Higher Grounds Trading Co.’s Commitment to Fair Trade:

We only purchase coffee above a third party certified fair trade price and will only work with small-scale cooperatives striving for community sustainability. Through regular interaction with our partner growers, education in our community and participation in the fair trade movement we aim to push the boundaries to make trade more fair!

As we sip on our morning cup of coffee, thoughts of the day ahead usually fill our head. But to the 25 million farmers who grow the beans for our daily cup of joe, coffee is necessary for daily survival. Higher Grounds is dedicated to making sure our partner farmers are paid a fair price for their quality coffees!

How about a little justice in that java!

Nearly anyone who travels to coffee country can not dispute that coffee is one of the most oppressive industries in the world. Neoliberal economic policies, which have led to the privatization of the resources necessary to help the small-scale coffee grower, has had an enormously negative effect on the campesinos of the world. While large transnational coffee companies and a growing number of specialty coffee companies make hefty profits, growers are struggling to survive – many times choosing migration rather than continuing to farm a crop which provide them with little more than misery. Just 25 years ago the Global Coffee Industry was worth $30 billion dollars of which coffee producing countries received $12 billion (40%). Today, the industry is worth more than $55 billion dollars and producing countries receive only $7 billion (13%).

Fair Trade Coffee – Hope for the Future

Coffee is one of the largest traded commodities in the world and nearly 75% of all coffee growers farm less than 10 acres of land. By working with growing cooperatives made up of these small scale growers, Higher Grounds is working to support those growers who are producing the five percent highest quality beans in the world. Searching the world over, tasting coffees and hearing stories, we aim to bring the most premium beans to your doorstep – along with a message or two from the growers!

To us, it makes simple sense that adequate compensation for the growers who produced those fine, specialty grade beans should be part of the equation that makes a quality cup of coffee. Fair Trade ensures that growers are given a minimum fair price set and certified by a third party. The Fair Trade Labeling Organization ensures that the growers have formed a democratically run, organization dedicated to supporting the grower.

By buying direct from the growers, with our importing cooperative, Cooperative Coffees, we are able to ensure that the price we pay for our coffees goes directly to the growers – not middlemen, coyotes, brokers, or anyone else in the industry who tend to make a living from the sweat off the farmers back!