Coffee Is Not Fair Trade

Recently people have become more and more conscious of what they put into their bodies and where it comes from. An unprecedented amount of information is now readily available to most Americans with the advent of the Internet. This has resulted in a great increase in transparency of the many aspects of imported products. Consequently, programs have been established to help ensure that these products are produced in more ethical and humane ways. To many Americans, the Fair Trade labeled bags of coffee they purchase that give them the energy they need to go about their day in addition to being a socially conscious decision but to many it is a means for survival and an escape from a cycle of debt that traps many similar non-Fair Trade growers generation after generation

Threat of Substitutes: There are various substitutes for fair trade coffee in the industry such as regular coffee, tea etc but not only coffees but in the general beverages market e.g. Coca Cola, Water etc. As a result of this there is a very high threat of substitutes.

Ever since the first coffee bean tree was discovered in Ethiopia, the bean became a pleasurable commodity that spread quickly to Yemen and other Asian countries. It wasn’t long before it came to Brazil, becoming one of the largest coffee producing countries in the world today. Throughout time, people came up with brewing systems and coffee-making machines that made it easy to manufacture coffee but it wasn’t like that in the early 1800’s. Slaves came into Brazil and were forced to work in difficult labor conditions to collect and roast coffee beans.

The documentary Black Gold, is about the world coffee market and an Ethiopian fair trade cooperative. Ethiopia being the birthplace of coffee is the largest producer of coffee in the world, producing some of the highest quality of coffee beans in the world, like Harar, Yuban and Sidamo types of coffee. The significant problems pointed out in this documentary show what is wrong in the global trading system. Mainly, while most of us continue have our lattes and specialty coffees, the amount paid to the Ethiopian coffee farmers is so low that a lot of them have been forced to chop down some of their coffee fields and rely on other crops to help them survive. The Ethiopian people are malnourished; they have no clean water, no healthcare, and no schools for their families. As quoted in the film, “They are living hand to mouth”.

​Over time, the tradition of taking the highly lucrative cash crop of coffee has become universal to the extent that its production is marred with interference from political, social, economic, and scientific concepts that affect its production. In Central America, the major countries that produce coffee include Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua. In these countries, coffee is among the largest traded commodities. Normally, this production takes place through small-scale farmers who are largely dependent on larger corporations to bridge the gap between them and the consumers. Coffee production in Central America is affected by social, economic, globalization and political factors that

Mexico is one of the world's largest producers of coffee with over 45 Fair Trade coffee producers, the second largest number of producers in Latin America, which makes it one of the biggest centers of Fair Trade (Kilpatrick 2013, 68). For those in the industrialized north, Fair Trade is a way for consumers to identify where products originate, allowing people to make choices that have positive impacts on the world. For producers living Mexico, Fair Trade not only provides social benefits, but also brings many environmental benefits, as these two aspects are often tied together. Through the examination of both the environmental and social gains, this paper will argue that Fair Trade coffee production in Mexico is having a positive impact on both small scale producers, and on the communities as a

Finally, global economic issues have an immense influence on the world of coffee. Throughout history there has been a pattern that coffee producing countries are economically worse off than those that are consuming the coffee. Pendergrast mentions that “in 1950 the average income in consuming countries was three times that of coffee-growing nations. By the late 1960s it was five times great” (270). With that said, many producing coffee countries were facing endemics and malnourished peoples because workers were receiving absurdly low wages thus placing them into poverty and human suffering (271). Specifically, although 90 percent of El Salvador’s exports consisted of coffee in the 1930s, they agonized from “‘low wages, incredible filth…[under] conditions in fact not far removed from slavery’” (168). Global economic issues of these producing countries lead to dictators easily gaining power such as those in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras (170). Not only was politics a matter that resulted from global economic issues, “the high interest rates from financial institutions and price [squeezes]” lead to the economic struggle of farmers like those from Colombia due to

As far back as 1860, coffee had become the major export in Colombia (Equal Exchange). By the 1920s, however, the coffee industry in the country was undergoing difficult times as a result of unstable international market forces. Thus, coffee growers were not guaranteed a steady income. Out of these circumstances arose an

