The Fair Trade Certified™ label guarantees that farmers and workers received a fair price for their product. The Fair Trade price means that farmers can feed their families and that their children can go to school instead of working in the fields.

By receiving a fair price, Fair Trade producers can avoid cost-cutting practices that sacrifice quality. The Fair Trade producers’ traditional artisanal farming methods result in exceptional products.

Most Fair Trade Certified™ coffee, tea and chocolate in the US is certified organic and shade grown. This means that the products you buy maintain biodiversity, provide shelter for migratory birds and help reduce global warming.

Empowered by the economic stability provided by Fair Trade, members of the COSURCA coffee cooperative in Colombia successfully prevented the cultivation of more than 1,600 acres of coca and poppy, used for the production of illicit drugs. In Papua New Guinea, the AGOGA cooperative, is investing in a medical team to meet the healthcare needs of its isolated rural community. In the highlands of Guatemala, indigenous Tzutuhil Mayans in the La Voz cooperative are sending local kids to college for the first time. Near Lake Titicaca, in Peru, the CECOVASA cooperative is assisting members from Quechua and Aymara indigenous groups in raising coffee quality and transitioning to certified organic production.

Organic coffee is grown using methods and materials that have a low impact on the environment. Organic production systems replenish and maintain soil fertility, reduce the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers, and build biologically diverse agriculture. Third-party certification organizations verify that organic farmers use only methods and materials allowed in organic production.

Organic Trade Association data shows that organic coffee sales in the United States amounted to approximately $89 million in 2005, up 40.4 percent from the previous year. Data collected by ACNielsen during 2005 show organic coffee sales increased 54 percent through Nov. 6, compared to the same period in 2004, while non-organic coffee sales increased just 8.5 percent. According to the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), at least 56 percent of U.S. specialty coffee firms sell certified organic coffee.

Globally, organic coffee represents about 0.6 percent of the coffee sold in the major consuming countries, according to estimates from The World Bank. Organic coffee consumption reached 700,000 60-kg. bags (42,000 metric tons) for major coffee-consuming nations in 2003, the last year for which data is available.

Organic coffee products now on the market include decaffeinated, caffeinated, flavored and instant coffees, organic coffee ice cream, coffee sodas, hard candies, and chocolate covered beans.

Most conventionally produced coffees are decaffeinated by using methylene chloride. Organic coffee, however, must be decaffeinated using a certified organic decaffeination process to maintain the organic integrity of the beans. The most common organic decaffeination process is the SWISS WATERâ process, using only water to remove caffeine.

The USDA Organic seal can appear on any coffee product that contains at least 95 percent organic ingredients and that has been certified as organic by a certification agency accredited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The coffee may also carry a label saying “100 percent organic” or “Organic.”