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Below (in green with a red title) is my original bit on ethical coffee. May '08 As I started this company, I wanted to use the best coffee in every sense - and not just when it came to quality and taste. Since I know what kind of corruption tends to happen at the hands of the rich and powerful for the sake of profit, especially in 3rd world countries, I didn't want my purchase of green coffee to support any kind of abuse at the point of origin. The best way I knew how to do that was by using Fair Trade coffee when possible. You can see what I mean below in green. But recently I've been talking with a very bright lady out in the boonies who has done a lot of research on this topic - much more than most people I know in Houston - and it seems that Fair Trade is a good program especially for people in very poor areas where abuses are common, but for countries like Brazil where they already pay their workers above the Fair Trade standard and the abuses are already mostly under control, it is simply a very expensive certification with no real meaning. Granted, some companies treat their employees better than others in Brazil; it's not the same as it is for growers in Australia, but Daterra's workers receive treatment and pay that exceeds Fair Trade standards, though they are not Fair Trade certified. So my stance on Fair Trade remains mostly the same, except that we need to consider the country of origin, and especially the grower, and not judge a coffee's ethical appeal on the sole basis of whether it's Fair Trade certified or not, because often it's worth another look. Ethical Coffee - Why? February '08 A lot of people ask me why I sell so much Organic and Fair Trade coffee. Other coffee roasters will tell me that you can find non-OFT coffees that are better quality than OFT coffees, many people in the coffee biz tell me that OFT is not what it's cracked up to be, some people even say it's just a marketing scheme created by Starbucks. I don't know a whole lot of history on the organization, I don't assume that it's perfect, but unless their claims about what they do are outright lies (see Transfair USA website), then I don't see anything wrong with it. I understand where these people are coming from though. "Organic" "Fair Trade" and anything "Ethical" and "Green" seem to be a bunch of trendy buzz-words these days. It's what's hip. So if you're into OFT coffees, you're assaulted with thinly veiled insults and accusations of just trying to be cool, or just jumping on the bandwagon. But really, why let that get to you or change you? The first time I heard of Organic and Fair Trade was when I was working at The Coffee Guy, I think back in 2003. Customers would always ask about it. TCG offered a Peru Organic, but I think that was it. So that made me curious. Then when I got a job at Lola Savannah, I think in 2005, they had all kinds of OFT coffees there. Really it was an amazing selection. Not only did they sell all kinds of OFT coffees, but they had posters on Fair Trade and info on Bird Friendly and they just seemed to support that kind of stuff a lot. I thought that was awesome. When I roasted at the cafe out in Katy in 2007 the owner didn't really get the whole OFT thing, and wanted simply the best quality at the lowest price. I could understand that. Trying to start up a business is rough. Especially if you're paying rent out in the trendy part of Katy. Since I've been trying to start my own business, I've been selling mostly OFT coffee. Here's why: It gives people a chance to think about the power of their purchase. Think about it. Every dollar you spend goes to support someone. It's powerful. I think it's more powerful than voting. What does my vote do? Likely nothing. But every dollar is like a vote for someone or something, and it may be small, but it's not wasted. Think about the cents of that dollar, where do they go? Through an insanely efficient system of industry and then into the pockets of some shareholders somewhere who are already well-off? I have no interest in supporting that. If your dollar goes to paying people fairly in the countries that produce your stuff, instead of screwing them for their labor, and some of their poverty is relieved as a result, awesome. But also, think about what the seller's motives are. If they sell FT at a huge mark-up from regular coffee (or any other FT product), they probably are just selling it because it's profitable. Like the Barnes and Noble bookstore at UH. They sell fair trade shirts, but they're so rediculously priced, I would never buy one. They're just in it because they can use it to increase profit substancially. It's very easy to bump up the price of a pound of coffee to $15 and say it's because it's FT which gives you the impression that the huge mark-up is going to the organization. No. It's just huge amounts of profit. This is what's wrong with Starbucks and so many others. It's so easy. Fair Trade coffees have been made so widely available. Anyone who sells coffee can easily afford to get FT and sell it. Just the fact that it's Organic and FT increases the value of the coffee so we can sell it at for least the same profit as regular coffee. If people are selling coffee, but not FT coffee, it's only because they don't support the idea. It's good. Really, the OFT coffees that I've been getting have always been really good. Sure they may be blends of coffees from micro-lots sometimes, but they're always good. Conventional or non-OFT coffees may be amazing sometimes, but sometimes they're nasty. OFT is always good. I just don't have the time to go searching for the top half-percent of the world's coffee, I'm easily satisfied with the top 5 percent. No one would taste the difference anyway. I just don't see any reasons not to sell OFT coffees. It just makes sense. |
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