How Direct Trade is changing the Flow of Coffee

Direct Trade coffee

What is Direct Trade coffee?

Direct trade is a term used by coffee roasters who buy straight from the growers, cutting out both the traditional middleman buyers and sellers and also the organizations that control certifications such as Fair Trade and Bird Friendly, for example. Direct trade proponents say their model is the best because they build mutually beneficial and respectful relationships with individual producers or cooperatives in the coffee-producing countries. Some roasters do it because they are dissatisfied with the third-party certification programs, while others want to have more control over aspects ranging from the quality of the coffee, to social issues, or environmental concerns.

Some roasters use "direct trade" in more specific ways. The Chicago-based company Intelligentsia, which roasts coffee and sells it by mail, in addition to operating coffee shops, has trademarked the term Intelligentsia Direct Trade to promote its direct business relationships with growers. Counter Culture Coffee, another roaster, established in 2008 what it calls Counter Culture Direct Trade Certification. Like Fair Trade, Counter Culture sets a minimum price it pays, but it also establishes a quality standard. Also, unlike the Fair Trade certification, Counter Culture does not require growers to be part of a cooperative, a requirement that rankles some independent-minded, successful growers.

As proponents of sustainability we at findmecoffee consider the economics of trade as part of the considerations. Not only should coffee be grown responsibly it should be economically viable to the farmer. In saying that, are inferring that we would expect that a sustainable coffee plantation should provide a healthy living for the the farmer and his workers and not merely subsistance. My challenge to direct trade lobby is proving that the farmer is being paid well, and the the definition of paid well is an arbitrary measurement that should be a standard by which all other commodities are measured. 

In the coming months I'll be writing more about sustainable and direct trade coffee. I'll be reviewing and sharing with the readers some reviews of direct trade coffees that I have en route from farms around the world. Stay tuned as they say.  My next article will be a review of some direct trade coffees from Burundi and Ethiopia.