Intelligentsia Direct Trade Logo
While Fair Trade – sustainable agriculture and increased compensation to farmers in developing countries through the elimination of middlemen – is more widely recognized, coffee roasters in North America have begun a practice known as Direct Trade, which further enhances the ties between farmers and coffee producers.
Direct Means Direct
Pioneered by Intelligentsia Coffee, roasters travel to distant coffee farms, developing relationships with farmers, buying beans from these farms directly with no middleman or broker – still present to a lesser extent in Fair Trade practices.
The Difference Is Quality
In addition to healthy, environmental, social, and sustainable practices, roasters such as Intelligentsia see the product as it is grown, learn the farming involved, meet the workers, and work with them, often hand-in-hand cultivating the beans, the final product is far superior to other coffees. It’s a true collaborative effort between the roaster and the farmer to achieve a level of quality and taste unique to companies such as Intelligentsia. By comparison, Fair Trade does only governs environmental and economic standards in production – not quality.
Farmers Are Partners
Working with roasters to achieve a higher-quality product creates a coffee with higher value, thus farmers are paid at least 25% more than comparable Fair Trade prices for their beans. Direct Trade roasters, such as Intelligentsia, involve the farmers through the entire line of coffee production. As unthinkable as it may seem, until very recently, most farmers have never drank a cup of what their beans eventually became.
Criticism
Unlike Fair Trade, there is no third-party governing body certifying Direct Trade practices and some roasters may make unconfirmed claims of direct trading. Consumers are left to put trust in a company they must research on their own. It’s important for consumers to seek other sources of information. A company such as Intelligentsia, owns the trademark to Direct Trade, is widely-profiled in the press, and offers exhaustive details of their own practices to the public which support their claims.
Manic Coffee Serves and Supports Direct Trade
Through our partnership with Intelligentsia, we’re proud to serve our customers some of the finest quality and equable coffee in the world. Through your patronage of Manic, you are supporting Direct Trade and the farmers in developing countries who work hard to bring you that little cup of pleasure each and every day. Thank you.
Further Reading
- Intelligentsia – About Direct Trade
- Direct Trade Coffee – Green Wiki
- To Burundi and Beyond for Coffee’s Holy Grail – New York Times
