The One Cup Project was borne out of a desire, no, a call, to help people. To help people less able to help themselves because of geography, climate, governments or disease.
If you are here, on our website, reading this blog, chances are very good that you have the same desire within your hearts too.
So, when we receive emails asking about how our coffees were grown, picked and produced, we get it. You want to make sure that the coffee you choose did not get to you on the backs of those very people that we want to help. Neither do we.
Fair Trade Coffee is a governing mechanism to provide the farmers with a minimum price for their coffee. That price is currently $1.40 per pound. We currently pay more than double this price. Fair Trade has become a buzzword. The organization itself makes it very difficult for small roasters to participate. In addition, a percentage that is paid for “Fair Trade” goes actually to a company called TransFair USA to promote the idea of Fair Trade, so not all the money goes to the farmer.
Direct Trade is a direct relationship between a roaster and a farm, cutting out any middle men. The farmers therefore receive more for their crops and a direct link between farm and consumer is created.
I can tell you that the coffees that we use are not child slave labor coffees, nor are they from farms where workers are exploited. The green bean company that we purchase our other (not direct trade) coffee, is a very hands-on, socially minded company. The owner and his team travel to the farms to develop relationships. They help the farmers improve their farms and their lives. They would not buy coffees that exploited anyone. You can check them out at www.atlascoffee.com
Please don’t get us wrong. We are not bashing Fair Trade. They have done an outstanding job of bringing awareness to the issues that are prevalent with any crop that is grown in a third world country – whether it is coffee, cocoa, bananas, mangoes, pineapples or sugarcane.
What we are saying is that while we are working to bring you more TransFair Certified coffees, none of our coffees are grown or produced in a manner that would exploit or harm anyone. FairTrade is great, Direct Trade is even better, and rest assured that all of our coffees are fairly traded whether or not they carry one of these monikers.
Now, having explained all that, we invite you take a look at our Direct Trade and Certified Fair Trade offerings. We have certified coffees from all different regions and with all different flavor profiles. Enjoy!