Fairtrade

After the Christmas holidays, IC's cafes were all selling only fairtrade coffee and tea. I was intrigued by it and was a bit skeptical on whether the proceeds really go to the farmers and the deserving parties. So I googled fairtrade and explored the website.

Basically, 'The FAIRTRADE Mark is an independent consumer label which appears on products as an independent guarantee that disadvantaged producers in the developing world are getting a better deal' -Fairtrade- It was first introduced in Holland in the late 1980s and now there are more than 20 participating countries.

I am now officially a coffee addict, especially with the buy 6 get 1 free deal at IC. Prices are high and consumers are bearing these costs and they assume that farmers are paid what they were promised. It is therefore not a demand-supply driven market, hence it loses its efficiency. I am still skeptical that the deserving parties are rightfully compensated with the fairtrade deals. We can just hope as anything that has bureaucratic process or hierarchy would involve money leaking somewhere along the chain.