Equal Exchange Coffee Where To Buy
Equal Exchange co-operative based in the UK has close ties to Equal Exchange US where they both share various product lines and farmer co-op producers. Both share the same name and produce coffee, chocolate, and cocoa products among many other items. This relationship was made permanent in 2017 when EE Wholesale UK became a subsidiary of Equal Exchange US.[citation needed]
equal exchange coffee where to buy
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United Methodists can buy coffee through the UMCOR Coffee Project at www.interfaith.equalexchange.com. Hope's Blend, a new coffee, was created in honor of the Coffee Project's 10th anniversary and introduced at General Conference 2012.
Equal exchange processing In order to separate caffeine from CO2, it is circulated through an evaporator. The decaffeination cycle continues indefinitely after the decaffeination is finished. As a result of drying, the coffee retains its original moisture content. Equal Exchange does not offer fair trade certification. Despite this, their label and business are active in the fair trade movement. Customers choose Equal Exchange roasted coffee beans for an average price of $48.83, according to our survey. The top twelve picks will cost you between $8 and $96.00. Eco-gifts for coffee and tea lovers add an extra bonus of making the recipient healthier and more environmentally friendly.
Not far from where Solkin is sitting stand twenty large containers, each the size of a garbage can, all filled with fair-trade and organic coffee beans from places like Peru, Colombia, El Salvador and Mexico. Needless to say, he has a vested interest in the journalist's argument: Solkin is one of the co-founders of Santropol, an iconic Montreal café that has never really been just a café. What started out as a scheme to avoid eviction quickly became a symbol of alternative business success.
"Goofy" is a good word to describe the world of coffee. More than 125 million people worldwide rely on coffee for their livelihoods, most of them farmers in developing countries. But coffee prices are about as stable as Tom Cruise in love or gas prices. A bizarre logic pervades the business. Any instance of bad luck where coffee is grown-frost, drought, civil war-means a spike in prices on the commodity markets in London and New York, where most coffee beans are traded. A spike on the commodity markets means more money and better times for growers, provided they are not operating in the area where a bad moon is rising.
"For an economist, a fair price is the market price," counters Xavier de Vanssay. This is where the proverbial other shoe drops: 40 cents a pound is acceptable as long as the market says it is. De Vanssay teaches international business at York University in Toronto. In the summer of 2003, his short article "The myth of fair prices: A graphical analysis" was published in the Journal of Economic Education. Though only five pages long, the piece managed to catch the interest of mainstream media, sparking an editorial and a heated response in the pages of one Vancouver newspaper. De Vanssay argues that fair-trade policies are a "suboptimal" way of redistributing the wealth of concerned Westerners to impoverished farmers. Using the case of coffee, de Vanssay concludes that fair trade throws a spoke in the wheel of developing economies by only targeting certain segments of the population. He claims a serious distortion occurs in what economists refer to as "relative price," otherwise known as incentive. If, for example, coffee farmers adhering to fair-trade standards are guaranteed a fixed price that's higher than what's being offered on world markets, it follows that the poor guy tending his patch of non-fair-trade, free-market cucumbers will begin to wonder, "What's the point?" This has resulted in a multitude of farmers wanting to get in on the fair-trade game. Solkin tells me it's not unusual for co-ops to have waiting lists.
But the macroeconomic issues are compounded by more micro-level concerns. Solomon, among others, has criticized fair-trade certification organizations for being overly bureaucratic, creating a situation where very little verification actually takes place. In an article in the National Post last year, Solomon accused TransFair Canada of doing little to ensure that participating farmers are meeting the required standards to be deemed fair-trade. In fact, according to its 2003-2004 annual report, TransFair Canada spends less than 3 percent of its $380,000 budget on monitoring visits and audits, but close to 40 percent of the budget is allocated to salaries and employee benefits. The amount of red tape not only means consumers can't be certain about the fairness of their coffee, but it also prevents otherwise-deserving farmers from being included in the program.
Western consumers owe a great debt to the fair-trade movement. By rallying social consciousness, the movement has carved out a place for social justice in the markets; it has opened our eyes about modes of production elsewhere in the world so we can comfortably enjoy coffee, tea or even diamonds. Simply having that option is invaluable. But objections raised against some fair-trade practices are significant, and the movement risks sacrificing its relevance if it refuses to examine itself critically. Fair trade could simply be an easy way for Westerners to feel better about themselves; meanwhile, in the name of relieved guilt, harm is being inflicted.
This article describes the origin of coffee, and how it became a globalized commodity leading into the current global landscape of coffee exchange. Significant contours of coffee production taking place in the various geographies are examined. Then notable organizations that influence global coffee markets are referenced. Finally, I state a few suggestions for progressive action with respect to global coffee exchange. 041b061a72