Fairtrade: It tastes better with a clear conscience

Some take it with sugar, some with milk and some drink it with chocolate shavings on top.

But who drinks coffee with a clear conscience?

It seems an increasing number have adopted the catchcry "think before you drink".

And while the percentage of coffee drunk that carries a sustainably grown or ethically sourced label is still relatively small, it is growing in popularity despite its higher price.

For example, Fairtrade calculates that retail sales of coffee carrying its certification topped $50 million last year while another $227 million of its coffee was sold at cafes and restaurants.

Moreover, Fairtrade coffee is the only type of "coffee with a conscience" now widely available.

The International Coffee Organisation, which represents the governments of coffee exporters and importers, recently noted that although eco-friendly and ethically sourced coffee accounted for less than two per cent of total consumption, they comprised an important market segment which was growing.

The ICO noted that this niche market offered benefits not only for about 750,000 farm households, but for the entire industry in terms of increased sales and greater profits all along the supply chain.

One of the benefits is said to be the smoothing of peaks and troughs of coffee's notoriously volatile price cycle.

Prices hit a peak in 2011 when Arabica coffee on the New York futures market reached US$3.09 a pound.

Today the price is closer to US$1.05 ($1.14) a pound, due largely to a bumper crop expected in Brazil, the world's largest producer. When prices slump, it can cause havoc in the developing nations.

Improving working conditions and protecting the environment and fair terms of trade are other areas where not-for-profit organisations, NGOs and companies promoting sustainable and ethically produced coffee believe they can make a difference - though they employ different methods.

They include:

RAINFOREST ALLIANCE CERTIFIED

Launched in 1987 to support the environmentally responsible management of forests, Rainforest Alliance devised a set of standards in 1991 to certify farms which met certain environmental standards, including worker health and safety. In 2008, McDonald's restaurants in Australia and New Zealand announced they would only serve Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee.

UTZ CERTIFIED

Started in 2002 by a Belgian coffee grower in Guatemala and a Dutch coffee roaster, this group began life as Utz Kapeh, which means "good coffee" in Mayan language.

Utz has a code of conduct for environmentally sustainable coffee growing practices and employs a web-based system to ensure its products are traceable from grower to roaster. But like the Rainforest Alliance, Utz does not feature minimum prices for growers.

PARTNERSHIP COFFEE

This is the term used by Five Senses Coffee, which started as a family company in Rockingham in 2000 and which has since expanded into Melbourne, to describe its relationship with coffee farmers.

Chief executive Shaughan Dunne says buying sustainably grown coffee direct from growers in developing nations can be extremely complex.

Mr Dunne said Five Senses' Partnership Coffee involved time, training, investment, sustainable prices and direct payments to reflect its long-term commitment and involvement with its partners.

It meant working closely with farmers in Bali and Sumatra over a number of years - with frequent trips every year - to ensure they had adequate training and could produce the quality of coffee customers demanded.

"That's the best way to help people - help them grow good quality coffee," he explained.

"As coffee drinkers become more discerning it's getting harder to get coffee good enough to keep customers happy. Propping up growers who don't produce good coffee is setting up people to fail."

BIRD FRIENDLY

This certification was created by America's Smithsonian Migratory Bird Centre, which has a goal of fostering the understanding and protection of bird migration.

The link with coffee?

Coffee traditionally was grown in the shade of trees, which provided a habitat for migratory birds and animals such as bats, reptiles and insects. The Bird Friendly label supports a return to a traditional style of coffee growing. Farmers must be organically certified and provide at least 40 per cent shade coverage to qualify.

WHAT IS FAIRTRADE?

Perhaps the best known of the sustainable food labels on sale in Australia, Fairtrade International began 25 years ago when Dutch coffee traders joined with Mexican coffee growers to grow sustainable coffee - without using child labour but with environmental standards aimed at ensuring ecosystems were not degraded. Fairtrade provides a minimum price to help protect producers against price volatility. Certified co-operatives, for example, can count on at least US$1.40 per pound for washed Arabica coffee beans sold on Fairtrade terms, and US30¢ per pound more if the coffee is organically grown. A premium of US20¢ per pound is added to the purchase price and is used by producer organisations for social and economic investments within the communities and organisations. Most Fairtrade coffee is grown in South America by small farmers, though by the end of 2011, 348 producer organisations in 28 countries worldwide held a Fairtrade certificate for coffee.