Small roasters criticise Fairtrade as Starbucks goes ethical

Kudos on the fairtrade. Jeers on Starbucks stand against organized labor in the USA. They have fired several wobblies trying to organize in in several states.


http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2009/09/04/329704/small-roasters-criticise-fairtrade-as-starbucks-goes.html

Starbucks announced at the beginning of September that all espresso-based drinks in its British and Irish coffee-houses will be made from Fairtrade coffee, and announced to the marketing press that it would be embarking on a ‘multi-million pound’ billboard, poster and press campaign to reinforce its ethical values.

Curiously, at exactly the same time as Starbucks made its move, the Fairtrade Foundation came under criticism from British coffee roasters for increasing its administrative demands on them.

The Starbucks move is not a surprise – ever since Costa scored a great deal of attention with its poster campaign claiming that surveys had proved consumers enjoyed its coffee more than Starbucks, the trade has been waiting to see what the ‘green giant’ would do to fight back. Word had already leaked out through the beverage trade that the Fairtrade move was coming.

Starbucks will now become the biggest buyer of Fairtrade coffee in the world, doubling the amount of certified coffee it bought in 2008 to a new total of 40 million pounds.

Colman Cuff, chief coffee buyer for Starbucks, was in the UK to make the announcement, and was invited by Coffee House magazine to address one of the major complaints raised by the coffee trade – that there just is not sufficient Fairtrade-certified coffee is satisfactory quality available for Starbucks, never mind the rest of the hospitality industry.

He replied that Starbucks has worked to have more farms certified, to make enough supplies available. Farms from which it previously bought uncertified coffee have now been brought under the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation regulations, so he can effectively keep buying the same coffee, which now qualifies for the Fairtrade Mark.

“We have brought several new co-ops into Fairtrade – they were existing suppliers of ours, which is how we have managed to keep consistency of the blend and enough quantity.”

FULL story at link.