What Does it all Mean?

The thing that is taking the coffee industry by storm these days is environmental and ethical certifications. Go into any specialty coffee shop and you will likely here the terms Fair Trade, eco-friendly, shade grown, and bird friendly. What does this all mean? I am currently finishing up Bruce Milletto's new book Effective and Essential Marketing for the Specialty Coffee Retailer in which he talks about many ways to gain market share in this ever growing industry. In a section in which he writes about politically conscious and Earth friendly products, he runs us through the meaning of all of these terms that so easily confuse us all. Below you will find a brief summary of what these different certifications really mean. Eco-Friendly Coffee: Before a grower can be certified organic, several years of product must pass during which time all traces of artificial chemicals gradually fade away into the environment. This movement seeks to protect the environment. Organic Coffee: Coffee can be certified organic in one of three ways: Direct Certification, Co-Certification, or Local Certification. Organic coffee is grown without the use of synthetic chemicals - no chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicide. Fair Trade: For coffee to be certified Fair Trade in the US, it must meet the standards established by TransFair USA. This certification promises a set price above the cost of production to farmers - no matter the state of the industry Shade Grown: Third party inspectors follow criteria established by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) or The Rain Forest Alliance (The Eco OK label) to certify coffee as shade grown. This type of farming provides bio-diversity and habit for birds and other species. Bird Friendly: This coffee is shade grown with a focus on environment that protects the habitat of native and migratory birds and other wildlife. This goes along with Shade Grown farming. For more information, visit SongBird.org Relationship Coffee: In Relationship Coffee local producers deal directly with coffee roasters, cutting out the middle man in the coffee chains. This leads to higher prices for growers who are encouraged to produce extraordinary coffees. As you can see, there are many types of certifications and you will most definitely see at least one of these in your local coffee house. These labels protect the environment and keep the prices of coffee at fair levels. For more information, click around on some of the links above or on the sidebar of this blog. ~~be bold (all information above comes from Bruce Milletto's book, Effective and Essential Marketing for the Specialty Coffee Retailer. Please check out his site, Espresso101, for other great books.)