Get active – support fair trade

Fair trade coffee. Photo: Martin Wurt/OxfamAUS.

A fair trade accreditation system has recently been established in Australia and New Zealand which could see sales of fair trade coffee and other products take off.

A fair trade accreditation system means that as consumers we will be able to identify genuinely fairly traded goods by the fair trade logo. This development offers significant opportunities to make fairly traded goods more widely available.

Excessive amounts of coffee on the international market have brought down prices paid to coffee farmers to a 30-year low. Currently, coffee farmers in countries such as Ethiopia, East Timor and Vietnam receive about $1.80 per kilo of coffee beans – a tiny fraction of the price we pay.

By buying fair trade coffee rather than the 'usual' coffee available, coffee farmers in developing nations will receive a fair price for their coffee which will enable them and their families to enjoy a basic standard of living.

At the moment in Australia, there is one licensed importer of fair trade green coffee beans (before they are roasted for consumer use), and one licensed importer of fair trade instant coffee. There are also six licensed fair trade roasters, which use fairly traded green beans. These roasters sell coffee directly to the public as well as to other retailers. See the list of fair trade accredited roasters below – we will keep you informed of other roasters who receive accreditation.

Over coming months we will be working with roasters to encourage them to apply for accreditation. You can help by talking to your local roaster and cafés about your interest in fair trade coffee. Ask them if they would consider stocking fair trade coffee.

We have a leaflet on fair trade coffee which you can distribute in your local area.

More information is available on our website at www.oxfam.org.au/fairtrade. This site has links to other fair trade websites as well as a list of accredited fair trade coffee roasters and retailers. Fair trade tea is also available and information about sources is also on our website.

What you can do

• Buy fair trade coffee and tea.
• Ask your local roaster and cafés to sell fair trade coffee and tea.
• Get your workplace, school, community centre to buy fair trade coffee and/or tea.
• Let you local supermarket know you'd like to buy fair trade goods – visit your store manager or send a letter to the supermarket's head office. Please let us know if they decide to take up the fair trade challenge.
• Distribute our leaflets about fair trade coffee to your school, university, workplace or community centre. Leaflets are available by calling the Campaign Coordinator in your state (see the inset box for details).
• Tell your friends all about it!

Fair trade coffee suppliers

Fair trade tea suppliers

Community campaigners contact numbers