MILAN – Regarding yesterday’s article “Fair trade is not doing enough for coffee – senior UN advisor Jeffrey Sachs”, we have received the following comment from our reader Gazy Kattan.
“Dear Comunicaffe Internation, I would like to comment on Mr. Sachs advice during the 1st World Coffee Producers Forum in Medellín.
I honestly doubt that adding 5 cents to a cup of coffee will help the producers. First of all, how is that extra money going to be remitted to the growers?
Mr. Sachs should provide a complete solution indicating the mechanism to transfer the money to the growers, without commissions, fees, etc.
The grower receives about 80 cents per pound, while the importer sells to the roasters at nearly $5 per pound.
There is a better model, established by Clearpath Coffee in Colombia, which can be seen at www.clearpathcoffee.com. Our growers receive a much larger amount per pound.”
