The Guiltiest Beverage
You've seen it on billboards, at the store, maybe even in your freezer. That bitter beverage that many of us depend on to get started in the morning gets a little more bitter when we realize the lives that poor farmers must live in order for us to purchase it cheaply.Hooray for Fair Trade!
Now however you feel about Fair Trade coffee, whether you believe it helps poor farmers eek out a living in an otherwise horrible economic climate or that it's sanctions and extra expenses are driving them further into the ground. Everyone must agree that it is quite the marketing ploy.
A quick search of the Walmart.com web store found that coffee labeled as "Fair Trade" was up to six times as expensive as what we would deem regular coffee. Yet people are buying it. Any number of things could bring a person to spend more money on a product with no discernible difference other than that it promises to offer a price floor to farmers: guilt, social status, even just a discerning palate.
For some guilt forces their hand. Even though the purchaser is separated from the farmers by many sales and middlemen, the consumer still feels guilty. "I feel just awful about these farmers condition, maybe if I buy this expensive coffee the money will help them in some meaningful way." 100% pure conjecture, but the idea stands. Buying this coffee for more money makes them feel good about themselves, as well as shed that horrible feeling of guilt. They literally pay for piece of mind.
Some people buy for social status. The movie "The Bucket List" does a good job of showing this, Kopi Luwac or civet coffee costs $3.58/oz or $44.00 for a 12.3oz bag. Jack Nicholson, playing Edward, remarks, "Kopi Luwac, the rarest beverage in the world." He didn't even know what the coffee is, or that it is ingested and processed by the gastrointestinal tract of the Asian palm civet. He only cared that it was rare, and so a premium experience that is better just because it is rare. The same can be said about fair trade coffee. It's more expensive so it must be better.
A discerning palate is literally just that. Someone, somewhere just thinks it tastes better and chooses to buy it on that measure. Nothing more than an opinion affecting the purchasing habits of the consumer. Everyone's taste is different, maybe this particular brand just "does it" for them.
Whatever the reason behind the consumer's purchase meerly the mention of an item, or specifically coffee, being fair trade makes the it more consumer friendly. People don't buy things unless doing so makes them feel good, and fair trade coffee does so on many levels.
Normal Coffee (randomly chosen from Walmart.com search: coffee, Fair trade coffee)
Folgers Medium Classic Ground Coffee (28.6¢ / oz)
Maxwell House 100% Colombian Medium Dark Ground Coffee (28.5¢ / oz)
Great Value Dark Roast (28.5¢ / oz)
Fair Trade
Newman's Own Organics Fair Trade Certified Organic Coffee ($1.66 / oz)
https://kopiluwakdirect.com/products/
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