What do you mean not fair! - Then followed a discussion on some points I thought I would share seeing it’s not the first time we’ve been asked – so to reiterate. Firstly I was quick to point out that Coffee Real was not opposed to Fairtrade - we just believe that in our view and in the view of many other speciality roasters there are far better alternatives – for everyone. I said – we have four main issues….

We have an issue with the amount paid to the farmer under the Fairtrade system, at around a minimum $1.40 per pound (up from $1.25 in 2010) - it’s not enough. However this is better than some farmers receive who are not able to be part of a FairTrade cooperative. – I’ll come back to the point of discrimination.

We discussed - what is Fairtrade – so for those that who do not completely understand the system - it is a certification that is owned by the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation and applies not only to coffee, but also many other commonly traded agricultural products. I know nothing about bananas, but know a little bit about coffee. This certification is designed to ensure that every product bearing its label (a Fairtrade Label) is purchased at a base price that is above the cost of production for the farmer. Different products have different base prices - a Fairtrade minimum.

We covered the point of discrimination by Fairtrade certification - Fairtrade is specific to democratically run cooperatives and does not apply to individual farmers and thus Fairtrade offers, in our view, a relatively small number of farmers a higher fixed price for their goods at the expense of the greater majority of farmers, who are unable to qualify for Fairtrade certification and as a consequence are generally left even worse off.

We then talked about the Fairtrade application fee and the Fairtrade initial certification fee and not forgetting the yearly certification renewal fee which together run into thousands of pounds for the smallest group of fewer than 100 producers. The cooperatives that represent their members (the farmers) incur the fees explained above in reaching the Fairtrade certification, and these are fixed costs that are incurred on the total production of the cooperative, even if only a small amount of their coffee is sold at Fairtrade prices. It is reported that the most successful cooperatives appear to spend around a third of the extra price received from Fairtrade on Fairtrade fees and needless to say some less successful cooperatives spend more than they gain.

I also added that the Fairtrade Foundation does not monitor how much of the extra money paid to the cooperative actually reaches the farmer that is part of the cooperative. In poor countries, more than most, you find corruption at the top. I did point out though - those same producers can apply through the Producer Certification Fund for a grant covering up to 75% of their certification fees – which is good news as a farmer in the poorest coffee producing country in the world, Burundi, is going to need all the help there is when the average household income is just $23 (USD) per month.

I then posed a question - if you are a buyer of Fairtrade coffee you would think, and quite rightly, that the extra you are paying is going to support the poorest of coffee farmers in the poorest parts of the world. Yes? That’s why we can’t understand there are still no Fairtrade coffee cooperatives in Burundi - where 93% of exports revenues come from selling coffee, and where 80% of the population live in poverty and where 57% of children under the age of 5 years suffer from chronic malnutrition. There are still only 7 Fairtrade cooperatives in Rwanda; however there are 43 in Brazil. Our latest crop from Burundi is of good quaility and the farmers were paid directly 20% above Fairtrade for producing quaility.

Quaility coffees demand a premium in the market, some coffee we have bought this year have been as much as 8 times the Fairtrade minimum. Paying for quality encourages the farmer to keep coffee quality high and thus receiving a better price and a better standard of living, which then also provides our customers with a better cup of coffee.

To finish our conversation – I said that Fairtrade coffee does is not really fit with a company like ours or any roaster that has a discerning customer base as we do not buy commodity based coffees we only buy specialty coffees of the highest quality. In unsubsidised relationships where quaility is king, everybody wins – the farmer, the roaster and the end user – our customers. So the next time you drink a cup of coffee – ask if it is Fairtrade!