Why Not a Full Commitment to Fair Trade?

Published November 07, 2008 @ 06:17PM PT

In discussing the Starbucks' decision with Dean Cycon of Dean's Beans, he brought up an issue in his response that I had been wondering myself. Dean had thrown out the question to Starbucks: Why aren't you ninety or one hundred percent Fair Trade? I asked the same question to my friend when I first heard the news about Starbucks and he offered the response that if Starbucks was all Fair Trade, then it would potentially make it harder for smaller Fair Trade coffee companies to compete. That conclusion left me with an unsettling feeling, so I asked Dean to offer his take on it. Here was his response:

Since my early days as a Founder of Coffee Kids in the late 1980's, I have always asked the question "what would it be like if coffee companies simply paid a fair price for all of their beans? I have never met a farmer who said he or she would be hurt by receiving a higher price for a terribly underpriced commodity. Besides a few wacky right wing faux-economists, nobody in their right mind can make an argument how paying somebody what their labor and product is worth can be harmful. The only thing that would suffer if Starbucks went seriously Fair Trade is their egregious profit margin. Starbucks is currently closing underperforming stores. What they fail to tell people is that their definition of underperforming is a store that has less than a twenty percent profit margin. In other words, they are closing stores and firing people in situations many of us would be happy to be in from a profit point of view. Starbucks is so overly concerned with uber-profit that it blinds them to taking any real responsibility for what they actually do on the ground and in the lives of the farmers. Starbucks is the coffee industry's version of Lehman Brothers.

What is stopping Starbucks from going 100% Fair Trade? What argument can be made against offering coffee farmers a fair wage for the labor that they put into their work? Anyone from Starbucks want to answer that?

[image credit Jasmin Chua, at www.worstedwitch.com]

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Comments (4)

While I admire those who buy fair trade and those businesses who sell fair trade, I would like to see NAFTA amended so that it includes protections for small farmers and less of a monopoly by the large distributors on the market price. I think legislation is the way to go in protecting those that supply us with the luxuries that we enjoy, such as coffee, or strawberries in winter. I also think it wuld help the U.S. gain respect from its southern neighbors. Selling/buying fairtrade certainly sends a message and the more that buy, the bigger the message.

Posted by Stacy Montgomery on 11/08/2008 @ 07:35AM PT
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I wanted to make a comment in favor of Starbucks. They recently sent 10,000 managers to New Orleans to assist in the housing projects there, even totally remodeling one family's home in a day. I have a nephew who was sent and he said it was a life changing experience.
In regards to the Fair Trade issue; I personally think that Fair Trade should be one of the first and top priorities when the new administration is in place. Let us all trust that the citizens of the United States can and will work together for the good of our great Nation.

Posted by Jean McGee on 11/08/2008 @ 10:28AM PT
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Stacy, I agree with you on reforming NAFTA, and all Free Trade Agreements in general. The reason that the Fair Trade movement has come about is because the Free Trade model has failed. In order to solve the bigger picture, there needs to be reform in the global economy, starting with the way trade agreeements. That is one of the things that the new Obama Administration should focus on.

In terms of your comment, Jean. I definitely agree that Starbucks is moving in the right direction. I just read Howard Schultz's, CEO of Starbucks, recent statement on better corporate social responsibility. They recognize that it is necessary, now it is their job to really follow through on it, especially with their trade relations with their coffee growers.

Thanks to you both for reading the blog and offering your insight and opinion.
Zarah

Posted by Zarah Patriana on 11/10/2008 @ 07:09AM PT
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NAFTA is stupid period. We possess some of the best and most capable farm land in the world right here. Why would you place in the hands of foreign agencies so much control over food that you eat, that your children eat? Are you tards oblivious to the recent issues with contaminated produce from Mexico, and America, ect.? It suprises me that you probably all just love your dasani and aqua fina, but would just giggle with deight over the ability to purchase a tomato from costa rica treated with all natural paraquat, DDT or just feces. Do you all hate this country so much that you would destroy its ability to be self sustaining? Do you think opec is a tad unfair sometimes with the way they manipulate oil prices, well just wait and see what happens when you give all of these countries controlling interest over the produce you eat. $8.00 per tomato, whoopie, cant wait. You know one more thing about the oxymoron of free trade and nafta is the only ones benefitting are the commodities brokers, transportation industry and the scumbag politicians paid off to go along. Oh yes and another thing since all of this free trade has been going on I am trying to find out what I am paying less for? Can you spell hoodwinked or maybe we can start small with fooled?

Posted by Robert Harris on 11/12/2008 @ 07:24PM PT
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Author

Zarah is the Operations Manager for the Global Exchange Fair Trade Online Store, a project of the international human rights organization, Global Exchange. Alongside her work with marginalized communities from all over the world to get their products into the international market, Zarah serves to educate and inform the public about a more just and sustainable trading system.