Tag Archives: Fair Trade

205. Fair Trade for All: Will a rising tide lift all boats?

2011-10-10 Comments Off on 205. Fair Trade for All: Will a rising tide lift all boats?

In a wide-ranging conversation with CRS staff last week, Fair Trade USA CEO Paul Rice defended the decision to break with FLO and open the U.S. market for Fair Trade Certified coffee to estates.  He suggested there are two theories about what will happen to smallholder farmer cooperatives once estates enter the market.  One theory is the zero-sum view that the estates’ […]

204. Paul Rice makes the case for Fair Trade for All

2011-10-06 Comments Off on 204. Paul Rice makes the case for Fair Trade for All

Paul Rice, the Yale graduate who spent more than a decade as a swashbuckling cooperative organizer in wartime Nicaragua before he became the CEO of Fair Trade USA, spent three hours at CRS headquarters yesterday making the case for his most daring gamble yet — withdrawing from FLO and embarking on the ambitious new Fair […]

182. CRS seeking Fair Trade advisor

2011-06-27 Comments Off on 182. CRS seeking Fair Trade advisor

My friends and colleagues at our headquarters in Baltimore announced recently that they are hiring a Fair Trade program advisor.  While the job description doesn’t say so, I happen to know the job will involve lots of work on our Fair Trade Coffee Project, contact with lots of farmer-focused Fair Trade roasters and participation in […]

170. What that study really said

2011-05-24 Comments Off on 170. What that study really said

The study on the economic impacts of Fair Trade and organic certifications that appeared in a recent issue of Ecological Economics has prompted some good, informed discussion, but also its share of distortion.  After carefully reading (and re-reading) the study, here is my take on it as someone who works with both certified and non-certified […]

169. What we missed in the furor over Fair Trade

2011-05-23 Comments Off on 169. What we missed in the furor over Fair Trade

Last week, articles in mainstream and industry media outlets on the economic impacts of Fair Trade on smallholder farmers caused something of a furor among coffee cognoscenti.  The most serious discussion seemed to revolve around this study published in Ecological Economics.  Unfortunately, in the squabble over certifications most people missed what was easily the most […]

168. What do you (think you) know about sustainability?

2011-05-20 Comments Off on 168. What do you (think you) know about sustainability?

At last month’s SCAA Symposium, we were invited to reexamine our assumptions about sustainability in coffee — what we think we know about the issue that may not be true.  At the time, I thought that exercise produced some provocative responses.  And then I read a recent study on the impacts of organic and Fair […]

167. Throwing haymakers at Fair Trade

2011-05-18 Comments Off on 167. Throwing haymakers at Fair Trade

World Fair Trade Day is observed every year on the second Saturday of May.  Historically, it has been a time to educate consumers about the impacts of their consumer habits, motivate them to make socially responsible choices and celebrate the developmental advances of Fair Trade.  This year, it was the occasion for something else — […]

154. CRS (and friends) at SCAA 2011

2011-04-25 Comments Off on 154. CRS (and friends) at SCAA 2011

Tomorrow I travel to Houston for the annual gathering of the SCAA.  CRS has participated in some capacity in every SCAA since 2004, but this year is special.  It marks our first time participating in Symposium, our first time with a booth on the show floor (#441) and the largest CRS delegation ever.  With new […]

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