The words "fair trade" have become increasingly important in the coffee world recently - but the concept of paying a fair price for a fair amount of coffee isn't as simple as just paying more to third-world producers, as espresso-machine maker Gaggia argues on its UK website.

The short answer to the question of whether Gaggia supports Fairtrade is yes. It sells coffee bearing the Fairtrade kitemark in some of its shops. But, in an article on the blog on its website, Gaggia says, "Fairtrade does not necessarily mean fair trade."

As the Gaggia article points out, the farmer guaranteed a high price for his coffee is only one link in the chain that gets coffee from field to cup. There is a significant mark-up on coffee between it being bought and sold by a roaster before it finds its way to a supermarket shelf or coffee bar, for example.

For Gaggia, quality is everything

Paying a farmer more for his coffee, the Gaggia blogger says, does not improve the quality of his (or her) coffee, though. And for a high-quality coffee-machine company like Gaggia, the quality of the coffee is everything.

Gaggia says that the roasters who sell to the supermarkets and the coffee chains are looking for good-quality beans. No matter how expensive the Gaggia machine that produces the final cup; the coffee will only be as good as the beans farmed.

Therefore, the roasters who source the beans to sell on the wholesale market would rather pay more for high-quality coffee than pay a fixed high price (which may, paradoxically, be lower) to achieve a Fairtrade kitemark.

Gaggia: Fairtrade is not the only way to fair trade

The Gaggia article says, "Fairtrade is not the only way but one way of giving something more to the farmer. There are many ways to improve the farmers' welfare and it is this where I do not see eye to eye with the Fairtrade brand."

Instead, Gaggia's blogger looks at the Sri Lankan tea market, which has improved in everything from leaf quality to packaging and marketing, bringing huge benefits to the tea farmers. Gaggia concludes, "If we can help and encourage the farmer [to] produce better quality coffee, as some of the roasters are trying to do, it will improve the price the farmer gets."

Gaggia and Fairtrade products: available from Coffee Xclusive

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