How To Buy Direct Trade Coffee - 0 views

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  #1 Gerry Elliott on 18 Mar 12

   

  This is not to say these brands do not have their own internal fair/equitable trade systems, however the volumes in question means that often they can not have a direct purchasing system from small hold growers in place, and they need to operate purchasing through a number of local partners and brokers. Therefore it is fairly rare to see retailers in Jakarta selling and educating their clients about fair and equitable trade with brokers. Also as the roasting industry in Indonesia is still mainly focused on producing bulk for the lower end/instant market, there are few roasters who are seen as being educators such as those who are found in specialty markets such as the US and NZ. Ultimately the specialty market in Indonesia is still in its infancy, the move to drinkers buying coffee product based on social issues rather than brand awareness is perhaps still at least 4-5 years away, if not longer!
  
  Local Brand operators such as Excelso, Regal, Kopi Luwak, Brew and Co etc are appealing to a different segment of the market. This segment is very price conscious, and perhaps less well educated, less well paid than those who frequent the international brands. The local segment here is large, growing, but very competitive and perhaps less brand loyal than that found in the Premium Branding segment. Here as mentioned in the first paragraph, there is little concern about the welfare of the farmer and the growing community. The consumers want to enjoy a coffee, cake, meal and socialize. The local café brands also produce locally sourced coffee, so in theory they would be in the best position to champion fair-trade. However the bulk of the coffee blends sold by local producers are Robusta rich, mirroring the taste requirements of the local client base (mainly based on the finely ground Robusta kopi tobruk found in most Indonesian kitchens!). Robusta is still the main coffee type produced in Indonesia, and it certainly is an area where fair-trade struggles to make any impact. The historically flat prices for Robusta, combined with the lack of interest in the coffee from the more political active specialty coffee sector, means that Robusta remains a low price commodity, rather than a product that has value added by roasters skill. The squeeze on pricing for the local café chains, as well as Robusta's role in the equation, means that any concept of fair-trade would struggle in the local sector of the café market in Indonesia.
  
  (1)- Merdeka Coffee- Market Survey. Respondents 500 questioned- Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Bali. 2006.
  
  I am not one for long boring history lessons, sorry to say, history was always one of my weakest subjects, but the following is a brief history of fair trade coffee.
  
  In the first half of the 1900's there were many small movements and discussions about providing fair wages and working conditions for workers in some of the world's poorer regions. There were efforts from church groups purchasing crafts directly from southern communities to world powers trying to manipulate commodity prices to sustain poorer countries.
  
  Towards the end of World War II, Oxfam UK started to initiate projects where they purchased products directly from the people they were trying to support. In the 1960's, United Kingdom and Netherlands became the main initiators of fair trade practices. From commodities like sugar cane, soon expanded to coffee in the early 1970's.
  
  buy fair trade coffee, buy direct trade coffee, buy gourmet coffee beans

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">This is not to say these brands do not have their own internal fair/equitable trade systems, however the volumes in question means that often they can not have a direct purchasing system from small hold growers in place, and they need to operate purchasing through a number of local partners and brokers. Therefore it is fairly rare to see retailers in Jakarta selling and educating their clients about fair and equitable trade with brokers. Also as the roasting industry in Indonesia is still mainly focused on producing bulk for the lower end/instant market, there are few roasters who are seen as being educators such as those who are found in specialty markets such as the US and NZ. Ultimately the specialty market in Indonesia is still in its infancy, the move to drinkers buying coffee product based on social issues rather than brand awareness is perhaps still at least 4-5 years away, if not longer!<br /><br />Local Brand operators such as Excelso, Regal, Kopi Luwak, Brew and Co etc are appealing to a different segment of the market. This segment is very price conscious, and perhaps less well educated, less well paid than those who frequent the international brands. The local segment here is large, growing, but very competitive and perhaps less brand loyal than that found in the Premium Branding segment. Here as mentioned in the first paragraph, there is little concern about the welfare of the farmer and the growing community. The consumers want to enjoy a coffee, cake, meal and socialize. The local café brands also produce locally sourced coffee, so in theory they would be in the best position to champion fair-trade. However the bulk of the coffee blends sold by local producers are Robusta rich, mirroring the taste requirements of the local client base (mainly based on the finely ground Robusta kopi tobruk found in most Indonesian kitchens!). Robusta is still the main coffee type produced in Indonesia, and it certainly is an area where fair-trade struggles to make any impact. The historically flat prices for Robusta, combined with the lack of interest in the coffee from the more political active specialty coffee sector, means that Robusta remains a low price commodity, rather than a product that has value added by roasters skill. The squeeze on pricing for the local café chains, as well as Robusta's role in the equation, means that any concept of fair-trade would struggle in the local sector of the café market in Indonesia.<br /><br />(1)- Merdeka Coffee- Market Survey. Respondents 500 questioned- Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Bali. 2006.<br /> <br />I am not one for long boring history lessons, sorry to say, history was always one of my weakest subjects, but the following is a brief history of fair trade coffee.<br /><br />In the first half of the 1900's there were many small movements and discussions about providing fair wages and working conditions for workers in some of the world's poorer regions. There were efforts from church groups purchasing crafts directly from southern communities to world powers trying to manipulate commodity prices to sustain poorer countries.<br /><br />Towards the end of World War II, Oxfam UK started to initiate projects where they purchased products directly from the people they were trying to support. In the 1960's, United Kingdom and Netherlands became the main initiators of fair trade practices. From commodities like sugar cane, soon expanded to coffee in the early 1970's.<br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" href="http://furnacehillscoffee.com/the-beans-of-empathy/">buy fair trade coffee</a>, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.furnacehillscoffee.com/store/emmitsburg-espresso/">buy direct trade coffee</a>, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://furnacehillscoffee.com/furnace-hills-coffee-story/">buy gourmet coffee beans</a></div>

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