Fair Trade: Are Our Coffees “Fair Trade”?

Text: Isabelle Huard

We’re often asked whether our coffees are fair trade. The question actually assumes we’re talking about certified fair trade coffees —meaning that the producers and cooperatives we buy from have obtained a certification, issued by a specific organization, for the coffees they grow. It would also mean that we ourselves have received a certification giving us the right to state that we roast and sell certified fair trade coffees. The proliferation of certifications and logos over the past few decades has created confusion among consumers, who find it hard to make sense of them.

That’s why, before answering the question, it’s worth giving a short overview of certification and defining the term “fair”, since its appropriation and use as a trademark have led to a skewed understanding of what it really means.

The beginnings of fairer international trade

Alternatives to traditional trade, which is generally built on unequal relationships, have existed for a long time. Various initiatives emerged as early as the 1930s, but the dominant international “fair trade” certification system —Fairtrade International (FLO), with its many branches and labels— was officially created in 1997. The organization’s main goals: better prices paid to producers, better working conditions and fairer terms of trade. Setting a minimum price for products was certainly a huge step forward, one that would shake principles that had dictated trade between the Global North and South for decades, even centuries. Coffee is the emblem of this socially engaged trade, but other industries —cocoa, sugar, cotton, flowers and gold, to name just a few— have also seen their share of the fair trade market grow.

Limits and criticisms of fair trade

While FLO presents itself as a non-profit organization, its certification body, FLOCERT, which it claims is independent, is not. For a producer, entering the fair trade market means paying for certification, as well as annual fees to maintain it and for the FLOCERT audits that ensure all standards are met. Needless to say, this market is almost out of reach for many small producer organizations that are struggling to make ends meet. Moreover, the many requirements that must be met to obtain certification don’t always take into account the different realities of producers, who are more often than not excluded from the negotiating table. On paper, the organization’s mission is noble, but in practice it is no longer the priority. A large share of the profit goes to administration and marketing for the bureaucratic machine FLO has become over the years; as you might suspect, it is rather in Bonn, at FLOCERT’s headquarters, or in the offices of the various national branches that the benefits of the “conscientious purchase” certified by the logos on various products are enjoyed. What’s more, the arrival of large retailers (Costco, Walmart, etc.) and the market share they hold raise many questions.

Indeed, FLO’s dependence on large retail chains calls the integrity of the system deeply into question. For many producers, the organization strayed from its founding mission long ago and lowered its standards in order to attract these multinationals. While producers have an exhaustive list of criteria to meet to be part of the fair trade market, importers and distributors have very few requirements to satisfy. Fairtrade International’s “fair” system is yet another expression of the unequal relationship between consuming countries, where fair trade standards are negotiated, and producer organizations, on whom these standards are imposed.

The pressure exerted by these multinationals has not only contributed to lower standards, but also to lower prices and a blatant loss of transparency and traceability. Shouldn’t we ask ourselves some questions when we find, on Walmart’s shelves next to Nescafé, Maxwell House and Folgers, bags of certified fair trade —and even organic— coffee from a company called Ethical Bean Coffee —with a name like that, it must be ethical coffee…— priced at $8.97 for 227 g? On the company’s website, there’s a touching story about a couple who discovered Guatemala and coffee while waiting to adopt their daughter. You only have to dig a little to discover that since 2018, Ethical Bean Coffee has been owned by Kraft-Heinz, the American food giant that also owns Maxwell House… The dots connect quickly.

The arrival of these multinationals in the fair trade arena casts doubt on the integrity of the FLO model and, more seriously, on its legitimacy.

Our vision of fairness

The Larousse dictionary defines fair trade as “trade based on North-South solidarity, with consumers in the North agreeing to buy goods at prices that allow producers in the South to improve their living and working conditions, while promoting sustainable development”. This definition captures well what we are trying to achieve with our various exporting and importing partners. We are in the specialty coffee industry out of love for coffee, of course, but above all for the human relationships we build. Knowing that our work can help improve people’s working and living conditions drives us to keep doing better. It isn’t perfect yet, but we are working hard to improve our green coffee buying practices.

We know that the price of commodity coffee, negotiated by disconnected brokers on the New York stock exchange, is outrageous and helps keep producers in poverty, on the edge of food insecurity; that the minimum set by FLO is far from enough for them to live decently and reinvest in their businesses; and that the organization’s practices are questionable and lack transparency. On the other hand, we make sure our coffees are bought with a commitment to fairness and solidarity. We choose to work with exporters and importers who share our vision and who are involved with their producer partners; we choose to be completely transparent about our coffee purchases (see The Pledge); we are always seeking to learn more about the realities of the people who grow the coffees we buy. In short, we put people at the heart of our decisions, at every step of the process, always with a view to sustainable development and a fairer distribution of wealth —and telling ourselves we can always do better.

The São Luiz farm in Brazil, where our Joyeux Roger is grown