What is fair trade coffee?
Fair trade coffee is coffee certified as produced and bought under fair-trade standards. The standards set minimum prices meant to be fair to farmers, aim for long-term trading relationships and sustainable farming, and prohibit child and forced labor. The most widely used standards come from Fairtrade International, and a label on the bag shows the coffee met them.
How fair trade certification works
Certification began in the Netherlands in 1988, after a coffee crisis in which supply ran well ahead of demand and prices fell. The first label was called Max Havelaar. Labels in other countries followed, including TransFair USA, and in 1997 four labeling groups formed Fairtrade International, which still sets the standards and certifies growers.
For coffee, certification covers small farmers organized into producer groups, most of them cooperatives. Fairtrade International certifies coffee only under its standard for small-scale producer organizations, where most members must be smallholders who farm mainly with their own and their family's labor. Importers register and pay a minimum price to the exporting organization. Coffee packers pay a fee to use the Fairtrade mark.
Two details surprise people. Retailers can charge any price they like for fair trade coffee. And a cooperative cannot always sell its whole harvest as certified: Wikipedia's article notes that demand for certified coffee falls short of supply, so much certified coffee is sold as uncertified.
Fair trade vs direct trade vs organic
| Fair trade | Direct trade | Organic | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it covers | How farmers are paid and organized | How the roaster buys | How the coffee is grown |
| Who checks | A certifier, such as Fairtrade International | No third party; each roaster sets its own terms | In the U.S., certifiers under the USDA National Organic Program |
| Price floor | Yes, a minimum price | Set by each roaster; advocates tie it to quality | No |
| Who can take part | Smallholder producer organizations | Any farm the roaster chooses | Any certified farm |
See direct trade coffee and organic coffee.
The debate around fair trade
Wikipedia's articles record both sides. Supporters point to more stable prices and better conditions on certified farms; one survey of certified cooperatives in Ethiopia found more written contracts and more union membership among their workers. Critics say the benefits fall short of what is advertised, that certification and marketing costs leave some cooperatives out of pocket, and that seasonal hired workers on small farms are left out. Direct trade grew partly as a response: roasters paying premiums straight to farms, tied to quality, without certification fees.
Fair trade coffee from Oregon roasters
Among the Oregon roasters we list, Portland Coffee Roasters is the one whose menu names Fair Trade coffees, checked 2026-09-27: it sells organic and Fair Trade coffees, including a Fair Trade Organic Guatemala. Founded in 1996, it has also bought directly from farmers since the start. Its first direct trade shipment came from the La Hilda Estate in Costa Rica, which it still roasts every year.
Several other Oregon roasters we list describe their buying as direct relationships rather than certification: Backporch, Nossa Familia and Trailhead among them. Either way, the roasting, packing and cafe jobs are in Oregon, which is the local half of the same idea. Why local roasters matter.
Fair trade and the club
The plan builder does not filter by certification. Each roaster sets its own sourcing, and our roaster profiles say how each one buys, from its own pages. What you pick is the roast level, the style and the grind; the roaster changes every box. Every 12 oz bag is $16.99, every 2 or 4 weeks. First bag free, you pay $7.99 shipping. Start in the plan builder.
Related terms and sources
Related: coffee cooperative, direct trade coffee, organic coffee, shade grown coffee, C price.
- Wikipedia: Fair-trade coffee (history, Fairtrade International, standards, fees, criticism, the Ethiopian survey)
- Wikipedia: Direct trade (contrast with fair trade)
- Oregon roaster sourcing: each roaster's own pages, read 2026-09-27, as summarized on our roaster profiles.