How Fair is Fair Trade?How Fair is Fair Trade?How Fair is Fair Trade?How Fair is Fair Trade?
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Olivia Sykes
Sustainable Supply Chain Analyst

A dive into the idea that fair-trade has 'run its course', and looking into the alternative ways to source your coffee.

 
 
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Coffee is a non-negotiable staple in my day! I spend a lot of time in local coffee shops and had a conversation with an owner of one recently which challenged a belief of mine. He told me he didn’t believe in the fair-trade Certification and that none of the coffees at his cafe were fair-trade. Weird. I had spent years prioritising fair-trade bananas, chocolate and coffee, spending the little extra, on the basis that I thought I was doing good. Apparently, there are many layers to that ‘good’, some of which are not so ‘good’, and methods in which I can be doing it ‘better’.

 

Fair-trade started in response to the worries of Mexican coffee farmers following the collapse of world coffee prices in the late 1980s. The concept of fair-trade is that it pays producers an above-market “fair trade” price provided they meet specific labour, environmental and production standards with the main objective to reduce poverty. It has a rigorous model for all kinds of products, ensuring producers meet these standards, from which they then receive a certification to slap on their packaging to attract consumers like me. However, this model has never been updated since it was implemented, meaning a loss in development. Around the world, 25 million smallholders produce 70-80 percent of the world's coffee, however, coffee drinkers like me are paying additional fair-trade cost that is not going directly to growers, but are used to maintain cooperatives and the fair-trade model that growers participate in.

 

Don’t get me wrong, the idea and motivation behind fair-trade is fantastic. It has drawn amazing attention to the inequalities and difficulties for coffee bean farmers, among other commodities, and facilitated immense development, but my coffee shop informant believes it has run its course and there are more ethical ways to get a coffee, without it being fair-trade now. My research supports this.

 

Small scale roasters and coffee shops doing small scale business with small scale farmers is the most ethical way to consume that cup of coffee. In a study of 12 research sites in Ethiopia and Uganda, it was found that non-fair-trade certified farms paid better wages and provided better working conditions than fair-trade certified farms. The direct trade cut out the middlemen (and their wages), gave the farmers more autonomy over their pricing as they could access global bean prices, allowing them to decide to market themselves fairly individually, and gave the roasters and coffee shops quality beans. This method is not flawless, in a farming market where climate change is making bean harvests considerably less predictable, it does leave farmers with less certainty than they’d receive being part of the fair-trade team. It also puts the onus on the roasters to find and build a relationship with farmers, a mammoth task when dealing with remote locations in Papua New Guinea, for example. However, these are issues that my coffee shop friend has managed to work with and still very strongly believes this is the most ethical way in which he can be a coffee lover and an ethical guy at the same time.

 

My part to play in this has recently totally changed and it isn’t as complicated as going to Ethiopia to pick my own beans (which would also bring up a whole new problem for how I reduce my carbon footprint). I choose local coffee shops, every time. Those independent cafes care about their product and they’ve done the hard yards, so I don’t have to. When I’m at home using a coffee machine, I have a choice for the beans I use in that. Admittedly, the supermarket is the easiest place to pick up some fair-trade beans and was previously on my weekly grocery list. Instead, I spent time looking into buying them directly from a local, small scale roaster (which is actually also much better coffee) who has developed and maintained long term and fair relationships with their farmers.

 

My non-negotiable staple has not been compromised but ethically, instead of being ‘good’, it is now ‘better’.

 

https://ftepr.org/publications/#publication-563

 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/10-reasons-fair-trade-coffee-doesnt-work_b_5651663

 

https://www.javapresse.com/blogs/buying-coffee/fair-trade-vs-direct-trade-coffee

 

https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/farmers-and-workers/coffee/

 
 
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      Setting science-based emissions reduction targets consistent with Paris agreement-aligned pathways is how your organisation moves closer to net zero. We’ll help you establish your current baseline, then help you set the targets (including Scope 3) that give your actions direction and purpose.

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      For any large organisation, reporting your Scope 1 & 2 emissions is a regulatory requirement. You meet that requirement by making a Streamlined Energy & Carbon Reporting (SECR) statement part of your annual report.

      Our experts can help you with that – and they can help you go further. Our simple, powerful dashboards will make understanding your carbon footprint easy (whether you’re required to report on it or not). And when you want to take the next step in understanding your indirect (Scope 3) emissions, we’ll help you do that too.

      Talk to a TBL expert

      Reporting & Frameworks

      Reporting the environmental and social impact of your business is an essential part of governance, openness and transparency, but with so many frameworks, it can be difficult to know which should demand your focus.

      Our experts will help you meet the mandatory requirements of regulatory frameworks like SECR. They’ll help you prepare for soon-to-be-mandatory frameworks such as the Task Force on Climate-related Finance Disclosure (TCFD).

      And when you’re exploring new, voluntary accreditations with ESG, DJSI or Sustainalytics, or want to improve your ranking with a supply chain framework such as EcoVadis or Support the Goals, they’ll help you choose the framework best suited to your business, boost your rating and gain the badges.

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      If we’re to create a more sustainable world, everyone needs the skills and understanding to be able to play their part.

      Every day, our advisers are helping senior teams understand sustainability within their organisation. They’re teaching suppliers to buy more sustainably or building the skills of new in-house sustainability managers. And they’re helping your employees become more carbon literate so they understand what carbon is and the personal difference they can make in work and at home.

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      For compliance. To meet the standards of a ratings agency. Or simply to show you’re a responsible business. When you need the right sustainability policies and standards, we’ll help you develop ones that are engaging, easy to understand and relevant to your business.

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      • Formal sustainability reporting
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      • Social media
      • Building sustainability into your brand

      Talk to a TBL expert

       

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      You know you need a sustainability strategy – but what next? What’s right for the size and nature of your business? And how can you ensure it drives the right actions?

      We’ll help you set a strategy that’s robust and comprehensive because it uses the Global Goals as a framework. And we’ll ensure it’s a good ‘fit’ for your organisation, helping you align people, planet and profit.

      Talk to a TBL expert

       

      Social Impact

      Your social impact is the effect your organisation has on people and communities as a result of its activities and policies.

      You’ll already be doing good things in your community. Measuring the effect of your charitable work, volunteering, community outreach projects and more is important because it’s how you explain the difference you’ve made to your employees, customers and investors.

      We help you understand how to measure and improve your social impact.

      Talk to a TBL expert

       

      Supply Chain

      Almost 90% of your environmental and social impact exists not in your operations, but in the goods and services you buy from your suppliers. So if you want to make a real impact with your sustainability efforts, your supply chain needs to be involved. Our advisers can help. They will:

      • Help you understand more about your supply chain and the risks and opportunities it presents
      • Profile and assess suppliers so you have a baseline from which to work and can measure improvement
      • Work with you to develop supplier codes of conduct to compel your supply chain to support your sustainability efforts
      • Educate your suppliers on ways to improve

      Talk to a TBL expert

       

      Marketing & Communications

      You’ve done great things. Now you need to share them. Communicating your successes is a powerful PR boost for your brand. It’s often a simple way to improve your ratings framework score. And it can help others to understand the importance of the work you’re doing and inspire them to get involved.

      Our brand, marketing and communications specialists will help you spread the word with a standalone sustainability report that brings all your ESG efforts together in one document. In addition, we can help you with:

      • Formal sustainability reporting
      • Video content
      • Dedicated web page development
      • Social media
      • Building sustainability into your brand

      Talk to a TBL expert