I feel as though since the coffee shop is locally owned they will have a solid reputation and have the loyalty of all the locals. Café Campesino currently works with 18 small farmer organizations in 9 distinct, coffee producing countries. Their trading partners are farmer cooperatives, local organizations founded and democratically governed by the farmers themselves. These trading partners include Bolivia, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, and Sumatra. There is a high demand for coffee. Statistics show that household ownership of single-cup brewers reached an all-time high of 27% in 2015, that is almost double of what is was in 2014. The younger generations are more likely to go out to purchase coffee than brew it their self. The coffee consumption for ages 18-39 is 45-46%. 34% of those drink at premium places such as Starbucks, Coffee Bean, and would also include Café Campesino, and the total amount of money spent on specialty coffee in the U.S is $18 billion dollars. Most purchased coffee certifications (exclusive purchase, regular, or occasional purchase) are organic at 25%, fair trade at 18%, and rainforest alliance at 16%. Coffee is typically wanted more in the mornings, but is also wanted throughout the day by some. There are many direct competitors such as Starbucks and Coffee Beans which are more specialty coffee shops such as Café Campesino. These coffee shops will have the same premium price as Café Campesino

Poverty, child labour, low wages, long working hours, no employments benefits and illiteracy caused by coffee industries in coffee growing communities due to increased demand of coffee farmer’s children are involved to do work hard with their parents to earn more and also remain illiterate.

In the movie “Black Gold”, the Ethiopian coffee farmers were getting a low cost for their harvested Ethiopian coffee. Farmers were forced to live a living standard below the average norm because of the unfair compensation. Despite the fact that more than two billion cups of coffee were getting consumed every day(“Black Gold”) and coffee’s retail sales have increased from $30 billion to $80 billion every year since 1990 (“Black Gold”), the farmers were still not getting enough to establish the lives that they deserve. The primary cause of this unfortunate occurrence was the fact that the four major companies (Kraft General Foods, Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, and Sara Lee) that hold the majority of the market shares of coffee controls the international price of coffee due to the lack of international regulation(“Black Gold”). Also, the

With the increase in demand of coffee within coffee drinkers globally, coffee has successfully ensured its place to become the world’s second largest commodity. (cite) Coffea, commonly known as the coffee plant, is the member of the Rubiaceae family (USDA 2015). While there are various species of the coffee plant, Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora are mostly grown. However, between them Coffea Arabica is considered to have greater quality and flavor. Brazil is known as the top manufacturer of coffee followed by countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Colombia, and Ethiopia (USDA 2014). The rising demand for coffee has amplified the dependence of the coffee industry on countries that grows coffee. Using pesticides on coffee fields seemed to be an ultimate solution for farmers who were hoping for maximum productivity of coffee. Pesticides are used in agriculture in order to protect plants from fungal diseases, pests, and insects that affect the growth of food crops. On the short run, using pesticides has an advantage as it increases the production and the quality of coffee. However, pesticide practices have detrimental impact on the environment, the quality and the amount of coffee manufactured, and the health of the farmers in the long run.

We all know that coffee is something essential in our daily and maybe we all used to have one of them when it is needed, but only a few of us know the trading process of coffee and how does it travel from the coffee tree to our paper cup. The article is mainly about the unfair trading in the coffee trading process and provided a idea called Fair Trade coffee, but even the Fair trade have some ethical issues.

Fair Trade Coffee Fair Trade promotes socially and environmentally sustainable techniques and long-term relationships between producers, traders and consumers The world coffee industry is in crisis. A flood of cheap, lower-quality coffee beans have pushed world market prices down to a 30-year low. Many now earn less for their crop than it cost them to grow. Many coffee farmers around the world receive market payments that are lower than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debtWithout urgent action, 25 million coffee growers' face ruin.

The film highlights the fact that coffee is the most valued word commodity, second to oil. The beginning of the film shows the process in which coffee is made- from bean harvesting by workers in Ethiopia who make next to nothing, through several intermediated stages, and into the market. Although we spend countless amounts of money on coffee without thinking twice, the price that coffee farmers who produce this commodity are getting paid, is disgustingly low. Some of them have even been forced to walk away from their fields. There is no better place to see this