(this post is a follow-along to a post I wrote about the problems with Fair Trade, see it here.)
Overall kindtrade score: Depends on the roasters
Overall affordability score: $$$$
The largest problem with the coffee supply chain is that it is looong. By the time you get your coffee, a chain of middle men has taken their cut without providing much value. My interest is in getting more money in the hands of farmers, especially farmers that produce their products in an environmentally responsible way. So today I’d like to look at one solution: Direct Trade coffee.
Coffee cherries
Three-degrees of separation: The Farmer. The Roaster. You.
Direct Trade, a term coined by Intelligentsia and Counter Culture Coffee, refers to roasters that buy coffee directly from growers. Direct Trade coffee prides itself on its high-quality, which allows it to charge a premium for its goods. This, in turn, has the potential to put more money into the pockets of growers. Some roasters make sure that they pay fair prices to the growers.
Pros:
- Direct Trade coffee is often extremely high-quality coffee.
- Direct Trade roasters often commit to paying farmers high prices.
- Direct Trade roasters often visit their farmers directly, which means that the roasters (and the consumers)—and not the farmers— bear the cost of auditing.
Cons:
- Direct Trade is not a centralized certification system, so each company has their own standards.
- Direct Trade coffee tends to be much higher than comparable gourmet coffees.
On the supply side, Direct Trade is based on trust between the farmers and the roasters. On the demand side, Direct Trade is based on trust between the roasters and the consumers. Cutting out an outside certification scheme saves roasters and farmers money. Consumers are still paying a premium for coffee, but this premium is based on the coffee’s high-quality, not based on paying middle men. Some examples of Direct Trade roasters are:
- For instance, Intelligentsia Coffee pays its growers 25% more than the Fair Trade price (in addition to several other criteria you can find on their site). Intelligentsia sources coffee from multiple regions around world and ensures its growers comply with regulations by making monthly visits to each of its sites.
- Counter Culture Coffee launched their own third party certification, which is based around personal & direct communication with farmers, fair & sustainable price paid to farmers (at least $1.60/lb for green coffee), exceptional cup quality, and supply chain transparency.
- The Direct Trade Coffee Club (DTCC) takes a little bit of a different approach. DTCC sources all of its coffee from the Huehuetenango region of Guatemala and each of its coffee blends comes with a short blurb about the individual grower. DTCC has a commitment to environmental and economic sustainability. Unlike Intelligentsia, DTCC doesn’t have a list of its environmental and economic criteria (however there might be one buried in its blog).
There are a number of other companies that call themselves Direct Trade. Direct Trade is usually high quality coffee with environmental and financial standards of accountability. Direct Trade coffee is only worth your buck if you a) value high-quality coffee and b) find a company whose standards match your own for what coffee sustainability should be.
Sources:
- Direct Trade: http://www.ethicalcoffee.net/direct.html
- NY Times profile on Direct Trade: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/dining/12coff.html?_r=0
kindtrade 
