Relationship and Fair Trade Coffees Discussed

There is lots of talk these days about certified coffees - Fair Trade, Shade Grown/Bird Friendly, and many more. What does it all mean? These certified labels are great because, as consumers, it gives us something to keep our eye out for. But is that the only "good" choice we have when purchasing products (we will talk coffee of course)? There are many pros and cons to the certification programs under any label that you might see in coffee. (Quickly, when we talk "labels" we are talking certified labels and not the producer or coffee roaster) There is a new movement on the scene that has really been taking shape for quite awhile now. As the video talks, Relationship Coffee tries to get beyond the label and to the meat of what all labels are really about. In definition, Relationship Coffee is a business model featuring individual long-term relationships between roasters and growers, based on quality rather than on wholesale prices. Many companies that go the route of Relationship Coffee (sometimes referred to as Direct Trade Coffee) are against the certification process the Fair Trade program puts on farmers and coffee producing countries and many for reasons that make since. The goal for many of us that care and focus on the social aspects of coffee in these producing countries is to be sure that the producers and their families are benefited - not only with a paycheck for the coffee that we and our customers enjoy every day but also for the livelihood - including education and environmental issues in their workplace. The biggest differences between the Fair Trade label and Relationship Coffee is how farmers are paid and what goes in to the ability of these farmers to gain access to the programs. Here is a bit about it: Relationship Coffee: This is a direct and transparent relationship between the roaster and the farmer. Many times, the roasters are in contact with the farm throughout the year and travel to origin to cup and preview coffees with the hands that grow them. Fair Trade Coffee: This is a market-based approach to empowering developing country producers and promoting sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a fair price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods (via Wikipedia). In general, these two programs go after the same thing. While the Fair Trade program is established and carries certifications, there are costs involved to not only the end user but also the producers and the co-ops that help get the product to market. It is because of all of these policies that the Relationship Coffee began to take off. In a perfect world, we would have the ability to have the direct relationship promoted in relationship coffee with the accountability of a seal for our consumers. Many people are abandoning the Fair Trade program due to the "middlemen" some see in the process but in all reality, it is the only program we have that is visibly accounted for through the process. As it stands, we have the open source version of Fair Trade in Relationship Coffee. Filling the gaps in the Fair Trade program and fixing holes that have been created by the politics of it all will at some point bring it all together again. This is just a quick thought on the two. There are miles of type needed to truly get my point across and to really dive in to these types of coffees. I will talk more about it all in the future as I continue to try to figure all of this out! ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke catering, Oklahoma City, coffee catering, fair trade month Add us on Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter!