"Fair trade" is a term used quite frequently when people discuss sustainable, equitable trading of coffee. While some organizations tell you to "look for the label" and discard anything without it, we're here to say that our experiences tell us there are many paths to equitable trading.

In ten years we have found a number approaches to coffee purchasing to be beneficial for every link of the supply chain. Fair Trade Certified contracts foster community development, social justice and create many opportunities for farmers involved in a cooperative.

Juried competitions, such as Cup Of Excellence, Best of Panama and Ethiopia Open Outcry, bring exceptional coffees to auction. Small farmers often win the competitions, and great coffees are rewarded with very high premiums. Farmers gain international recognition with awards and winning instills a sense of pride in the communities and families. Roasters flock to develop relationships that insure a long-term sustainability.

Rainforest Alliance certification deals with sustainability and environmental issues. The dirty dozen chemicals are banned from use and while many Rainforest Alliance farms are not certified organic, most embrace organic farming principles and avoid chemical pesticides.

Roaster/farmer relationships create a sense of partnership where both stakeholders are able to share information and work together to produce an amazing coffee experience for consumers. The stability of a partnership has many long term benefits for all parties involved.

Quite frankly, the coffee trade has a long, sad history of inequality. Over the past 25 years there has been a growing movement to change the way we think about our coffee.

Sacred Grounds was one of the original 15 members of Transfair USA and actively marketed "fair trade certified" coffees for 9 years. Our decision to drop the brand image of Transfair from our packaging was made in reaction to a number of factors, not the least of which is their relationship with several multinational corporations with ongoing trade and labor issues in developing nations.

People sometimes ask us why we do not offer 100% fair trade certified coffees and our answer is simple: Striking a balance is important, while every certification has merits, they all have drawbacks and limitations that preclude us from putting all of our eggs in a single basket. Fair Trade certification requires a farmer join a cooperative.

After meeting scores of small farmers who, for one reason or another, elected to remain outside of a cooperative system we felt it was important to engage them in relationships as they work to develop their niche in the market.

Fair Trade certification can be obtained by any roaster, even those who primarily source commercial grade coffees. In effect, the same corporations that created the need for a fair trade certification have co-opted the brand image without addressing their overall purchasing strategy beyond adding a small line of Fair Trade Coffees. .

We're very serious about the equality and transparency of our coffee purchases. Using a network of trading partners who share our values, we insure the coffees we buy will enrich every link in the supply chain. Please feel free to contact us with any questions, we are more than willing to show interested parties each link in our supply chain.