Surprise! I have a confession to make… on Thursday, I found myself in… Starbucks! I’ll explain why later…
Success! On Wednesday, I bought the Fairtrade individual coffee filters and Earl Grey tea bags from Marks and Spencers. I can now call my workplace semi-Fairtrade.
The individual coffee filters are very nice (strength 3), but I can tell that I’ll soon be taking in a cafetiere so that I can get my strength 5 ground coffee caffeine kick!
So why was I in Starbucks on Thursday? I have to admit that I had never expected to set foot in a Starbucks ever again: the last time I was in that outlet it had not been a good experience - I had decided to try the Starbucks challenge and had asked which of their coffees were Fairtrade. The staff’s answer was that all their coffees were Fairtrade. Unfortunately, this was far from the the case - at that time, their Fairtrade coffee was only available on request and the staff would have to grind it specially for you.
So why was I in a Starbucks now? Well, a colleague suggested at the end of a meeting that we should all go and take advantage of their free cup of Fairtrade coffee offer to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight. I was curious, and it also sparked a conversation amongst my colleagues about how much of a difference buying Fairtrade makes.
The only brand of Fairtrade coffee that Starbucks stock is called Cafe Estima. It’s a good, strong coffee, and it was jolly nice to have a free cup. What interested me more, though, was that the store was advertising Good Coffee day and had lots of leaflets about Starbucks’ own schemes, but none about Fairtrade.
The pros and cons of the different coffee certification schemes can get very confusing. I’ve done some research and found a document that analyses them. I’ll read it (its over 60 pages) and post a summary in the near future, to help negotiate the ethical labyrinth. In the meantime, I’ll stick with buying Fairtrade products…
I’ve realised that perhaps I shouldn’t be an ethical snob, but should encourage Fair Trade by supporting it wherever I happen to find myself!
But what do you think - is it right to support mainstream companies that only offer a tiny selection of Fair Trade?
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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Katerobertson 
Randa 
Fair Trade Shopping 
Enlarging Fair 
Jon Wade 
5 users commented in " Filters and a Free cup of Fairtrade coffee "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackWhat a brilliant blog! How great to be able to have someone else try and test and report back for us! I am sure that lots and lots more people would buy ethically if someone else made the choices easier. People want to do the right thing but don’t necessarily have the time or interest in it! We are living in a society where kids think bananas come from Sainsbury’s after all.
My opinion is that all coffee/tea/sugar etc etc companies should be prepared to source all their products ethically. Why this is even up for debate says a lot about our society - is it sheer lack of humanity, or a simple detachment from what we consume, where it came from and how it found its way to us? Until mainstream companies do this I will only buy from small exclusively fair trade outlets whenever possible. I don’t want Nestle to reap more profits from me simply because they have made a half hearted attempt to keep us ethical consumers on side.
great site - keep it up!
I agree wholeheartedly with Georgie’s comment. Feel quite cynically that companies like Nestles are just trying to get on the band wagon and don’t want to lose customers.
Why can’t there simply be a law to source ll products ethically…or is that simply too simple…
‘cos money makes the world go round, the world go round, the world go round….
The blog is a brilliant idea. I voted for no 3, but they have convinced me that I should vote for no. 2: i.e. companies who do not simply make a token gesture towards being Fair Trade. This seems only a cynical nod in the direction of Fair Trade for gaining profits, not for genuinely humanitarian reasons.
I am asking our library to order it and I have told a few people about it. I will post up the blog address in our local organic grocer on their notice board and elsewhere. M.T.
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