Fair Trade Coffee...?

 Nami

 

 

              Today I would like to discuss about fair trade coffee. I always think if the fair trade truly following its purpose. This system sounds quite skeptical to me in some ways. First, it is skeptical because of its name, “Fair Trade”. It makes me think that there are trades which are not fair. If this trade is called “fair”, then what is “Unfair Trade”? It suggests all other coffee is just unfair and exploitative. It may sounds quibbling to you, but nowadays I often hear about fair trade coffee and every time I hear, it makes me think like this.

According to Fair Trade International (FLT), Fair trade is an alternative approach to conventional trade and is based on a partnership between producers and consumers. Fair trade offers producers a better deal and improved terms of trade (Fair Trade International. 2011). This allows them the opportunity to improve their lives and plan for their future. Fair trade offers consumers a powerful way to reduce poverty through their every-day shopping.

Of course it is more “fair” to share the benefit than just one get the most of it, however, you cannot define what the fair and it may lead the trade, that one get more benefit, to “unfair trade”. This is why I think this name is improper for this kind of trades. How about “Charity trade”? This makes more sense and I could see a incongruity in economic sense.

             But there is a reason why it is called as it is right now. It is to oppose the globalization by using the word “fair” (Rionaoki, 2011). This is why it sounds skeptical to people who are for the globalization, just like me.

However, not only people who are the side of globalization, but also people who are into coffee or addicted to coffee are against this “fair trade”. It is because the quality wouldn’t be improved by the cost of coffee in this system. The fans of coffee want the higher quality, of course. So it is better for producer to work harder on the higher quality coffee and earn much more benefit than when they do in “fair trade”. People who prefer to pick “fair trade coffee” and think it is fair are usually avoiding picking higher quality coffee merely because they regard as they are not fair. This, I think, just makes the demand of good coffee lower and lower.

I am not stating fair trade brings about negative things. But I believe it is best to buy the highest quality of coffee you can afford so that these kids of coffee remain at good demand. Buying high cost one makes the more moves of money and the more effort they put to make coffee better and better.

This matter still remains as a big topic to discuss. And what this post says is just the starter of this issue. I would love to discuss more deeply about this topic some time at this blog.

 

 

 

 

Reference

 

Fairtrade International. (2011). What is fairtrade?.

Retrieved from http://www.fairtrade.net/what_is_fairtrade.html

 

Rionaoki. (2011). Fair trade coffee. Retrieved from http://rionaoki.net/2010/04/3908