Wild Bean Cafe
Plays Fair With
Costa Rican
Coffee Beans
The coffee bean
faces uncertain
prices on the
international
coffee market,
and increased
costs mean world
coffee
production is
dropping.
However, the
popular Kiwi
flat white is
playing an
important role
in Costa Rica -
and other coffee
producing
countries - by
helping to
ensure farmers
are paid a fair
price for their
coffee when it's
purchased
through the
Fairtrade
system.
As New Zealand's
biggest retailer
of Fairtrade
coffee, Wild
Bean Cafe
accounts for 29
per cent of New
Zealand's
Fairtrade
Certified coffee
market. Wild
Bean Cafe's
Retail Marketing
Manager,
Raewynne Lory,
says the choices
we make here
have a very real
impact on coffee
farmers in other
countries.
"We use 100 per
cent Fairtrade
Certified
coffee, which
means that Wild
Bean Cafe
customers can
enjoy their
coffee a bit
more, knowing
they are helping
to do good," she
says.
"Fairtrade makes
a tangible
difference to
third world
producers and
the communities
they live in.
Quality of life
is improving for
people in
countries like
Costa Rica
because of the
Fairtrade
contributions we
choose to make
in New Zealand."
San Isidro - a
region three
hours south of
San Jose - is
the first
Fairtrade coffee
town in Latin
America and is
home to 150,000
people. More
than 10,000
coffee farmers
are members of
the cooperative
CoopeAgri, which
gained Fairtrade
certification
for its coffee
in 2004.
However, only 14
per cent of the
cooperative's
coffee is sold
on the Fairtrade
market, due to
limited importer
and retailer
demand for
coffee beans at
the higher
Fairtrade price.
Wild Bean Cafe's
transition to
100 per cent
Fairtrade
Certified coffee
in June 2008
accounts for
approximately 10
per cent of
CoopeAgri's
Fairtrade
exports.
Victor Hugo
Carranza
Salazar, General
Manager of
CoopeAgri, says
Wild Bean Cafe
helped "keep the
cooperative
alive" in 2009.
The cafe
retailer's
Fairtrade
premiums helped
purchase tens of
thousands of new
coffee plants
for farmers to
replace old and
damaged plants.
The cooperative
also invests in
expert technical
assistance for
farmers, water
recycling
initiatives and
the production
of organic
fertilizer,
which is
encouraged under
the Fairtrade
stystem.
"We believe we
deserve a better
life, and if we
work together we
can achieve it,"
says Victor Hugo
Carranza
Salazar.
Fairtrade
guarantees that
farmers are paid
a fair,
sustainable
price for their
coffee. If the
market price is
higher than the
Fairtrade
minimum price,
farmers are paid
the higher
price. Buyers
also pay a
Fairtrade
premium, a sum
of money in
addition to the
Fairtrade price,
which is
reinvested into
the cooperative
to improve
production
levels, based on
democratic vote
by the farmers.
"The Fairtrade
goal is to
ensure the
farmers who
actually produce
the coffee are
paid a fair
price for their
product, so that
they become
empowered in
their own
businesses. This
is not charity,
this is a
sustainable
business
practice that
delivers what is
fair to
producers," says
Maria Trogolo,
Policy and
Producer Manager
for Fairtrade
Australia and
New Zealand.
"As a Fairtrade
retailer, it
reconfirms to us
the importance
of Fairtrade to
the survival and
livelihood of
these farmers,"
says Raewynne
Lory.
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