Fair trade
Three companies contacted for this ar-
ticle have established their own means of
paying fair prices for their green beans.
Sustainable Harvest, an importer based
in Portland, Ore., makes sure Garcia gets
a good rate. "Sustainable Harvest is one
of the few importers that really is com-
mitted to help the crisis of the farmers,"
Garcia told STiR. "We don't work with
the "C" future price. We negotiate the
price based on quality, traceability, and
history. We do not just sell coffee, we sell
coffee with values and history.
"This model helps us negotiate and
set a price for the year until the next har-
vest," he said. "Our working relationship
with Sustainable Harvest is based on re-
spect, trust, and transparency," he said.
At Sustainable Harvest, the majority of transactions are fair trade, either Fairtrade
Internationand certified or Fair Trade USA, says chief coffee officer Jorge Cuevas.
Cuevas cited opacity, the industry's "black box of information" that prevents some
farmers from getting better prices. "The more information you have about the supply
chain always will shed some light on the situation," he said, adding, "Fair trade remains
one of the most powerful tools to provide a better price for producers."
There are 17.7 million small-scale coffee growers worldwide. Half of the 1.6 million
fair trade certified farmers and workers grow coffee. Fairtrade International only certi-
fies coffee cooperatives, not private coffee estates.
Culling beans on a drying bed at
Abakundakawa Cooperative, a Sustain-
able Harvest partner in Rwanda.
Photo
by
Sustainable
Harvest
Coffee
Importers/Clay
Enos
Photo
by
Sustainable
Harvest
Coffee
Importers/Bryan
Clifton
