Fairtrade Foundation: “The value of Fairtrade coffee”

Bean to Cup: The Real Value of Fairtrade Coffee Written by Kate Lewis, Fairtrade Foundation My visit to the coffee farmers of Cepicafe and Cecovasa… it was so many things – eyeopening, educational and inspiring. If every consumer could take the journey I took, we would value our daily cups of coffee even more. To get the coffee beans in our cups the journey is long, involving many steps, many people, thousands of miles and lots of hard work. The lives of coffee farmers in such remote areas are hard to imagine. Fairtrade has helped them to change their own lives and build strong futures for their businesses. Belonging to co-ops gives them access to markets worldwide and training in coffee production, and investment in machinery for better, higher yields. The machinery above is a good example. Farmers bought this new coffee sorting machine to replace the manual equipment used by many farmers in the area, making it much easier and faster to sort their beans. ‘Fairtrade is the best thing that could happen to small producers because besides having better prices, they have better living conditions. They also have better self esteem and they value themselves as producers. Now, to be a producer, is something to be proud of.’ Javier, General Manager, Sol y Cafe/Cepicafe.