Fair Trade News

Published October 31, 2005

TransFair warms to McDonald's coffee

Officials of the nation's only certifier of fair trade products, Oakland-based TransFair USA, said Monday they welcomed a decision by fast-food giant McDonald's Corp. to begin selling only fair trade-certified coffee in 658 restaurants across the Northeast.

Products can only be certified as fair trade if farmers and farm workers who grew or harvested crops used in the products were paid a fair, above-market price or wage for their goods or labor.

McDonald's restaurants throughout New England and the area in and around Albany, N.Y. will begin selling the coffee Nov. 1.

"This is a great moment for the fair trade movement, one that will have an immensely positive impact on fair trade farmers and serve as an example for other companies that are still considering whether to respond to consumer demand for fair trade products," said Paul Rice, president and CEO of TransFair USA, in a statement. "Our hope is that McDonald's will embrace fair trade across its entire system and convert all of its U.S. restaurants to fair trade in the next year or two."

McDonald's, based in Oak Brook, Ill., joins a number of other major companies in serving fair trade coffee, including Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks Coffee, Costco and Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.