What is Fair Trade?
Fair Trade involves both price and dealing with farmers. Fair Trade provides an internationally determined minimum floor price when the international commodity price (the “C” price) falls below $1.41 per pound for organics. Two major factors affected this price three years ago: cheap Vietnamese coffee flooding the market and financial speculators discovering a liberalized free market. The majority of the world’s farmers have been unable to recover the cost of production and have been driven off the land. But our roasters and importers have not gone below the $1.41 price. Also important is how Fair Trade works with small farmers to form democratic cooperatives that insure fair dealing, accountability and transparency in trade transactions. It also requires prefinancing of up to sixty percent of the value of the contract if the farmers ask for it. Fair Trade promotes helpful and positive interactions between for-profit businesses and other cultures and people.
Organic Standards
Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality. It is produced without using most conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, bioengineering or ionizing radiation. To be labeled organic, a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to you must be certified, too.
Coffee Information…
Swiss-Water Processed Decafs use beans that are “par-boiled” in a circulating tank that filters out the caffeine molecules but leaves in the flavor. Soft beans that decaf quickly are used so that most of the original character is retained.
The Americas
Costa Rica – The coffee comes from Cooperativo Montes de Oro. Much of the coffee is dried with solar coffee dryers. The flavor is complex, yet well-balanced in terms of acidity and body. We use it to add a lift to the light roasts.
Guatemala – The coffee is grown at mile high slopes in an area called “the heart of the Mayan empire”. The farmers are conscious of shade needed for migratory song birds, hardwood and fruit tree sustenance. They produce a strictly hard bean of medium body with a smoky flavor. You’ll find them in our medium roast blends.
Mexico – The beans come from the Mut Vitz Coffee Cooperative in the northern highlands of the Chiapas. They are large and smooth and are easily roasted. The aroma is excellent, a medium body and low acidity. The result is mellow and sweet and is found in our light and decaf roasts.
Nicaragua – We have coffee from a growers’ managing cooperative, Prodecoop, in mountainous Esteli, which continues to be a stronghold for people-centered social change. The coffee is high grown on small plots that are frequently communally owned. The bean delivers a smooth, full taste and complex aroma. Enjoy these in our light and bold roasts.
Peru – The Cochapampa Cooperative grows these beans high (over 5000 feet) in the Cordillera Oriental, in the Amazon drainage basin near Cusco in the southeastern part of the country. Traditional agricultural practices are used to preserve the soil on the steep slopes for the birds, animals and plants that rely upon it for the future. The beans are of good size with good acidity and a sweet flavor and they add body to our light and medium roasts as well as our decaf.
Africa
Ethiopia – This is the country known as the birthplace of coffee. We have coffee from the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union with member coops throughout the central plateau of Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Jimma. Many of the beans are sun-dried while still in the coffee sherry after being picked from trees hidden in lush forest. The beans fruitiness and earthy flavor is added to our bold roasts, adding a unique, non-bitter quality.
Asia
East Timor – The coffee grows on misty, heavily shaded slopes in the mountainous Ermera district, southwest of the capital, Dili. The farmers are organized into rural grower cooperatives, selling to a national cooperative and through Fair Trade terms end up with significantly higher prices in the hands of the farmers. These hard beans retain their spicy taste in the roasting process and add to our bold roasts.
Papua-New Guinea – The Kway Organic Farmers Cooperative grows this coffee in the remotest part of the eastern highlands in the Simbari District. It is entirely shade grown on small farms and is the only source of cash income for the growers. The beans are wilder and fruitier than other New Guinea coffees along with a heavier body and lower acidity. Enjoy their flavor in our bold roasts.
Sumatra – This classic Mandheling coffee is grown in the Takengon highlands in the northern part of the country on small, heavily shaded plots of 2 to 4 acres above 3500 feet, often sun-dried. The beans offer a full-bodied flavor with very low acidity and hold their character well in roasting. Enjoy this coffee in our medium and bold roasts.
Hot Cocoa – It’s the best tasting organic mix available – on its own or added to any of our coffees. Profits are returned to the indigenous growers cooperative in Costa Rica. Ingredients are organic sugar, organic cocoa powder and organic non-fat dry milk and nuthin’ else!