Visit: Cafédirect

Fairtrade and promoting Fairtrade products - Part 2

17. How long has Fairtrade been in operation?
18. Are there any solutions that can be used in conjunction with an increase in the supply of Fairtrade Coffee?
19. Do you believe that Fairtrade coffee will become popular in Cameroon?
20. What message to you have for the large coffee companies who are cheating the farmers or taking advantage of the market?
21. How do you think we can encourage more consumers to switch to FairTrade coffee?
22. What are you doing to encourage Fairtrade at the moment?
23. What are the drawbacks of Fairtrade?
24. What percentage of the coffee market is part of FairTrade?
25. Is the market for FairTrade coffee big enough to have a great impact on the problems facing the growers? - globally?
26. Does your co-op grow any other products apart from coffee?
27. I read that coffee prices are very low, so how can coffee farmers survive if that is their only cash crop?
28. That's terrible. I've heard the same thing happening around the world. Is Fairtrade making a real difference?
29. Now that you supply Cafédirect with cocoa, how does the time for a cocoa plant (tree?) to grow compare with that of a coffee tree?
30. How do your farmers transport the produce to market - do they have to get it to the docks?
31. What did the farmers in the co-op do before the co-op existed - sell produce to the big multinationals?
32. What are the chances of Cafédirect themselves becoming a multinational? Would this be a good thing, in that it would mean more Fairtrade? And how big are Cafédirect's sales compared to, say, Nescafé?
33. What do you think of companies like Starbucks?

Fairtrade and promoting Fairtrade products - Part 2

Question: How long has Fairtrade been in operation?
Roseline: Cafédirect has been buying from us for 7 years.
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Question: Are there any solutions that can be used in conjunction with an increase in the supply of Fairtrade Coffee?
Roseline: The supply of Fairtrade coffee is not the answer. It is the demand, if more demand Fairtrade then it will help more farmers.
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Question: Do you believe that Fairtrade coffee will become popular in Cameroon?
Roseline: Farmers don't tend to drink coffee as it costs a lot of money. In the east of Cameroon they may do. I think they would like to support the farmers from their country.
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Question: What message to you have for the large coffee companies for are cheating the farmers or taking advantage of the?
Roseline: I wish they would buy using Fairtrade terms so the farmers can benefit. It is not right that the companies do not support the growers they buy from.
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Question: How do you think we can encourage more consumers to switch to Fairtrade coffee?
Roseline: If we keep spreading the message of Fairtrade and getting people to try it and see how good it tastes. This will help more Fairtrade to be bought.
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Question: What are you doing to encourage Fairtrade at the moment?
Roseline: I am here from Cameroon to pass on the message on Fairtrade assistance to our farmers and the vast change we have in our lives. And to make the UK shoppers know that it is real; that the farmers benefit from their effort by buying Cafédirect and thereby improving the lives of the 3rd world countries. Macefcoop - my co-op is doing this in particular.
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Question: What are the drawbacks of Fairtrade?
Roseline: I can't think of any drawbacks, except we need to sell more so more can benefit.
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Question: What percentage of the coffee market is part of Fairtrade?
Roseline: Fairtrade is growing in the UK now. In the world only 1% of coffee is sold as Fairtrade. Cafédirect 5065 now has almost 3% of the freeze-dried coffee market - this shows how good my coffee is.
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Question: Is the market for Fairtrade coffee big enough to have a great impact on the problems facing the growers? - globally?
Roseline: No, the Fairtrade market isn't big enough to support all the coffee growers, there are over 25 million of them in the world. But at the moment in this very hard time, it's the best solution to help some coffee growers.
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Question: Does your co-op grow any other products apart from coffee?
Roseline: Yes we grow cocoa, which is now being used in Cocodirect, a new drinking chocolate that Cafédirect is bringing out. We have also diversified to Casava (like potato) so we can eat it and sell to our neighbouring countries.
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Question: I read that coffee prices are very low, so how can coffee farmers survive if that is their only cash crop?
Roseline: Farmers cannot survive. Some are having to burn their farms down to have space to grow food. Some are leaving to go to town where there is no work. Some are going hungry and there is extreme poverty. Poor houses, made of mud and thatched roofs.
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Question: That's terrible I've heard the same thing happening around the world. Is Fairtrade making a real difference?
Roseline: Yes, Fairtrade is making a big difference. Cafédirect are paying 197% more for my 'robusta' coffee. We now have money for medicine, schools for the children, more food and to invest in our farms to improve production and quality.
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Question: Now that you supply Cafédirect with cocoa, how does the time for a cocoa plant (tree?) to grow compare with that of a coffee tree?
Roseline: Cocoa beans take about four years to mature. We have been growing cocoa in my area for a long time, over 50 years.
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Question: How do your farmers transport the produce to market - do they have to get it to the docks?
Roseline: With coffee, after drying the beans the co-op picks up the coffee from the farmers for storage and processing. Then it is taken by lorry to the docks to be transported to the UK.
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Question: What did the farmers in the co-op do before the co-op existed - sell produce to the big multinationals?
Roseline: Since they grew up in the coffee growing environment, they continued to grow it and sell it at very low prices to local buyers.
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Question: What are the chances of Cafédirect themselves becoming a multinational? Would this be a good thing, in that it would mean more Fairtrade? And how big are Cafédirect's sales compared to, say, Nescafé?
Roseline: Cafédirect is growing fast in the UK. Shoppers are buying it to help growers and because it tastes great! If Cafédirect get bigger they will be able to help more growers. At the moment our sales are far less than Nescafé, but we are now the 6th biggest coffee brand in the UK!
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Question: What do you think of companies like Starbucks?
Roseline: I haven't been into Starbucks, but I have been to Costa Coffee. Costa Coffee is a famous coffee shop here. It has many people shopping there, I had the opportunity of taking a mug of Fairtrade coffee there. It is good to know that in the UK shoppers can drink Fairtrade when they are out.
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