Organic and Fair Trade coffee

Organic and Fair Trade coffee have grown in popularity in recent years. More and more organic and Fair Trade certified coffees are available. However, no certification tells the whole story.

Organic coffee

A smallholder’s high-quality crop is always limited and there are often more quality-conscious buyers than there is coffee to sell. Even if the conditions for certification exist, the organic coffee stamp is not always willing to pay to organisations. On the other hand, the soil on a smallholding with limited arable land may be so depleted by annual cultivation that fertiliser is the only option for the family’s livelihood.

The best Arabica coffee varieties are also quite susceptible to coffee diseases, which makes the use of protective products necessary on some farms. Another option would be to switch to more highly bred coffee varieties. However, this would mean compromising on quality. Because of this difficult equation, organic coffees are generally not among the best in the world. It is also important to note that organic standards vary internationally. What may be organic in a coffee’s country of origin, or even in the United States, may not necessarily qualify for organic status in Europe or Finland.

Even if a coffee is organic according to Finnish criteria, it cannot be sold as organic unless the roaster is also certified organic. The organic regulations for roasters are interesting in that, for example, there must be a separate grinder for grinding organic coffee, which is used exclusively for grinding organic coffee.

Fair Trade coffee

The Fair Trade certificate guarantees that the coffee has been produced in a socially responsible way to some extent. In practice, speciality coffee is always fair trade, even if the certificates are rarely seen. Speciality coffee farmers get a better price for their coffee the better it scores in taste tests. The price always exceeds Fair Trade standards. Some coffee buyers even claim to pay a Fair Trade premium on top of the Fair Trade requirements for the coffee they buy.

Other well-known coffee certifications include Rainforest Alliance and UTZ Certified.