FAQ - what is fair trade certified coffee

Fair trade is a revolutionary concept in action. It is a program that brings together the producer (the coffee grower) and the consumer (the coffee drinker) in a more equitable and meaningful way. The coffee industry middlemen are bypassed and a more direct bridge is built between the producer and the consumer.

Fair trade coffee cuts out the middle man, the coffee trader, to provide the coffee grower and their buyers higher profits.

Why We Provide "Fairly Traded" Coffee

Small coffee farms grow nearly half of the coffee available around the world. In the coffee industry, the middlemen are able to set the price that they will pay to the growers for the coffee. Thousands of these small coffee farmers often receive prices for their coffee at less than the costs of production, selling much of their product at a loss and burying their business in debt.

How Can Fair Trade Certification Help?

Coffee sold at fair trade prices allow small farmers to afford improved healthcare and housing for their families. Fair trade pricing can ensure their children can remain in school longer, instead of working in the fields.

Fair Trade Certification enables small coffee farmers to lift themselves out of debt by investing some of the revenues from Fair Trade cooperatives back into their materials for their farms, into community projects such as building schools and healthcare facilities, protecting the environment by learning organic farming techniques, and developing skills necessary to compete in the modern coffee market.