Coffee is the most popular drink worldwide with around two billion cups consumed every day, according to the British Coffee Association. Whether you’re a part of those two billion cups or not, you should know the differences between Fair Trade and your standard coffee.
Starting from the beginning, coffee is grown in many different areas of the world, primarily within the Bean Belt or Coffee Belt. The Bean Belt is an area of the world, between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, with the best conditions for growing coffee – fertile soil, mild temperatures and more precipitation. The belt surrounds the whole Earth and covers the majority of Africa, but also including Asia plus South and Central America. This is not to say that coffee cannot be grown in other areas of the world, but the Bean Belt provides the best conditions.
The majority of the world’s total coffee exports belongs to South America at around 45%, with most of this coffee being grown in Brazil. Other areas of the world that have a high coffee production rate are Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, Ethiopia and Honduras, but are all coffee farmers protected by fair trade?
We are sure that you have heard of the term ‘fair trade’ and know that it is of importance, but perhaps you haven’t looked into it in depth and understood it fully so you make conscious choices every time you shop.
What Is Fair Trade?
Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve better trading conditions. It is stated that members of the fair trade movement advocate the payment of higher prices to exporters, as well as improved social and environmental standards.
The idea of fair trade dates back to the 1940s and 1950s. Religious groups developed fair trade supply chains in developing countries to support almost exclusively handicrafts, such as jute goods and cross-stitch work.
According to Wikipedia, the current fair trade movement was shaped in Europe shortly after, in the 1960s. From Oxfam launching a “Helping-by-Selling” program selling imported handicrafts into Oxfam stores, to the Whole Earth Catalog publication, connecting thousands of specialised merchants, artisans and scientists directly with consumers, bypassing corporate retail and department stores. It is stated that ‘throughout the 1960s and 1970s, important segments of the fair trade movement worked to find markets for products from countries that were excluded from the mainstream trading channels for political reasons. Thousands of volunteers sold coffee from Angola and Nicaragua in worldshops, in the back of churches, from their homes and from stands in public places, using the products as a vehicle to deliver their message: give disadvantaged producers in developing countries a fair chance on the world’s market.’
In more recent years, there has been a rise of labelling initiatives, making it clear to consumers of the aims of the fair trade movement and the fact that certain products are fair trade. Initially only within small stores, a solution was found in 1988 in which an independent Fairtrade certification initiative was created, reaching a larger consumer segment and therefore boosting fair trade sales massively. This labelling initiative also meant that the origin of the goods can be tracked, allowing customers and distributors to ensure these products were really benefitting the producers.
In 2002, FLO (or Fairtrade International) launched the International Fairtrade Certification mark, a mark which you may be familiar with. This mark was created to improve visibility on shop shelves and is currently used in over 50 countries on many different types of products, from mangoes to wine, footballs to cotton and of course, coffee.
What Are The Issues With Not Consuming Fair Trade Coffee?
When going about your daily life, thinking of where each and every product you consume or interact with has come from isn’t always in the forefront of your mind, but perhaps it should be. When consuming coffee that is not fair trade, there are many issues to consider.
As stated on the Fairtrade Foundation website, ‘while coffee is clearly profitable for food companies, it is a very different story for coffee farmers. The share of the retail value of coffee retained by the producer has fallen over the decades – in the 1970s, producers retained an average of 20% of the retail price of coffee sold in a shop. When oversupply caused prices to crash in historic lows during the coffee crisis of 1994 – 2004, research found coffee growers received just 1-3% of the price of a cup sold in a café in Europe or North America, and 2-6% of the value of coffee sold in a supermarket.’
Price changes can have a massive impact on those producers who depend on coffee for their livelihood, and when prices fall below the costs of production, farmers struggle to put food on the table, pay for medical bills and school fees. When looking at the situation in depth, it becomes apparent the importance of fair trade when purchasing any items, even something as ‘small’ as coffee.
To ensure products are inline with Fairtrade Standards, there is a Fairtrade Minimum Price which is the minimum price that must be paid by buyers to producers. This ensures that farmers are able to live a life of stability, along with being able to budget for the next year in regards to farming their product and for household expenses.
How Is Fair Trade Making A Difference?
Along with ensuring fair pricing and deals are made, the Fairtrade Foundation provides essential training and support to farmer organisations to help them thrive. Training such as assisting farmers to adapt to climate change is essential. Changes in weather and environment are already causing destruction for farmers, but ‘Fairtrade helps farmers adapt, mitigate, and become more resilient, and supports businesses and consumers to be part of a more sustainable supply chain.’
Not only is Fairtrade supporting the farmers, they are also helping safeguard the natural world by promoting sustainable food production through their standards, such as ‘prohibiting dangerous pesticides or cutting down trees in protected areas.’ Did you know that the 2019 UN Global Assessment suggests that one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction? This is an eye-opening statistic that should encourage everyone to make a change in their lifestyle.
How To Make An Effort To Live A More Conscious Lifestyle
It is not easy to change every aspect of your lifestyle to support fair trade and a more ethical way of living, but there are some aspects which you can begin to make an effort to convert.
Coffee
Take a look at the coffee you have in the cupboard at home – Is it fair trade? Perhaps you can make an easy swap next time you need to stock up. Many large supermarkets stock fair trade products, and this is usually stated on the packaging.
Other Fair Trade Products
Along with coffee, there are a multitude of products you can look at within your household and could do research if they are fair trade, or not.
These include
- Bananas
- Cocoa – If you’re not a fan of coffee but love a hot chocolate, do check if the cocoa used is fair trade!
- Cotton
- Flowers
- Gold
- Clothes
- Cold drinks and juice
- Herbs and spices
- Sweets and snacks
- Rice, grains and cereals
- Sugar, spreads and oil
- Tea
- Wine
- Beauty products
If you are unsure about where to begin, take a look at the Buying Fairtrade section on the Fairtrade International website. Not only are the different types of product sectioned off, there are brands stated that stock a fair trade version of said product.
When looking through the Fairtrade International website, you will find businesses large and small supporting fair trade, including some globally known brands such as Starbucks, Nespresso and Ben & Jerry’s.
In conclusion, we think it’s really important to make the switch to fair trade. We understand that fair trade products can be more expensive, so if you cannot take the whole list above and change everything, why not make small changes as and when you can?
It will be similar to making a transition to a low impact way of living, do not pressure yourself into making a full lifestyle change overnight, give yourself plenty of time to research and transition some parts of your lifestyle to find better alternatives.
Which products do you currently consume that are fair trade? Any that you’re needing to change? Let us know and we would love to have a conversation about it!
Further Reading:
British Coffee Association – Coffee Facts
https://www.britishcoffeeassociation.org/coffee-in-the-uk/coffee-facts
Excellent Cup – Bean Belt
https://www.excellentcup.com/2018/what-is-the-coffee-belt-and-which-countries-belong-to-it/
Fairtrade Foundation – Farmers and Workers
http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/en/farmers-and-workers/coffee/about-coffee
Fairtrade Foundation – Climate Change
https://www.fairtrade.net/issue/climate-change#
Fairtrade International – Buying Fairtrade
https://www.fairtrade.net/product
Wikipedia – Bean Belt and Coffee Distribution
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_bean
Wikipedia – Fair Trade
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade
World Atlas – Top Coffee Producing Countries
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-coffee-producing-countries.html