Press Releases

04/28/01

Seattle Perks Up with Fair Trade Coffee:
Seattle leads the call for sustainably produced coffee, brewing up solutions to trade disputes and coffee farming crisis

Seattle, WA (April 28, 2001) - TransFair USA joins the Northwest Shade Coffee Campaign and the Songbird Foundation to launch the Seattle Sustainable Coffee Campaign, kicking off with a public event in Steinbreuck Park (Pike Place Market) featuring live music, free tastings of sustainable coffees, an award for PCC, and visits with Fair Trade coffee farmers on April 28, 2001, 11am-2pm. The Seattle Sustainable Coffee Campaign will focus public attention on the social and environmental issues brewing in our coffee and highlight sustainable coffee choices, including organic, shade-grown and Fair Trade Certified coffees. Upcoming campaign events will feature noted environmentalists, visiting coffee farmers, and musicians Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Keb Mo -- plus the many concerned Seattle consumers, roasters, and retailers who have built a groundswell of support for sustainable coffees.

"The leadership on Fair Trade from concerned consumers and coffee industry leaders in Seattle is most encouraging - and it couldn't come at a better time," says Paul Rice, TransFair's Executive Director. "With today's coffee prices dipping to their lowest level in more than 7 years, thousands of coffee farmers are losing their farms this year. By supporting Fair Trade Certified coffee, Seattle consumers, roasters, and retailers are ensuring that small family farmers are able to feed their families, keep their children in school, build community health clinics, and safeguard the environment for future generations."

While world leaders remained deadlocked over socially responsible trade practices at recent meetings in Quebec, Seattle consumers and coffee companies have been forging ahead with support for Fair Trade Certified, organic, and shade-grown coffee. Seattle-based industry giants like Starbucks, Tully's, and the Seattle Coffee Company now offer Fair Trade Certified coffee brands as one way to support the family farmers they depend on for the highest quality coffee -- and to keep their discerning consumers satisfied. In a city famed for its specialty coffee and its socially conscious consumers, public support in Seattle has been critical to the success of Fair Trade and other sustainable coffees.

Fair Trade is an innovative approach to empowering Third World farmers through direct trade, fair prices, access to credit, and sustainable farming methods. Traditionally, many small coffee farmers must sell their coffee to middlemen at prices that do not even cover their costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt. Fair Trade Certified coffee now benefits 550,000 farming families in 21 countries around the world. In the year since Fair Trade coffee brands have been widely available in the Pacific Northwest, Fair Trade coffee sales have enabled farming families to improve their nutrition and healthcare, practice environmentally responsible farming methods, and re-invest in their farms and communities.

TransFair USA is the only non-profit organization providing independent certification of Fair Trade products in the US. Through regular visits to Fair Trade cooperatives and partnerships with participating coffee companies in the US, TransFair guarantees that Fair Trade Certified products were grown and traded responsibly. More than 95 US companies now offer Fair Trade Certified coffee.

Upcoming events in the Seattle Sustainable Coffee Campaign:
Launch Event Saturday April 28: 11am-2pm, Steinbreuck Park (Pike Place Market).
International Fair Trade Day, Saturday May 19: Enjoy Fair Trade coffee samples at selected retail outlets.
Benefit Concert, Friday June 1: Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Keb Mo.