What Is Ethically Sourced Coffee?

Companies like Fair Trade have dedicated time and effort to try to identify and certify coffee companies that have ethical practices. Generally, ethically sourced coffee is considered to be practices that care for the wellbeing of farmers, the sustainability of the land, and promotes quality coffee beans. But what that means is heavily debated and can be vague at best.

Is Ethically Sourced Coffee the Answer?

When we say that coffee should be ethically sourced, most agree that this should be a priority. Paying farmers a livable wage, maintaining the land we use to grow coffee, and making sure coffee is a good quality should all be top priorities. But we may just be creating more problems by questing for ethically sourced coffee.

Our coffee providers in Xinabajul, Guatemala are a perfect example of this. The coffee farms in the mountains of this region are small. Buyers will often pick up farmers’ coffee goods on the way down to a nearby valley to sell to large corporations that are exporting coffee beans.

These buyers may be offering the Fair Trade value established for coffee beans ($1.40 per pound for Arabica coffee). However, if buyers offer the same payment to farmers whether they provide a high-quality coffee bean or a lower quality bean, there is no incentive for excellence.

By offering the same price to everyone, volume becomes the focus instead of quality. It’s suddenly a race to the bottom to produce the cheapest beans possible for sale.

A Better Way?

But what if there was a better way? What if farmers and buyers can both win? Enter Direct Trade coffee.

Direct Trade and Fair Trade practices strive for the same solutions, but from a different angle:

Fair Trade:	Direct Trade:
Offers a base price for coffee	Offers higher prices as the quality of coffee improves
Sets ethical rules for farming practices	Meets with farmers to ensure needs are met
Creates farming standards to protect the environment	Visits the farmers often to hold them accountable

 

The result is farmers who pour themselves into their work are rewarded and a higher quality coffee is produced. While Fair Trade’s strength lies in creating standards for everyone to follow, Direct Trade shines when it offers transparency around who is actually growing your coffee.

The reality is, both Fair Trade and Direct Trade are needed to ensure farmers are earning what they deserve and that quality coffee rises to the top.

How do I find Direct Trade coffee?

There is no formal certification or network to search for Direct Trade coffee like there is for Fair Trade. And just because a coffee store claims to work directly with coffee growers doesn’t mean that they are working with farmers in a way that is beneficial.

However, there are signs that coffee roasters are building relationships with local farmers for the purpose of Direct Trade. These include:

• Transparency regarding the farmers who are growing the coffee
• The region the coffee was harvested from is listed on the bag
• The coffee company engages in dialogue about ethical coffee sourcing

What Does Seraphim Coffee Do?

As a part of our commitment to heralding good and beautiful things in the world, Seraphim Coffee partners with coffee suppliers that observe both Fair Trade and Direct Trade practices.

Coffees like our single-origin Guatemalan roast come from programs like Proyecto Xinabajul. This program involves visiting farmers in Guatemala at least once a year, cupping coffee on site, and incentivizing farmers with higher pay as their product improves. 

This does mean that our coffee may be a higher price than what consumers see at grocery stores. However, this also guarantees a better quality product that is 100% ethically sourced from farmers who are empowered to do what they love most.