a complete list. ( For that you can visithttp://www.transfairusa.org ). What follows, instead, is a mention of some Fair Trade Coffee players, each contributing in significant ways to local and/or national expansion of Fair Trade. Coffee drinkers can do their own research, both online (see our resource list) and in their favorite shops and stores.
Equal Exchange
Among the pioneers of Fair Trade, Equal Exchange was founded in 1986 by food co-op managers Rink Dickinson, Jonathan Rosenthal, and Michael Rozyne. Their Fair Trade venture was a “leap of faith” attempting to merge “honesty, respect, and mutual benefit” with a strong business plan. Goals included helping farmers and their families gain greater control over their economic futures, educating consumers about the sources of their food, providing high quality products, and creating a worker-controlled company.
By 2005, Equal Exchange was the largest worker-owned coffee roasting operation in the U.S.
Of every dollar earned through product sales, 97 cents goes to product purchase, payroll (they pay themselves salaries comparable to those of school teachers), taxes, and other expenses. Of the remaining 3 cents:
- 7% is donated to non-profits working in the Fair Trade and co-op movements.
- 3% is invested as high-risk/low reward capital in small mission-driven co-op start-ups.
- 35% of profits or losses, depending on which they have, are divided equally amongst the worker-owners.
After more than 20 years of growth, Equal Exchange now offers organic and sustainably grown coffees, teas, chocolates, cocoas, sugar, bananas, nuts and berries from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the United States. All Equal Exchange coffee products are certified organic. They are clearly pacesetters in the Fair Trade movement. Get to know them athttp://www.equalexchange.com
Café Mam
Twenty years ago, when fair trade and organic coffee buying opportunities were relatively few here in the Northwest, Royal Blue Organic\’s Café Mam in Eugene, Oregon, was an important source for coffee drinkers who valued both quality and integrity. It just took a phone call, or, eventually, an email, plus a credit card to receive, in just a few days, fresh whole bean or ground organic and fair trade coffee, all of which was and still is grown by fair-trade cooperatives of native Mayan farmers living in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, with whom Café Mam has enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship.
Today Café Mam continues a thriving online distribution and has also found its way to customers in over 200 community stores and cafes in the Northwest and beyond.
A spirit of good intention pervades the world of Fair Trade; Café Mam wonderfully captures this with a declaration of love for the coffee, the people that tend it, and the earth from which it grows. “Love!,” they say, “is what makes Café Mam so special.” Seehttp://www.cafemam.com for selection and availability information.
Peet\’s Coffee
Not all socially conscious brewers are exclusively Fair Trade or Organic Certified. Quality more than sustainability drove founder Alfred Peet to open his coffee store back in 1966 in Berkeley, CA. Aghast at the poor standards for coffee being consumed by Americans, this Dutch immigrant emphasized better beans and darker roasting to reeducate American coffee palates. In the four decades that have followed, Peet\’s Coffee popularity has inspired generations to expect good coffee; in fact, Peet mentored and originally supplied the founders of Starbucks.
Peet\’s Vision statement reiterates the concern for quality: To be the gold standard specialty coffee and tea company in the world with brands that attract a highly dedicated and loyal customer following.
Sustainability, nevertheless, is also a critical component of Peet\’s business practices, as the company insures quality through 1. Direct relationships with growers, 2. Focused philanthropy, and 3. Green roasting in the first LEED® Gold certified roasting facility in the nation.
All Peet\’s Brazil and most java coffees are UTZ Certified. While UTZ certification is not the top standard in the sustainability movement, it does consider social, environmental, and economic sustainability in the certification process. Although Peet\’s offers only one Fair Trade certified and one Organic coffee blend, it could be argued that their path to a better world lies in going beyond certification. Their statement: … from the start, we\’ve held the belief that true quality cannot be achieved without social, environmental and economic sustainability. Where the land is respected and the people who farm it live well, the coffee is – quite simply – better.
Peet\’s is available in California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington, and at Whole Foods Markets as well as http://www.peets.com
Starbucks
As the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with over 17,000 stores in 49 countries, Starbucks needs neither our introduction nor advertising, and though they have experienced a degree of “pushback” from thousands who prefer locally owned coffee shops, they continue to thrive.
Starbuck\’s participation in Fair Trade, given their status as the biggest kid on the block, makes them a game-changer. According to Starbucks, they purchased 2,180 metric tons (4.8 million pounds) of Certified Fair Trade coffee in fiscal year 2004 and 5,220 metric tons (11.5 million pounds) in 2005. They have become the largest buyer of Certified Fair Trade coffee in North America (10% of the global market).
Nevertheless, there is an ongoing controversy between Starbucks and Ethiopian farmers. According to Oxfam, for every cup of coffee sold at Starbucks, farmers in Ethiopia only earn about three cents, – a very small portion of the profits that their coffee generates. Oxfam states, “Ethiopian coffee farmers often collect about 10 percent of the profits from these coffees. The rest goes to the coffee industry players that can control the retail price, the international importers, distributors – and roasters like Starbucks.”
But does such negative publicity from Ethiopia or elsewhere have any affect on this household name and billion-dollar company? “Probably not,” says an anonymous Starbucks employee. “People are so hooked on coffee that they are not going to be affected by something that is happening so far away. The only people protesting Starbucks are a minority of activists. Everyone else just thinks about their own problems.”
If you disagree you needn\’t boycott Starbucks as some would suggest. Just remember ask for, or even demand, packaged AND brewed Fair Trade coffee. If they say no, remember that coffee\’s biggest kid on the block is no longer the only kid on the block. There\’s a good chance that a locally owned coffee shop down the street or around the corner sells exclusively Fair Trade and Organic blends. Give them a try and keep some of those latté dollars in your own community.
The Biggest Kid on Any Block
Another game-changer that needs no introduction is Walmart, who in 2008 jumped aboard the Fair Trade bandwagon with six new blends under the Sam\’s Choice brand. The initial Sam\’s Choice gourmet coffees included Fair Trade Certified™ House Blend, Espresso Roast and French Roast; Rainforest Alliance™ Certified Breakfast Blend whole bean and ground coffee; and USDA Organic, Swiss Water® Process Decaffeinated.
If the Walmart customer base were to take advantage of this “budget gourmet” option, it could profoundly impact Fair Trade growers. DeDe Priest, senior vice president and general merchandise manager for Walmart, said, “For instance, if each of Walmart\’s 200 million shoppers bought one 10-oz. bag of Sam\’s Choice Rainforest USDA Certified organic coffee, it would prevent 133 million pounds of fertilizers and chemicals from being released into the environment.” Where This Leaves Fair Trade
The anonymous source cited earlier declared that few coffee drinkers care about problems other than their own. She could be right. However, the good news may be that on our rapidly shrinking and warming planet, environmental justice and social justice are becoming harder to ignore. What was clear long ago to Café Mam, Equal Exchange, and others is becoming obvious to even the folks who run Walmart. The exponential popularity of Fair Trade speaks for itself.
Readers who care about their coffee and its sources are encouraged to continue seeking fairly traded products that are good for them, good for the people who produce them, and good for the planet. And let\’s let those 1.4 billion other people on this planet with whom we share our daily coffee serve as a reminder that we\’re not in this alone.
Article by Ted Ketcham, GreenMoney Journal\’s editor since 1997
ARTICLE SOURCES:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/198849799_1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairtrade_Labelling_Organizations_International
CPB Global Voices program – Black Gold: A film about Coffee & Trade (2006 Documentary).http://blackgoldmovie.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks#Fair_trade
http://tinyurl.com/25qy7t7
http://www.cafemam.com
http://www.equalexchange.coop
http://www.peets.com
