Fair Trade
The fair trade movement began in
the 1980s in Holland and has since spread to much of the world.
Producers in many so-called Third World countries live more stable, if
not richer lives. Consumers in Europe and North America have the
comfort of knowing that those who grow their coffee, bananas and cocoa
are paid a price for their product that reflects actual costs plus a
profit.
When the Sister Islands Association began buying coffee in 1991 the
"world" price for coffee, called the C Price, was well under a
dollar. We offered a dollar a pound to the farmers at Finca Magdalena,
knowing that with our volunteer operation, a few cents more would have
little effect on the Association' s fundraising. In 1993 we encountered
Marvin Rivas, a coffee exporter from Granada, who introduced us to Max
Havelaar, the Dutch fair trade certifier.
Fair trade certification assures buyers that the producers are being
paid a fair price. "Fair" is determined by a set
of critera, which vary from product to product. In the case of coffee,
the producers are paid
according to a formula with a base price and some premiums. The base
price is $1.26 or the C price, which ever is higher. Organic
certification is worth more, under some certifiers. Fair trade
certifiers have joined to form the world-wide Fairtrade Labeling Organization.
(FLO) Anywhere you see one of FLO' s member seals you can be sure that
the producers actually receive payment according to the formula.
The Sister Islands Association pays Ometepe farmers the base price plus
a 15 cent premium for organic certification, a 15 cent premium for
shade-grown coffee, and a 5 cent "social" premium for offering the
farmers' employees a living wage. We self-certify both
the fair-trade and shade-grown qualities of Café Oro de Ometepe.
