More Than A Cup of Coffee
Get to Know Fair Trade Coffee with OKOGreen
Get to Know Fair Trade Coffee with OKOGreen
words by Zhoe Zhang
photo from PEXELS
photo from PEXELS
Every morning when you hurry to a coffee shop to grab a coffee before your first class, have you ever wondered where the coffee beans come from? It wouldn’t be surprising that you have never thought about it, as most people haven’t, either. Nevertheless, you should now. Fair trade coffee is cautiously buzzing among coffee lovers and environmental activists. First consented in 1962 in International Agreement, fair trade coffee is allegiant to the rule of offering a better trading condition for small-scale coffee bean farmers, mostly in the so-called third world, such as countries in Africa and South America. The Next Page had an interview with Mr. Yang, the brand manager of OKOGreen (生態綠), the first fair trade coffee brand in Taiwan, to get an insight into this new coffee trend.
How does fair trade coffee actually work?
First, the fair trade organization, which is Fairtrade International (FLO) cooperates with traders to find communities that need help. They strictly examine the communities to meet the standards—more than 50% farmers in the community—before they sign the contracts.
As for the traders, they could choose ordering coffee beans from the communities provided by the fair trade organization. If they find the quality of suppliers’ coffee beans does not meet their expectations, they can change to other coffee communities. Such benign competition among communities who have received help from FLO guarantees the quality of the produced fair trade coffee beans. Moreover, the money the communities earns are used as social development funds, for things such as health insurance and education. The statistics show that 80% of the highest caliber organic coffee beans are actually from fair trade coffee.
First, the fair trade organization, which is Fairtrade International (FLO) cooperates with traders to find communities that need help. They strictly examine the communities to meet the standards—more than 50% farmers in the community—before they sign the contracts.
As for the traders, they could choose ordering coffee beans from the communities provided by the fair trade organization. If they find the quality of suppliers’ coffee beans does not meet their expectations, they can change to other coffee communities. Such benign competition among communities who have received help from FLO guarantees the quality of the produced fair trade coffee beans. Moreover, the money the communities earns are used as social development funds, for things such as health insurance and education. The statistics show that 80% of the highest caliber organic coffee beans are actually from fair trade coffee.
How fair trade coffee different from those is offered by Starbucks, illy or Nestle? What makes it a competitive choice of coffee?
What makes fair trade coffee really shine is its authentic quality. Since all the traders directly cooperate with the production side with the assistance of the fair trade coffee organization, they can supervise and filter the coffee beans, and thus guarantee the quality of the coffee beans. It will also be easier for customers to trace all the way back to the origin side of the products, getting the information for the entire process transparently.
Moreover, in a number of European countries, fair trade has already been well accepted and recognized as high quality. Many Starbucks in the UK or Australia use fair trade coffee only. Actually, you could have coffee made of fair trade coffee beans in some of the Starbucks in Taiwan as well.
What makes fair trade coffee really shine is its authentic quality. Since all the traders directly cooperate with the production side with the assistance of the fair trade coffee organization, they can supervise and filter the coffee beans, and thus guarantee the quality of the coffee beans. It will also be easier for customers to trace all the way back to the origin side of the products, getting the information for the entire process transparently.
Moreover, in a number of European countries, fair trade has already been well accepted and recognized as high quality. Many Starbucks in the UK or Australia use fair trade coffee only. Actually, you could have coffee made of fair trade coffee beans in some of the Starbucks in Taiwan as well.
What do you think of the market here in Taipei? Do you consider it to be a difficult business?
So far, the sales of fair trade coffee only account for 0.5%~1% of total sale of coffee beans in Taiwan. We foresee great potential in it. Actually, many traders have started to eye this new market. In Taipei, due to food safety issues, many people now are more aware of what they eat. We are now trying to educate more consumers about fair trade and the meaning behind it.
So far, the sales of fair trade coffee only account for 0.5%~1% of total sale of coffee beans in Taiwan. We foresee great potential in it. Actually, many traders have started to eye this new market. In Taipei, due to food safety issues, many people now are more aware of what they eat. We are now trying to educate more consumers about fair trade and the meaning behind it.
Is OKOGreen also cooperating with other fair trade organizations and shops in Taipei? How does OKOGreen contact and work with other fair trade shops and organizations?
Yes. The fair trade organization in Taiwan was established by us. Therefore, we have already contacted other fair trade traders to cooperate with us and with each other, promoting and selling products together. We even develop complementary products for us to grow together, and to deliver a clearer message to our customers.
Yes. The fair trade organization in Taiwan was established by us. Therefore, we have already contacted other fair trade traders to cooperate with us and with each other, promoting and selling products together. We even develop complementary products for us to grow together, and to deliver a clearer message to our customers.