- Fairtrade coffee sales steady in economic downturn

Fairtrade coffee sales steady in economic downturn

Guardian - October 31, 2008

Global sales of Fairtrade coffee are holding up well despite an economic slowdown, coffee dealers and farmers' unions said on Thursday.

The Fairtrade system helps farmers and workers from poor countries to develop their communities through fairer terms of trade. The movement developed in the 1990s at a time of falling commodity prices.

Barbara Crowther, head of communications at London-based Fairtrade Foundation, the certification body behind the Fairtrade label, said the global financial crisis would not stop consumers from buying premium-cost Fairtrade coffee.

"We believe that if people need to economise they are not going to stop buying Fairtrade coffee," she told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"From all the consumer research that we can see, the public remains committed to their values when it comes to Fairtrade," she said. Read More.