Tag Archives: Direct Trade

261. Measuring Direct Trade’s impact

2012-04-19 Comments Off on 261. Measuring Direct Trade’s impact

Later this week, Counter Culture Coffee will present the results of its study “The Social Impact of Microlots” to an audience at the 2012 SCAA Expo.  I am excited about the report because it directly addresses two issues that have been the source of much discussion on this blog in recent years: the potential for […]

236. 2012: The year of the impact-at-origin baseline?

2012-01-31 Comments Off on 236. 2012: The year of the impact-at-origin baseline?

I had a long conversation last week with a specialty coffee luminary that ended in a surprising statement about how little the industry really understands about its impact at origin after all these years. We talked about the state of sustainability in the coffee industry in general, and the current controversy in the Fair Trade […]

226. CAFE: Trading data and infographics, v 2

2011-12-22 Comments Off on 226. CAFE: Trading data and infographics, v 2

Last week I posted some final sales data from our recently concluded CAFE Livelihoods project.  It provoked some thoughtful comments and rich discussion, most of which centered around the flaws in the presentation of the data.  I look forward to revisiting the issue of assessing impact at origin in the New Year.  In the meantime, […]

225. CAFE: Trading data and infographics

2011-12-09 Comments Off on 225. CAFE: Trading data and infographics

Earlier this week, two academics published an insightful Fair Trade infographic that sheds some light on the current rift in the Fair Trade movement. Today, I try my hand at putting data from our CAFE Livelihoods project into an infographic that may contribute to the discussion.  Our project data from the 2010/11 harvest suggest that […]

198. Three principles of “harmonized investment”

2011-09-12 Comments Off on 198. Three principles of “harmonized investment”

A little over a year ago, in a post on industry reinvestment at origin, I raised the prospect of “harmonized investment” — complementary, non-overlapping investments in the coffeelands by diverse actors on the coffee chain.  Recent events have inspired me to revisit the idea.

189. Exploring a “grey area” in coffee communications

2011-08-01 Comments Off on 189. Exploring a “grey area” in coffee communications

I started asking questions a few weeks ago about communication standards among Direct Trade roasters.   My series of posts on this issue did not generate much of a conversation here, but did prompt some very good offline discussion.  One of the best-known and best-regarded roasters in specialty coffee — let’s call this person “Sam” — […]

186. How direct is Direct Trade?

2011-07-12 Comments Off on 186. How direct is Direct Trade?

I posted some questions here in June regarding the standards for communication in Direct Trade.  Today I come back to those specific queries, which are not clearly addressed in the prevailing Direct Trade standards for communication. 

180. What is the standard for (disclosure in) Direct Trade?

2011-06-22 Comments Off on 180. What is the standard for (disclosure in) Direct Trade?

Over the past week or so, I have stumbled onto the websites of two different roasters who source coffee from a cooperative we support in Central America.  Both are well-regarded Direct Trade roasters.  Both have language on their websites that could be construed to suggest that they source all their coffees directly.  One of them […]

176. Counter Culture’s Direct Trade Transparency Report, take two

2011-06-13 Comments Off on 176. Counter Culture’s Direct Trade Transparency Report, take two

It is early June, which means that the rains are falling heavier now here in the coffeelands, and Counter Culture is releasing another Direct Trade Certified Transparency Report in the States to much well-deserved fanfare.  The report may generate less buzz in its sophomore season than it did last year as a rookie sensation, but […]