Fair Trade Coffee

Subsequent to the release of the Exposure Draft issued by the FASB and IASB in June 2010 the Boards received a number of comments and is currently reviewing and analyzing these comments. A revised draft of the Exposure Draft is expected in Q3 of 2011. We encourage users of this case study to follow this project and review the FASB’s and IASB’s Web site for updates.

As is common with students, I often joke that my day hasn’t begun until I’ve had my first cup of coffee. The savoury scent of this black gold warms my bones and lifts my spirits, once I’ve had my dose; I’m ready to take on the day! Until recently, I never considered my impact, as a consumer,on global-trade. As far as I was concerned, my daily Starbucks was merely getting me through the day. However, recent analysis has opened my eyes. It’s taught me that my role as an agent to development is more influential than I originally anticipated.

In Columbia, there are numerous industries. Most of them are natural ones such a coffee growing or sugar cane. Columbia is developing new forms of sustainable growing practices for their primary crops, as it not only benefits the environment, but also the profits of the major agricultural companies. These are beneficial for the environment because instead of tearing down beautiful forests to put up a building, the sustainable farming methods are helping to preserve the forests while increasing the quantity of crops of coffee and sugar cane. While organizations are working to improve sustainability, an already existing issue exists, a lack of workers. Although Columbia may be facing challenges such as a lack of workers,

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”.

insights which have been neglected by the later literature of new growth theory and new trade

Logos are emblems or graphic marks used by enterprises and organizations worldwide to promote public recognition. From Target’s red bullseye to Nike’s prominent swoosh, logos catch our eye and provide us with a way to connect particular symbols to their respective companies. The Fair Trade Certified logo embodies the beliefs promoted by Fair Trade USA. Fair Trade USA is devoted to enhancing the lives of those who are in poverty and helping farmers in many third-world around the globe earn reasonable wages for their hard work. Fair Trade products are described as “socially and environmentally sustainable.”

Being an entirely fair trade company means Just Us pays its suppliers from so-called “third world” countries a fair price, including a premium for social welfare, gets into long-term contracts (equal or more then a harvest cycle) with them skipping middlemen who often absorb most of the margin and offers them additional benefits e.g. pre-payment and loans. “The

We will also use this year to partner with the company, Fair Trade USA. Committed to the rise of the conscious consumer, Fair Trade USA, rewards companies that create opportunities, are innovative, empower, and have and impact on the community as that is what we intend on doing. THE MIDDLE, intends to use its new location as a way to:

Surprisingly, there are only a few hundred sustainable certification programs in the world. Many of them are in the food industry. They often focus on sustainable production of food and social justice for employees or businesses in developing nations that trade with developed nations, such as the coffee industry. One of the best known and earliest such programs is the Fairtrade standards developed in the 1980s by a Dutch development agency working with Mexican farmers.

Fair trade is a movement that strives for fair treatment for farmers and it’s main goal is to reduce poverty in the developing nations. Fair trade strives for social justice and Brewing Justice analyzes indigenous coffee farmers in Oaxaca, Mexico to see if the fair trade is an important movement for the farmers. We are brought into the households of workers to see the social movements, economic and cultural survival, and environmental effects of fair trade. Author Daniel Jaffee spent months deep in Mexico to see how Fair Trade affected the coffee crops of societies and shares stories of his experiences to help support his claim that Fair Trade is not a solution to the growing numbers of families in poverty who grow coffee.

Personally, I have not heard of many organizations introduced to me, but I would like to know more about some of them. I would like to know more about “Fair Trade.” According to Kelsey Fair Trade is that, “A portion of every Fair Trade sale goes directly back to the organization’s designated community development fund, which allows members to vote democratically on how to use the premium. Fair Trade certification is earned by the groups of farmers, generally organized into cooperatives that have met a long list of social and environmental guidelines. These guidelines facilitate sustainable development while ensuring that a higher price, a fair price, is paid to the farmers in return for the improvements.” (Timmerman 52). I know a basic understanding of Fair Trade Certification, but I would like to know more. Another thing that I would love to know more about is the people actually risking their lives to get my food. Before reading this book, I did not quite understand the difficulties the farmers, divers, etc actually went through just to make a small living. Being a consumer means that we don’t have to go through those difficulties, so since that is I would like to learn much more about those farmers and their lives

Gerald, thank you for a great and informative article! Your biblical references are enlightening and help bring the subject into focus. Starbucks ethical sourcing is also aimed at stakeholder interests. 51% of the Millennial Generation said they would pay more for sustainable products such as Starbucks (Horovitz, 2015). Your analysis that enlightened self-interest is a reality is true, and it’s a key to long-term value and company performance.

Fair Trade’s consumer recognition has tripled in the last five years, proving the company’s sustainability in a global market. As of today, this organization works with more than 800 companies to verify more than 6,000 products as Fair Trade. In 2009, Fair Trade Certified products generated $1.2 billion in retail sales, indicating their large-scale business practices.

From the graph, cocoa farmers are severely underpaid. Under the fairtrade agreement, farmers can now receive a fair price for their cocoa. Whittaker’s has two fairtrade agreements for their dark chocolate, allowing them to paint an ethical picture of their company. This would attract consumers who are concerned about the origins of their food. (Lindsay

Americans, and the rest of the Western world, for that matter, often eat and drink—and really, perform daily activities—without thinking about where their products come from. Hundreds of millions of Americans drink a beverage every morning, but there is a certain tendency to overlook why and how the tea or coffee got in their cup. It is common for those who live in affluent countries to just buy what they think is a good brand—a name brand, like Twining’s, for example—because the has a long history of producing quality tea, and if it is available, why not drink quality tea? The problem with this sort of senseless consumerism is that often these companies, especially companies as big and popular as Twining’s, care more about profit than anything else. Twining’s ethical situation should be called into question because it buys tea from ethically questionable sources; their website and informational sources provide a different story than human rights reports, and while the environmental factors of their tea production are an issue, the social ramifications of their tea production are far greater.