Ethical Coffee Sourcing Explained: Fair Trade vs Direct Trade vs Organic
Customers occasionally ask us: Is your coffee fair trade? Or sometimes: Is your coffee certified organic? The global coffee industry is vast and complex and often exploitative, so buying certified coffee can offer a more ethical approach to coffee sourcing. However, the truth is more complex.
Let’s take a look at the different coffee certifications, their impact and drawbacks, and how Glen Lyon approaches them.
What is Fair Trade Coffee?
The term “fair trade” has been around for decades, but the most widely-recognised coffee certification was established in 1997 by Fair Trade International. The idea behind this certification is to offer farmers a minimum price in a world where most are dependent on the whims of the global commodity market. In order to be certified, farms must meet standards around worker rights and sustainability.
There are lots of different organisations that offer a fair trade certification, including Fair Trade USA and the World Fair Trade Organization. The minimum price and the standards they offer vary, as does the cost to certify. And that final part is important—individual farms and cooperatives pay to become certified, and must achieve different standards depending on the certifier. However, many farmers cannot afford the costs, and the minimum price only helps in worse-case scenarios when the commodity price plummets.
Fair Trade vs Direct Trade
Direct trade differs from fair trade in that it isn’t a certification but rather a coffee-sourcing approach that favours long-term direct relationships with farmers. Pioneered by famous U.S. specialty roasters like Counter Culture Coffee and Intelligentsia, the idea is that direct trade results in higher-quality coffee and higher prices paid to farmers due to the elimination of the middle man. Other key elements are transparency, traceability, and the expectations of a long-term commitment.
Because there are no standards and no certifying body, direct trade means different things to different people. Companies therefore take varying approaches depending on their priorities. It is also difficult to completely eliminate intermediaries unless the companies involved are huge—getting coffee from farm to roastery involves dozens of steps, and few but the largest companies can handle exporting, shipping, financing, and other logistics steps on their own.
What is "Organic" Coffee?
Chances are you’re already familiar with organic certifications, which verify that a product was grown under specific sustainable conditions such as avoiding synthetic fertilisers or pesticides. Like the other labels on this list, there are many different organisations that offer organic certification, all with different standards.
Also like the other labels, unless they are affiliated with a large co-operative, many farmers who grow coffee using organic agricultural techniques can’t afford to become certified. The majority of coffee farmers care deeply for their land and try to balance productivity with sustainability, and have been doing so for generations. In fact, some countries such as East Timor and parts of Peru are considered “organic by default” due to the long-term lack of chemical inputs.
Regenerative Agriculture and Other Ethical Coffee Labels
There are many other certifications and labels that are applied to coffee, particularly concerning sustainability. Rainforest Alliance is one example, which verifies a farm’s environmental and human rights practices with the idea that farms will improve every year. Another is Smithsonian Bird Friendly, which focuses on conserving a farm’s ecosystem to protect birds and other wildlife.
One certification focus that has been growing in popularity over the past decade is regenerative agriculture. The basic concept is a holistic approach to coffee farming that takes into account soil health, water quality, and biodiversity, all while trapping carbon in the process and improving farmer’s income. Various regenerative agriculture certifications have popped up in recent years and many large coffee companies have begun leaning heavily on them in their marketing.
Impact on Flavour and Quality
Many different elements of coffee production affect the flavour and quality of the final cup. Most certifications don’t focus on improving quality specifically, but rather look at the environmental and social impact of a farm’s practices and work to improve farmer income.
However, farming practices that many certifications encourage, such as planting shade trees and encouraging biodiversity, have been shown to improve coffee quality and yield. For example, a 2022 study found that the presence of birds and bees on farms—something that several certifications promote—was correlated with higher quality coffee.
How to Support & Choose Ethical Coffee
Certifications allow shoppers in, say, a supermarket aisle, to quickly assess whether a coffee meets certain ethical or environmental thresholds. You can use these labels to decide whether that bag of beans is likely to match your particular ethical stance or priorities.
As discussed in this article, however, all coffee certifications have limits. This makes it difficult to rely solely on a little sticker on a bag of coffee. The benefits of buying coffee from a cafe or roastery, then, is that you are much more able to speak to someone knowledgeable and ask questions regarding their approach to sourcing.
Glen Lyon Coffee's Approach
Rather than focus on certifications, at Glen Lyon we aim to source coffee through building direct, long-term relationships with small farms, co-operatives, and ethical coffee traders. We pay good prices for quality and emphasise sourcing from women-owned farms and producers.
Some of the coffee we buy has a certification, but this isn’t our main concern—it is more like a welcome bonus. We also buy coffee from small farms whose sustainable farming practices go far beyond what any certification mandates. Take, for example, our coffees sourced from East Timor and Peru, which would easily exceed organic certification standards, but the farmers there are unable or unwilling to pay for the label.
In the end, the best way to ensure that you are buying ethical coffee is to speak with staff at the roastery or cafe you support. Not only will you learn a lot while supporting a small business, but they will be able to advise you on which coffees meet your needs. For conscientious coffee-lovers, this is the best way to ensure that the coffee you are buying is both ethical and sustainable.
