When we talk about "fair trade" we are not making reference to the model that emphasizes branding, licensing, and minimum standards. We recognize the value of coaxing big coffee corporations to commit a portion of their coffee purchases to a measurable minimum standard, but frankly that is not what we do nor do we think that this model can be transformative.

As the years have gone by, more and more coffee growers have expressed that the FT minimum model is not fair. Instead of continuing to try to change that system, we have chosen to build the model that we believe comes closer to the term "fair".

At JC we do fair trade the way we feel like it was meant to be done. Meaning that we think it is more than a brand name or even a set of rules. It is an opportunity to change the global economy into something that puts the needs of people before the profit margins of companies.

Fair Trade considers 5 factors in it's tenets. We will address them one by one:

A BETTER PRICE
We pay a $1.91 per pound minimum price to the grower cooperatives who we buy from. We also engage the farmers in discussion over what price would actually be a fair one to them. And then we see how close we can come to meeting that amount.

PREFINANCING
A "fair price" only works when it is paid in a way that works for farmers. Often farmers face a severe cash shortage going into the harvest season. In the mainstream version of fair trade we see many big companies with the money to do this look the other way.

At JC we have worked with local Madison groups like SERRV International and Rainbow Book Co-op to raise prefinancing money for our contracts. Through our importing co-op we also work with groups like Ecologic to help growers get the money that they need on time. And occasionally we prefinance contracts out of our own operating budget.

LONG TERM PARTNERSHIPS
Many roasters and importers buy "fair trade coffee" from different co-ops every year depending on quality and convenience. At JC we work with the same farmers every year and visit co-ops that we work with as much as we can. We have a full-tome producer relations person who travels several months out of the year visiting with the farmers who we partner with. We also host farmers here in Madison. We want to be part of the lives of the people we work with. This kind of relationship guarantees that farmers give us their highest quality coffee every year. It creates true partnerships that go beyond the buying and selling of beans.

ENCOURAGING ECOLOGICALLY SOUND PRACTICES
At JC we encourage organic practices because it benefits the producers and their communities. We also encourage organic certification where it is worthwhile, although we recognize that this is not practical for some of the smaller co-ops that we work with because of its expense.

COMMITMENT TO COOPERATIVE ORGANIZATION
Some roasters have started their own certification systems with their own agendas or pressured the FT certifiers to allow plantations into the FT system.  This speaks of a lack of belief in the importance of farmers owning their own land and having a democratically organized workplace.

At JC we work with cooperatives. We support the original vision of fair trade that aims to help small-scale producers stay on their land and off of the plantations. We absolutely agree that pressure needs to be put on plantations to improve working conditions and that those farms that are doing things right should be recognized for their efforts. However, we strongly feel that this should be addressed by another campaign by people who have the expertise and resources to monitor labor practices of big private farms.

Transparency in Business Practices
Instead of depending on third party certifiers to tell you that we do what we say we do, we place all of our contracts and financials on our website and encourage you to see for yourself what we do. We hope that we meet your criteria of fairness and we hope that you'll ask all companies that you buy from to do the same.