Fair Trade Coffee Meaning

There is a north south divide of fair trade products with producers in the south and consumers in the north.

Fair trade coffee meaning.

Fair trade coffee as third world fair trade producers compete with one another for these markets prices may be driven down there s a real need to push much further most importantly on fair trade to enable developing countries to actually develop and become independent of aid. Fair trade achieves this through third party evaluation and certification with a clear set of standards and processes for auditing whereas direct trade is a concept that encourages roasters to develop more direct relationships with coffee producers but has no single or set definition of standards. The fair trade movement first started with coffee and coffee remains the most important fair trade product today. When buying coffee a lot of people look for the fair trade stamp of approval on the packaging.

The similarities between fair trade and direct trade are that they both cut out the middleman meaning that green coffee buyers work directly with coffee farmers. A set portion of the fairtrade premium goes toward improving production or quality. Fair trade coffee is currently produced in 24 countries in latin america africa and asia. Another similarity is that the result of building a long term buying relationship yields a better quality coffee and a better quality of life for farmers.

You see it on labels for coffee chocolate flowers and more but what does it really mean. Fairtrade international is an association of fair trade organizations in countries around the world that certify that a variety of products from coffee to tea to cotton and other goods have been produced in accordance with fairtrade standards. The 165 flo associations in latin america and caribbean are located in 14 countries and together export over 85 of the world s fair trade coffee. A 2012 report from fairtrade international says it sold 88 000 tons of fair trade coffee worldwide in 2010 about 1 of the world s entire coffee crop.

Fair trade coffee is coffee that is certified as having been produced to fair trade standards by fair trade organizations which create trading partnerships that are based on dialogue transparency and respect with the goal of achieving greater equity in international trade these partnerships contribute to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to coffee bean farmers. Fair trade usa is a non profit organization that certifies goods like coffee chocolate and sugar are made according to a set of strict standards that encourages environmental sustainability as well as ensuring that the people involved in production were treated and compensated fairly.