Posts Tagged 'Coffee Farms'

An increasing number of coffee lovers are not aware that their choice of coffee can impact thousands of people and nature in communities thousands of miles away.

There is an array of labels out there– each pledging to the consumer that their coffee is socially and environmentally responsible.

But how can you differentiate between fact and fiction? What do these labels actually mean for the farmers, workers and their families and the natural environment in these coffee growing regions?

Rogers Estate Coffees, the UK producer of gourmet coffee, has adopted its own standard: “Fairly Traded.” This program exceeds the goals of some labelling organisations such as Fair Trade and ensures that the workers who produce your coffee beans are given the payment they deserve. This is done through setting up long term contracts with single estate famers, which enable these coffee famers to treat their employees fairly, improve local ecosystems and make a decent profit.

Coffee bean prices are set to rise after what was deemed the worst harvest in 35 years by the International Coffee Organisation (ICO). Both Colombia and Brazil, the world’s leading coffee producing countries, have experienced a poor crop in the last year.

In Colombia, this year’s harvest was the worst since 1974, due to bad weather, and was the third straight off-year. The ICO predicts that the coffee for the next crop year, beginning September 30, could fall well short of the 9.5 million bags predicted.

Bloomberg news reported that the price of coffee has already increased in New York and there are speculations of a similar effect to the global coffee market. “Premiums are bound to increase,” ICO Executive Director Nestor Osorio told Bloomberg on Friday.