Cooperative Coffees is committed to small-scale coffee farmers working within their cooperatively organized structures. We recognize the challenge of achieving fairness in trade. Yet we strive toward true partnership with producer organizations, forming deep and long-term relationships that empower farmers and encourage financial stability and improved quality of life in their communities.
We value meaningful relationships based on open and respectful dialogue, mutual commitment and equity. We believe that relationships can only be fair – when people come to the table as equals. It is time for producers to have full representation and a strong voting voice in defining new directions in this movement.
We work both locally and internationally to create social and economic change through transparent and fair trading practices. And while we believe that our producer partners and consumers can trust us, we would never ask them to trust us blindly. We attempt to offer total transparency through our fairtradeproof website and invite scrutiny, feedback and suggestions.
We recognize the importance of fair trade returning to its roots as an alternative model for trade benefiting small producers in a way that is economically and socially sustainable. We believe the integrity of these values outweighs the size of our operation; and we trust that an authentic example of best practices can have reverberations beyond the scope of our current work.
We adhere closely to the following World Fair Trade Organization and Fair Trade Federation’s “Basic Principles” in determining our own basic trading policies:
Fair Trade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Members create social and economic opportunities through trading partnerships with marginalized producers. Members place the interests of producers and their communities as the primary concern of their enterprise.
Develop Transparent and Accountable Relationships
Fair Trade involves relationships that are open, fair, consistent, and respectful. Members show consideration for both customers and producers by sharing information about the entire trading chain through honest and proactive communication. They create mechanisms to help customers and producers feel actively involved in the trading chain. If problems arise, members work cooperatively with fair trade partners and other organizations to implement solutions.
Fair Trade is a means to develop producers’ independence. Members maintain long-term relationships based on solidarity, trust, and mutual respect, so that producers can improve their skills and their access to markets. Members help producers to build capacity through proactive communication, financial and technical assistance, market information, and dialogue. They seek to share lessons learned, to spread best practices, and to strengthen the connections between communities, including among producer groups.
Fair Trade encourages an understanding by all participants of their role in world trade. Members actively raise awareness about Fair Trade and the possibility of greater justice in the global economic system. They encourage customers and producers to ask questions about conventional and alternative supply chains and to make informed choices. Members demonstrate that trade can be a positive force for improving living standards, health, education, the distribution of power, and the environment in the communities with which they work.
Fair Trade empowers producers to set prices within the framework of the true costs of labor, time, materials, sustainable growth, and related factors. Members take steps to ensure that producers have the capacity to manage this process. Members comply with or exceed international, national, local, and, where applicable, Fair Trade Minimum standards for their employees and producers. Members seek to ensure that income is distributed equitably at all times, particularly equal pay for equal work by women and men. Members ensure prompt payment to all of their partners. Producers are offered access to interest-free advance payment for handmade goods, or pre-finance of agricultural harvest with favorable terms.
Support Safe and Empowering Working Conditions
Fair Trade means a safe and healthy working environment free of forced labor. Throughout the trading chain, Members cultivate workplaces that empower people to participate in the decisions that affect them. Members seek to eliminate discrimination based on race, caste, national origin, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, union membership, political affiliation, age, marital, or health status. Members support workplaces free from physical, sexual, psychological, or verbal harassment or abuse.
Fair Trade means that all children have the right to security, education, and play. Throughout the trading chain, Members respect and support the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as local laws and social norms. Members disclose the involvement of children in production. Members do not support child trafficking and exploitative child labor.
Cultivate Environmental Stewardship
Fair Trade seeks to offer current generations the ability to meet their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Members actively consider the implications of their decisions on the environment and promote the responsible stewardship of resources. Members reduce, reuse, reclaim, and recycle materials wherever possible. They encourage environmentally sustainable practices throughout the entire trading chain.
Fair Trade celebrates the cultural diversity of communities, while seeking to create positive and equitable change. Members respect the development of products, practices, and organizational models based on indigenous traditions and techniques to sustain cultures and revitalize traditions. Members balance market needs with producers’ cultural heritage.
It’s important to point out that we are merely at the beginning of our journey and the importance of educating ourselves and our customers on an on-going basis about the fundamentals of authentic fair trade and the ever-changing landscape of the global movement.
