"With the organic and fair trade labels, companies just want to rip people off." "It's all just marketing," and "none of the extra costs ever reaches the small farmers anyway." Do these statements sound familiar? Surely.

People like to critically examine systems that force change. Are you right, or is fair trade coffee really fair? The impressive 6.7 percent of coffee that was fairly traded in Germany in 2019 speaks for the concept, but also shows that there is still potential for improvement.

In the following text, we take a closer look at fair trade coffee. We also examine the goals and visions pursued by the Fair Trade label and why choosing fair trade products is worthwhile.

What does Fair Trade coffee mean?

If you've already taken a closer look at the coffee industry, you'll certainly know what the term "fair" refers to. The origin of one of the world's most important economic goods unfortunately also means poor working conditions and environmentally harmful farming methods. A bitter aftertaste for people who not only want to enjoy their daily cup, but who, as consumers, are also fully aware of their responsibility to the environment and humanity.

This is what the cultivation of coffee fields looks like.

Fair Trade therefore aims to ensure that the production and trade of raw materials adhere to minimum standards based on the three essential pillars of sustainability:

• Ecological impact
• Economic impact
• Social impact

The criteria for a quality seal that recognizes fair coffee production can be diverse. Often, they require not only better working conditions for employees on the plantations, but also consider sustainability aspects. Examples include the avoidance of pesticides or the economical use of valuable resources such as water and energy.

Producers should receive a higher and more stable price for products produced "fairly" and be able to make a better living from their work. In return, consumers receive coffee that is free of pesticides or other chemicals.

But to what extent can we as coffee drinkers really make a difference?

Is Fair Trade coffee really fair?

When problems seem too distant and have no direct impact on our daily lives, our sense of responsibility diminishes. This is a fundamental challenge that humans have always grappled with. This phenomenon can be observed in both climate change and consumer behavior.

“Does it really make a difference if I drink fair trade coffee?”

In fact, the Fair Trade Coffee label is fighting on two fronts. On the one hand, there are the ideals we consumers have of the term "fair." On the other, there are the real conditions of the small farmers on the plantations, for whom every cent counts. Many consumers expect that the one euro they pay more for their Fair Trade coffee will go entirely to the small farmers. Unfortunately, this is not the case, which often leads to criticism. But is this criticism really justified?

Criticism or misconception of development work?

In reality, a "dilution" of subsidies along the supply chain is a completely natural occurrence. Many work steps and resources incur costs. For example, training plantation employees or alternative tools for smallholder farmers. The same applies to guaranteed minimum prices that coffee traders are required to pay to ensure farmers receive a fair wage. This is the reason why only a portion of the price premium we pay as customers can be passed on to the farmers. For them, however, the additional income from Fair Trade products is a significant part of their livelihood – even though not all of the additional sales are passed on to them.

So we should not allow the divergence between our ideas of perfect support for coffee farmers and what actually comes out at the other end of the supply chain to devalue our aid.

Every day, 2.5 billion cups of coffee are consumed worldwide—a gigantic amount. The German Coffee Association estimates that approximately 25 million people earn their living from coffee cultivation. So, contrary to criticism, we as consumers can make a huge contribution to improving the living conditions of smallholder farmers.

Fair trade coffee tastes even better.

If more fairness improves the living and working conditions of just a few farmers, our choice of fair trade coffee has long since paid off. However, we want some assurance that we, as consumers, aren't falling for a marketing campaign, but are actually making a difference through our product choices. We usually get this through transparent standards.

How are these standards verified?

Everything depends on trust in a seal. If the packaging states that we support people and the environment by consuming our favorite beverage, then this should be true.

For this reason, certification bodies establish independent audit bodies to verify the sustainability and fairness of products. The audit body for awarding the Fair Trade seal is the certification company FLOCERT . It regularly and on-site audits ensure compliance with the established standards issued by Fairtrade itself. Transparency is the highest priority here, which is why the underlying conditions are accessible at any time. Below you will find some of them:

• Fairtrade Standard for Small Farmers' Organizations
• Fairtrade Standard for wage-earning workers
• Statement on pesticide use under Fairtrade conditions
• Fairtrade Trader Standard

For example, the prohibition of child labor, democratic structures within organizations, regulated working conditions and fair remuneration of employees are examined.

Fair trade involves a lot of effort, which inevitably raises another question:

Would “fair trade” work without a seal?

In principle, there are certainly producers and retailers who ensure that sustainability is practiced along the value chain, even without having to meet the criteria of a seal. As consumers, we rarely have the opportunity to understand in detail whether this is actually the case behind the scenes.

Even if you buy your vegetables at the market, where the farmer personally sells them on weekends, you have no way of knowing which fertilizers are used in their farming. The situation is even more opaque with coffee plantations, usually in distant countries. We know very little about the working conditions, the prices paid by their buyers, and the general sustainability along the supply chain.

This is precisely where certification bodies aim to create transparency by awarding quality seals. They go to great lengths to ensure what we, as conscious coffee lovers, desire: to be able to enjoy a product that has been traded fairly, both to people and to nature. Therefore, a seal on coffee or any other Fair Trade product is essential.

Fair trade coffee is a choice, not a compromise

Every new system initially faces headwinds, but at the same time, it often holds great potential for improvement. In the case we describe, for both people and the environment.

As consumers, we have control over how sustainably we want to enjoy our coffee every day. It's neither a question of taste, which, like everything else, can vary from producer to producer, nor a question of price. Even the price of non-fair trade coffee can often be higher than that of a Fair Trade product. It's simply the simple decision to preserve enjoyment not at the expense of the producers, but for their benefit.

The 6.7 percent of Fair Trade coffee in Germany in 2019 shows that Fair Trade food is on a positive upward spiral. Fortunately, we all know how we can continue to actively support this positive development – ​​with another cup of delicious Fair Trade coffee .

Cover photo by Katya Austin. Additional photos by Ilyuza Mingazowa and Tim Mossholder.

About the editorial team