Fair Trade is a different way of trading that promotes a fair and equitable exchange of goods and services between consumers and producers. Fair Trade values the work of producers and cares about their well-being. Fair Trade also respects consumers and takes into account their economic realities. While conventional trade focuses mainly on short-term profit, altogether disregarding humans and the environment in which we live, Fair Trade offers us a concrete opportunity to promote durable and sustainable development.
Coffee is among the ten most valuable trade commodities in the world.
More than 20 million people worldwide depend on coffee production for their livelihood. Conventional coffee trade well illustrates a too common trading pattern between rich and poor countries. While most coffee consumers live in developed countries, the majority of coffee producers live in underdeveloped or developing nations. This is not to say that drinking coffee is bad. By switching from conventional coffee to fair trade coffee, each one of us can continue to brew our daily cup of coffee while giving coffee workers a chance to escape a vicious circle of poverty and alienation.