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Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

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  • #31
    Re: Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

    Originally posted by luca link=1179628700/15#25 date=1182431815

    About a month ago, not 25 metres from your cafe, in the Union House building, there were any number of places that are using coffex and will charge an additional $0.20 for FT coffee.

    Cheers,

    Luca
    Umm... quality control and commitment to social justice dont readilly spring to mind when considering the outlet in question.

    Comment


    • #32
      Re: Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

      Originally posted by askthecoffeeguy link=1179628700/30#30 date=1182577340
      Originally posted by luca link=1179628700/15#25 date=1182431815

      About a month ago, not 25 metres from your cafe, in the Union House building, there were any number of places that are using coffex and will charge an additional $0.20 for FT coffee.

      Cheers,

      Luca
      Umm... quality control and commitment to social justice dont readilly spring to mind when considering the outlet in question.
      ... isnt that the point?

      Comment


      • #33
        Re: Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

        yes i guess thats true of any coffee environment

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        • #34
          Re: Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

          Heres some BS:

          Op shop sells a pretty decent brew according my sister...uses fair trade and costs $2
          Yet Hudsons down the road charges $4.50 for the same drink that uses Fair trade....what a crock

          Comment


          • #35
            Re: Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

            Originally posted by Wushoes link=1179628700/30#33 date=1184494857
            Heres some BS:

            Op shop sells a pretty decent brew according my sister...uses fair trade and costs $2
            Yet Hudsons down the road charges $4.50 for the same drink that uses Fair trade....what a crock
            I think this is a bit of a distorted and niaive report Wushoes. Any of Hudsons coffee probably costs more than the one you can buy at the op shop and has nothing to do with whether its fair trade or not. For example, I bet Hudsons rent is higher, and premises more expensively fitted out. Im not suggesting that their pricing is justified, just suggesting you need to consider other factors do influence price. And if the punters will pay $4.50 then guess what...their pricing is right!

            Comment


            • #36
              Re: Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

              My point is, is that they charge $1.50 more for a fair trade coffee...but none of that money make it back to the farmers.

              Fair Trade is a label more than anything else. Id have no problems paying that much extra if it was guaranteed not to line the pockets of some individual other than the farmer

              Comment


              • #37
                Re: Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

                Cafe in Phillip Island sells a Sara Lee coffee brand for $3.20 and fairtrade coffee for $4.50. I found that really funny. Sara Lee is one of the reasons fair trade is need, but to look trendy they got fair trade in at a unfair price.

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                • #38
                  Re: Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

                  I used to work in a cafe that used Piazza Doro coffee and they paid about $16 or $17 a kg. most FT from specialty roasters are $25-$30 so in that case 15c a coffee could be justified, or even 45 cents if they work it out by %. still I wonder how the ACCC would respond if pointed in the direction of thse businesses? Its pretty Ironic that fairtrade brand coffee is used to rip people off.

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Re: Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

                    Every opportunity, be it trendy or not, is assessed as a chance to increase profits. Its why they are in business!

                    We dont need to look overseas for examples of this either...milk goes up 50c per litre and the farmer receives just 7c of this; check out some of our charities and see how much of every $ donated ends up in the hands of that hollow-faced child in the TV ad. Im not suggesting its right and would love to see every cent go to the source, but know in many cases it simply cannot happen.

                    Maybe a little bit of good is better than no good at all?

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Re: Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

                      Ive been in this business for more than 2 years now (I know, not long) and I have to add my 2c to this argument.

                      - As a roaster, I see the key problem as being the attitude of cafés. Most Cafés will only look at the bottom line, the price per kilo. Period.

                      - I dont know what the market is like over east, but in Perth good coffee in a café is the exception, not the rule. I think this is up to the consumers to start taking their coffee back if they think its crap, and try and force a change for the better on the market.

                      - Ive sold my coffee (which is ALL Fairtrade and Organic certified) to Cafés which were charging a premium for Fairtrade coffee over non-Fairtrade coffee. I basically asked them what the price per kilo had to be, in order to remove the "premium" they were charging per cup, so in those cases Im taking a hit to the wallet - But in the long run I hope that its a good thing...

