The Rise And Shine Of Coffee Fair Trade

Alternative trade organizations, or ATOs, began coffee fair trade. Coffee fair trade organizations worked with the indigenous people in the country to advertise the coffee products to the end user without a middle man. The purpose of coffee fair trade is to allow the makers of the coffee to get more income by cutting out the middle man. This allows the coffee fair trade growers to offer a good quality product and stay in business longer. The coffee fair trade organizations allow the smaller growers to compete with the larger ones.

After coffee fair trade organizations were formed, they communicated to trade ideas on how to make the system more beneficial to everyone. There are also coffee fair trade certifications to identify products that are sold using coffee fair trade policies. The system allows certified growers to vote on the coffee fair trade prices that will dictate the minimum amount that will fair to producers in order to continue to allow them to remain competitive. Some opponents to coffee fair trade believe this is more like a charity; however, this is not the intent of the coffee fair trade program. The consumer who is purchasing the coffee benefits from getting a quality product at a competitive price. The producer of the coffee who is involved with the coffee fair trade system benefits by getting at least a minimum amount of money for the coffee that they grow, making it a fair situation for everyone.

For more on Fair Trade Coffee, please visit our Gourmet Coffee Beans page.