LONDON, UK – Any looming coffee crisis won’t just be due to finer tastes, it will also be due to shortcomings in investment by the coffee market in producers long term and the increasing impact of climate change in the coffee producing regions, said the Fairtrade Foundation.
Until all the coffee companies embrace a more sustainable way of working that pays producers a fair price for their production and tackles underlying issues of poverty and sustainability, the market will continue to lurch from crisis to crisis.
Kate Lewis, head of Product management, Fairtrade Foundation said;
“The recent fall in the price of Arabica coffee shows just how vulnerable coffee farmers around the world are to volatility in the markets and how important it is to be able to guarantee them a price that ensures they can cover the cost of production.
In addition to offering a guaranteed minimum price and access to markets, the Fairtrade Premium enables producers to invest in improving the quality and productivity of their coffee.
At least 25% of the Fairtrade Premium is allocated to improvement in farming practices to increase the volume of good quality coffee, which will be ever more important as demand increases and supplies of quality beans are increasingly affected by issues such as climate change. ”
