While the public is widely familiar with terms such as organic-certified and green-certified, chances are that a product embossed with a fair trade label is likely to raise a few questions. Confusion as to what exactly fair trade means isn’t likely to last for long, though. Fair trade products have been available in the Western world for the past 25 years, and, in recent years, Valley establishments, such as The Supreme Bean in North Hollywood and Vournas Coffee Trading in Westlake Village, have offered fair trade goods to meet a rising demand for such products. Fair trade indicates “economic empowerment for the family farmers in terms of wages and profits. Part of sustainability is giving a fair price. We’re the only label that is guaranteeing a minimum price for farmers for their products,” said Anthony Marek, director of public relations and external communications for TransFair USA, an independent third party that verifies products bearing the fair trade label meet international standards. The farmers in question typically hail from developing nations and cultivate products heavily consumed in the Western world such as coffee, tea, chocolate and cacao, sugar, rice, bananas and other fruit. Most recently, flowers, such as roses and carnations, have become available in the U.S. with fair trade certification. Valley-based companies that make goods certified by TransFair all specialize in coffee. Supreme Bean co-owner Jeff Chean estimates that his company has manufactured fair trade coffee for four years. Ultimately, the company looks for great tasting coffee, according to Chean, but The Supreme Bean moved into fair trade territory because there was a demand for it. Now, the company consistently sells six or seven decaf and regular fair trade coffees. “It felt really good to support these people at a premium rate,” Chean said. The Supreme Bean is also involved in what’s known as direct trade, a movement that entails individual roasters making direct contact with coffee farmers to purchase it, “But doing it in such a way that they encourage the farmers to grow better coffee,” Chean explained. For instance, roasters will donate money so that farmers can engage in more effective procedures when cultivating goods. “For two of our coffees, we deal directly with the farmers,” Chean said. The company is also considering getting involved with farmer-based cooperatives in El Salvador. Chean said he’s interested in investing in a mill there, so local farmers can cut out the expenses they incur when traveling to cities during the processing component of cultivation. Like Chean, Vournas Coffee Trading President Andrew Vournas said that his company, which sells and imports coffee, began to provide fair trade goods because of market demand. Vournas Coffee has had such products available for six years now. “At first it was a good way to ensure that farmers were getting more money for their products,” Vournas recalled. Initially, some consumers bristled upon learning that fair trade goods are more expensive than their counterparts. Now, however, the gap between the cost of fair trade and non-fair trade goods has narrowed significantly, and many customers specifically seek out items certified by TransFair. “We show that there’s a 27 percent recognition of a fair trade-certified label,” Marek said. Of that population, more than half specifically seek out fair trade certified products, he elaborated. In Europe, which has long embraced the fair trade movement, companies frequently attempt to lure customers by advertising that the amount of fair trade products they carry outnumbers that of competitors, according to Marek. “There’s a move toward corporate social responsibility,” Marek explained of the phenomenon. “We’re realizing there’s one planet and one ecosystem and humans are part of the planet and the ecosystem.” While the fair trade label indicates that farmers in developing nations have received a fair wage for their goods, the label also stands for environmental sustainability and community building, according to Marek. “Part of that community building are things we take for granted, like healthcare, education, clean water, basic infrastructure,” Marek said. “The final component was the environmental sustainability.” Most prominent in that are pesticide regulations. So-called “dirty dozen” chemicals are prohibited. Routinely, toxic chemicals used in the cultivation process have contaminated the streams in the communities where farmers reside. Banning harmful substances and educating farmers about safer alternatives also contributes to the quality of a farmer’s life. Because of such regulations, about 85 percent of fair trade goods are also certified as organic. According to Marek, more than 200 factors are considered when labeling a product “fair trade.” “The idea is to help as many fair trade farmers as possible, empower them, give them some dignity,” he said.
