About Fare Trade Coffee.

Thank you for stopping by. Did we make a spelling mistake? No, we are Fare Trade Coffee, and our coffee import business began on a shoestring with a passport, plane ticket, bus pass, and jeep ride--the 'fare' needed to make our first trade of coffee. Because most of the remote regions to where we travel to find our coffees do not have expedient mass shipping logistics in place, air, bus, and taxi fares are often used to get our coffees to the US so that you can enjoy a delightful cup of freshly brewed coffee in the comfort of your home.

Our name is further an allusion to the ethical manner in which we treat the farmers from whom we purchase our coffee, who often begin doing business with us with no running water or electricity. Because we purchase their coffee at rates often double what the local market pays, cutting out the middleman to benefit the farmer--not ourselves, the local farmer can improve his standard of living and better care for his family and coffee farm.

Because we are a very small and relatively new company dealing only with small farmers instead of cooperatives, we have not yet become Fair Trade certified (see www.transfairusa.org), although we pay our farmers directly at least $1.50 per pound, which often far exceeds the local market rate and also exceeds the international Fair Trade minimum for both conventionally and organically grown coffee. Furthermore, we provide an additional $1 per pound to make improvements in the home and community of the local farmer—50 cents toward projects deemed useful by local governing authorities, and 50 cents toward projects deemed constructive by our management. Read about true life experiences of coffee farmers and the improvements in their lives and those of their family members on "The Farmers" page. And please keep supporting them and our efforts at Fare Trade Coffee by buying their coffee sold here.

As Fare Trade Coffee develops, we will keep seeking out individual poor farmers in remote locations to help bring their coffees and stories to the global marketplace.