People

What is fair trade coffee?

Fair trade coffee means that the raw materials, the coffee beans, were sourced in a manner that the farmers of those beans receive their fair and equitable part of the proceeds. It is NOT where a sourcing company takes most of the profits. Fair trade coffee may also focus on sourcing from smaller farms. Check out Fair Trade USA for more information: https://fairtradeusa.org/.

Planet

Another important thing to consider when choosing coffee is the environmental impact it has. There are various different varieties of coffee that are more sustainable on the environment – for example, those that are shade coffees. Coffee is generally grown in tropical environments and increasingly rainforest is being removed in order to make room for coffee plantations – this is not a sustainable practice. Just like the marine stewardship council  (MSC –https://www.msc.org/) and the forest stewardship council (FSC – https://us.fsc.org/en-us), the Rainforest Alliance does excellent charitable work in certifying a wide array of products and how sustainable they are. Check out the Rainforest Alliance for more information on sustainable products, including coffee: http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/.

Profit

After satisfying the people and planet components, your business must think about profits. You must turn a profit to be a healthy and thriving business. Best of luck!

Cheers!

Picture Source: http://wfto.com/fair-trade/10-principles-fair-trade