Korean Job Discussion Forums

[crazy_arcade]

Just want everyone to know that you can now buy Fair Trade coffee from Nepal at Homeplus locations. It comes in 200 g black bags with green lettering. It's not amazing coffee, but decent enough. However, by buying it you help ensure farmers receive a fair price for their product.

Cheers!

[eamo]

[crazy_arcade]

As far as I know Starbucks doesn't go by international standards for "fair trade." They have their own system set-up I believe. I used to have a few friends that worked at Starbucks in uni and I would often get the spiel from them. Starbucks certainly has a lot of PR about how good thier relationships with farmers are and so forth. I have no idea about any details though.

[kotakji]

I dont think Starbucks could successfully rely on the established Fair Trade regime. While its a great idea when talking about your everyday decent beans- the regime doesnt do much to distinguish between different quality of beans. As far as I know it only distinguishes between subspecies Arabica and Robusta (sp?) as far as pricing goes.

Thats not to say Starbucks isnt trading fairly with the producers though. Though what one person considers fair another may not.

*Edit* I pulled out a article I read in grad school about the issue again- seems a major part of the problem is that Starbucks actually pays the farmers more per unit for their beans then the FT regime does to insure quality.

[sojourner1]

I get this Hikkoka coffee at Homeplus in a 7 ounce sea green bag. They grind the beans there for you and it's really good gourmet Columbian coffee.

[crazy_arcade]

[sojourner1]

Yea, it's a fair trade for my won! LOL.

[oni]

There's also an organic/fair trade cafe chain called Cafe Des Verts.
I haven't been to one yet

www.cafedesverts.com

They also have organic chocolate

there are branches in Yeoksam, Dongbu Icheon, Mokdong (in Hyundai Dept store), Cheongdam.

anyone been to one????

[crazy_arcade]

[Hairy Jim]

I used to do campaigning work for Fairtrade in the UK (before I ditched my morals at immigration), does anyone know if there's anything like that going on in Korea?

[oni]

www.beautifulstore.org
they sell some fair trade stuff and is a kind of recycling/used goods store.
Don't know if they do campaigning work per se. There's info on their website about volunteering

[mack4289]

So is Fair Trade really good for anyone beside the farmers? Think about it: Starbucks or whoever pays an above market price to these farmers, obviously using a currency that's stronger the currency of the farmer's country. That takes more of the farmer's currency off the market and so the value of that currency goes up. When currency values go up, that country's exports get more expensive. Normally this is the sign of a healthy economy in which the citizens are becoming consumers as well as producers. But in the case of Fair Trade products, it's only a sign that some well meaning importers are paying above market prices for some of that country's exports, thereby hurting the competitiveness of that country's exporters. Is there something I'm missing here? Doesn't this seem like a likely consequence of Fair Trade?

[crazy_arcade]

[jaganath69]

[jaderedux]