                      - To date Ive not seen much evidence that its the roasters doing the price gouging (please enlighten me if this is not the case) but I do feel that the cafés need to wake up, and accept that taking a 5c hit per cup is not going to kill them, and might net them a better coffee and one with a little more social responsibility. But when you have franchises that will be using the same "puck" of coffee to make 10 cups, and thereby get more than 1000 cups of coffee to the kilo, why on earth are they going to want to compromise those profits?

                      - In answer to Grendels question on poor quality of Fairtrade coffees, this is something that I struggle against all the time. There seems to be a general view in cafés and coffee "gourmets" that Fairtrade coffee is of poor quality and has little flavour. I think that the early adoption of Fairtrade saw coffee produced that was sold on the Fairtrade label, not on the quality of the coffee. And I see this as a fault on the part of the roasters. The German roaster that trained me stated time and time again, that the point of a cup of coffee was that it was exceptional to taste, this is not a knock on Fairtrade, but the Organic and Fairtrade "benefits" HAVE to come second to a good cup of coffee, they should never be the primary reason why someone buys a particular coffee.

                      - All the Fairtrade coffee I have come across to date have been high quality, uniform beans. That I have chosen not to roast some varieties has been due to selecting beans that stand in their own right as good single-origin cups of coffee, as I refuse to buy into the current "Blend-crazy" coffee market.

                      - We retail our coffee in 250g packets on the shelf in supermarkets to gourmet shops, weve got two price points of $10 and $14, and I would be interested to get some feedback from coffeesnobs on how they see these prices. Do you think that I am charging too much for a Fairtrade/Organic coffee? I based these prices in part on what the retail market was at the time (when starting business) with typical "gourmet" coffees that were not Fairtrade or Organic, seeing as these were the ones I wanted to compete with directly, and show that I could deliver a better product for the same price.

                      - As a roaster selling Fairtrade coffee I dont feel as though Im making a massive profit, the costs of Organic certification (much higher than Fairtrade.... ) and Fairtrade certification are something that I have to bear, in a market that is incredibly competitive and difficult to penetrate. Muppet_man67 is pretty much spot on in his price range. The cheapo robusta heavy coffees from vietnam etc are around the $15 range, and theyre pretty shocking in quality as coffee goes, but I cant purchase Fairtrade coffee at a price that can justify that low a price-point.

                      - Assuming a Café takes on a Fairtrade coffee and starts paying double what they were before $15 -> $30, were still only talking an cost per cup going from 12c, up to 24c (assuming a perfect 125 shots per kilo). 12 cents.... So even a 20c premium for Fairtrade coffee is extortion on the part of the Cafés.... But the irony is, even when you break the numbers down to them - Theyre not interested.   :

                      Edit: Missed Andys numbers, even allowing for 80 cups per kilo (20% is a lot of wastage!) were still talking ~19c/cup for $15/kilo and 38c/cup for $30/kilo coffee, and the difference is still less than 20c.

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Re: Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

                        your prices sound fair and reasonable for specialty coffee. Im surprised that you try to match low priced coffee. surely any business that cares so little about the coffee they use probably wouldnt be doing your coffee justice when they prepare it.

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          Re: Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

                          Yep,

                          I agree, ...... beni, your prices sound very reasonable and competitive and when the sums are done, its easy to see where anomalies lie,

                          Mal.

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Re: Fairtrade coffee - Q & A

                            Originally posted by benipk link=1179628700/30#39 date=1184640210
                            - In answer to Grendels question on poor quality of Fairtrade coffees, this is something that I struggle against all the time. There seems to be a general view in cafés and coffee "gourmets" that Fairtrade coffee is of poor quality and has little flavour. I think that the early adoption of Fairtrade saw coffee produced that was sold on the Fairtrade label, not on the quality of the coffee. And I see this as a fault on the part of the roasters. The German roaster that trained me stated time and time again, that the point of a cup of coffee was that it was exceptional to taste, this is not a knock on Fairtrade, but the Organic and Fairtrade "benefits" HAVE to come second to a good cup of coffee, they should never be the primary reason why someone buys a particular coffee.
                            I have purchased coffee from Ben and can attest to the quality of the coffee and Bens roasting skills. The Feminino was very tasty! No affiliation, just a happy customer.

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