Spilling The Beans

Here is what I have learned about Fair Trade Coffee while I was in Guatemala:
It would appear that Fair Trade is a bit of a sham. It is not the Knight in Shining Armour which has been portrayed to us java guzzlers here in the industrialized world. Basically, in order to be Fair Trade Certified, any coffee producers must pay 2000 Euros to purchase a coffee license. All products carrying the Fairtrade mark must meet certain standards set by the international body, Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO.) This is obviously a pretty good thing since standards are needed in order to ensure quality control and avoid abuse and corruption within the system. However, with poor communities such as Nueva Alianza, paying 2000 Euros PER YEAR to be part of the FLO is a little beyond their means, considering that the average Guatemalan coffee picker earns less than $1,000 US per year. Also, being Fair Trade means that the fair price they receive for their beans will be given to the producers (ie: the community) rather than equate into higher wages for the coffee pickers themselves. The fair price they receive for selling their beans is unlikely to actually cover the annual expense the Finca pays for their Fair Trade Licence. It’s a bit of a vicious circle. Coffee pickers at the Finca receive 25 Quetzales per 100 pounds of coffee cherries picked. (The cherries are what they call the ripened bean before it has been harvested.) That is about $3.40 per 100 pound bag. The problem is that the coffee market is very unstable and fluctuates considerably. It is a wonder that coffee producers make any money at all. The coffee bean is very painstaking to process. It has 5 shells and takes a great deal of time and man power to get to the core or the bean, which is the part we actually drink. A 100 lb bag of cherries will actually only yield about 20-30 lbs of coffee bean, a close to 70% loss once refined.

All that being said, you should still buy Fair Trade Coffee, basically because your dollars have a voice and it is important for us to build consumer demand for Fair Trade products, and that includes everything from coffee to cotton to chocolate and bananas. At the moment, buying FT may not equate to increased wages for the coffee pickers themselves, but the producers will benefit and in Nueva Alianza’s case, that means that the money will go back into the community and benefit the them at large. And also, eventually maybe it will equate into higher wages for the pickers.

Another thing I learned was that Starbucks is not the Antichrist. We saw where they make the Antigua Guatemala blend for Starbucks and the truth is, they are givin’ people jobs, they are supporting the local economy and they are offering comparable wages. I’m not saying you shouldn’t support your local independent coffee guys; I’m not saying that Starbucks couldn’t be doing more, I’m just sayin’ that I am going to stop feeling guilty about those White Chocolate Mochas I drink on Saturday mornings.

What I DID learn was that you should definitely stay away from Nabob coffee. They are terrible and everything you've heard about exploiting their recources and their workers is true. And I would venture a guess to say that Folger’s is the same. If you are buyin Kicking Horse coffee, keep doin’ it. That’s a great Canadaian company doin’ good things.

If you would REALLY like to learn and/or do more, you can find out about buying Fair Trade coffee from this little place in Guatemala called Café Conciencia (Coffee with a Conscience.) A full 100% of proceeds from coffee sales go directly back to the worker-owned communities that grow, process, roast and package it. That way, the communities are earning over five times as much per pound of coffee as they would on the conventional market, and over three times as much as in the mainstream Fair Trade market. This is a real grassroots organization and also, the prices kick some serious ass. One pound of coffee costs $10 US and that INCLUDES shipping and handling.
http://www.cafeconciencia.org/

Also, some of you have expressed an interest in finding out more about the community we worked in, so go here. they have a really awesome website:
http://www.comunidadnuevaalianza.org/index.htm

Bottoms up.