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==== Fair Trade Notes ====


A place to accumulate a few notes about fairness, sustainability and the knowledge that these things are happening.

===Documentation===

The Fair Trade certification and other fairness labels are, to put it mildly, often a form of advertising and not actually meaningful. Other certifications are quite possibly better. Feral Trade is, as I understand it, a way around this by avoiding labels and using relationships to really know what is going on.

Other documentation systems exist. Some are listed below. Some [[http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/drink/coffeeshops.aspx|services]] try to work out ways of mixing all these factors together to work out what you might want to choose. Some other services seem to be a bit odd, like the [[http://rankabrand.org/coffee-brands/Lavazza|Rankabrand]] system that seems to put Nescafe up high, or the Australian [[http://guide.ethical.org.au/company/?company=336|Shop Ethical]] site that uses Rankabrand and otherwise seems a bit simplistic.

==Rainforest Alliance==
No fee for the purchaser, but the farmers still need to get certified.

Apparently RA emerged first as a wood and thus forest protection group. So there may be more interest in landscape protection, but they [[http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/work/agriculture/coffee|claim]] also to have strong social actions, education and training.

An [[http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2004/nov/24/foodanddrink.shopping1|article]] outlining some of the issues that pertain in the UK. RFA is mentioned as a lower cost certification.

==Welt Laden==

An Austrian system started in the 1970s. Apparently (still being investigated) organisations can apply to have their products deemed appropriate for the group. This involves a certain amount of documentation, but should not be "too complicated" - let's see.

==EZA==

[[http://www.eza.cc/start.asp?id=226249|EZA]] seems to be the Austrian parent company on the Welt Laden.

===Nondocumentation===

There are a number of products that are (quite possibly) in some sense Fair Trade but are not labelled as such.

==Illy Coffee==
Illy claims to pay its farmers 30% premiums, share education and training and invest in local social practices. They do not advertise this because of some of the folowing reasons
  * They think it is unethical to advertise their ethics, 
  * FT is fashionable and will pass, 
  * the reasons they are doing it is not to gain market share, but to offer a better product.
  * Fair Trade priducts are interchangable, Illy forms partnerships with growers
  * Fair Trade certification costs money, from prucers as well as purchasers. That money should go to the farmers!

[[http://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/mittelstand/kaffeespezialist-illy-wir-machen-keine-geschaefte-mit-der-nachhaltigkeit/3378760.html|Article]] in Handelsblatt (in German)

[[http://qz.com/169047/why-illy-will-never-sell-fair-trade-coffee/ | Quartz]] article about it.

Some [[http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/why-i-will-never-buy-illy-coffee.html | notes]] from someone who still doesn't trust Illy.


==Lavazza==

Is the largest Italian coffee manufacturer. They have some ethically labelled products, using the Rainforest Alliance system.

==Segafreddo Coffee==

Segafraddo owns and operates its plantations. So it is not buying in an open market, can control the standards of pay and other compensations, etcetera. ([[http://www.segafredo.com.au/Sustainability.aspx|Australian website]])

[[http://www.segafredo.at/de/produkte/linea-bar-fur-die-gastronomie/fairtrade-produkte/reinster-genuss-faires-geschaft.html|Claim]] to have much higher wages in the own plantations in Brazil. They also [[http://www.segafredo.com.au/sustainability/fairtrade//claim]] to be using traditional, labour intensive methods to offer more employment, as well as talking about schooling.

[[http://www.puccinosworldwide.com/puccinos_fair_trade_coffee_shop_franchise.asp|Other]] players seem to believe their story, but these guys are a franchise too, so...