Why purchase FairTrade or UTZ coffee from Northern-Coffee.ca?
Because our personal choices as consumers have a real impact in our world and contribute to making a difference!
Northern-Coffee.ca offers 100% arabica gourmet coffees (no robusta) that help raise the living standards of farmers all over the world while protecting the environment.
What is FairTrade coffee
Coffee growers work extremely hard under difficult conditions every day. They are the first link in the long chain of coffee trading, which is the second largest commodity in world markets after oil. Yet, they constitute one of the poorest groups in the world. Fair Trade commerce is a way for cooperatives of small coffee growers to face a difficult global market. FairTrade organizations across the world buy directly from these cooperatives and develop long term relationships with them, paying a fair price for their coffee and improving the living conditions of growers. For consumers, the price of FairTrade coffee is just a few pennies more per cup. A small difference for us, a huge difference for them.
All of our FairTrade coffees are also certified organic by our green coffee suppliers, which means that not only does it help raise living standards for farmers and workers, but it also helps protect the environment with sustainable growing practices.
As for the Organic certification however, we decided not to renew it about 4 years ago. We feel it’s a bit of a gimmick, compared to FairTrade organizations, in which we whole heartedly believe. When the harvest site is organic (certified without pesticide), it is labelled so on the bags (see examples below) and our green coffee suppliers (Vittoria, for example) possesses such certificates, we believe that it is unnecessary for us to have one as well, since we’re already paying a high price for an organic product, that also happens to be FairTrade.
We always have several types of FairTrade organic certified coffees and blends in stock at incredible prices!
- Mexico
- Guatemala
- Sumatra Gayo Mountains
- Papua New Guinea
- and many more…
FairTrade Canada Certificat
For more information on Fair Trade coffees, do not hesitate to visit Fair Trade Canada’s Web site at www.fairtrade.ca.
What is UTZ certification
The UTZ mission : “…to create a world where sustainable farming is the norm. Sustainable farming helps farmers, workers and their families to fulfill their ambitions and contributes to safeguard the world’s resources, now and in the future. Farmers implement good agricultural practices and manage their farms profitably with respect for people and planet; industry invests in and rewards sustainable production, and consumers can enjoy and trust the products they buy.”
The organization asks farmers to implement sustainable agricultural practices and favours the use of alternative methods for pest control and disease, all while improving productivity and reducing health and environmental risks. Pesticides are used only as a last resort. In the rare cases when this happens, the choice of pesticide must aim for maximum efficiency at pest control and disease and minimum toxicity for humans, plants and animals. Dangerous pesticides and OGM are strictly prohibited. There is an actual list of forbidden pesticides.
UTZ is hoping that the industry will take its responsibility by creating demand and rewarding products cultivated in a sustainable manner. “A better price for a better product” is their motto.
Here’s how it works :
But one does not exclude the other. A crop production can be certified UTZ and Organic. However, the 2 coffees we are offering are unfortunately not organic. Because you should know that organic regulations ask that all certified growers submit at least once a year to inspections made by a third party monitoring and inspection agency (much like Fair Trade). Costs for organic certification are often too expensive, specially in developing countries. This rigorous system will therefore exclude most small growers who will be denied access to organic markets, unlike UTZ Certified or Fair Trade.
So a UTZ certification will not guarantee an organic product (at least not yet), but it gets pretty close, all while improving crop yields and working conditions for farmers and their workers.
