We’ve all seen the Fairtrade logo on coffee products, whether we’re standing in line at the local cafe or perusing the grocery aisles, or scooping some dark roast ground coffee in the office at work- but what does Fairtrade mean?

If the coffee you prefer to drink is Fairtrade, it means that the company who bought those delicious coffee beans you crave each morning (and noon, and night…) paid the minimum cost of production of those beans, plus a little more. This ‘little more’ is the important factor, because the cost of coffee beans can sustain an entire community. So when the global cost of coffee may sometimes dip, the community can rest assured that, until it rises again, they can remain financially stable.

Fairtrade coffee is also good news for the environment! If coffee beans are fairly priced, then farmers do not have to worry about cultivating more coffee crops, which in turn leads to fewer trees being cut down to make room for these crops. Fairtrade coffee farmers are also forbidden from using harmful agrochemicals and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), keeping ecosystems safe and farmers’ health conditions protected. Waste disposal, laws prohibiting planting in certain areas, and conservation of water are environmental focuses in the Fairtrade industry.

Fairtrade coffee allows farmers to employ people in their community with fair wages and safe work conditions. Child labour is strictly prohibited. Some of the profit from the sale of Fairtrade coffee goes right back into the community: scholarships, quality improvement training, and healthcare. Farmers are also directly in contact with international buyers, cutting out the middlemen, and allowing farmers to compete and trade on a global scale. The farmers then have the power to decide how revenues will be used in the community to promote further success.

Cornish Coffee promotes the use of Fairtrade coffee, seeing the benefits of supporting a community to get out of poverty by trading a natural resource in a natural way. While Cornish Coffee grows their coffee beans in the UK, all trade is Fairtrade and focused on maintaining positive environmental and social impact.