I run the espresso club at work (which mainly means keeping us stocked with beans) and due to price constraints have had to use fairly cheap coffee. For a while now I’ve had a feeling I should switch to fairtrade, if only for image reasons, despite the fact that almost without fail all fairtrade coffee I’ve tasted has been inferior.

At home I generally roast and drink Hasbean. I know you guys pay a good price for a good product so I have no reason to choose my coffee based on some fairtrade stamp. As a result, I get the best coffee there is, and my conscience is clear.

In most cases fairtrade seems to be a half-arsed attempt by mediocre suppliers to prove that they aren’t being complete bastards. I view it as a PR stunt that, as a side effect, happens to be somewhat good for the supplier too.

While I’m at it: for some reason most people seem to be unable to distinguish between different ‘good’ choices like organic, fairtrade, local produce (I know, a rare thing in your business!) and instead take them all to mean ‘good quality’. But the best coffee, or any other product, is one where the producer’s main goal is quality, not ticking the right boxes and getting a stamp for the effort.

Great work guys! Keep it up!

Again the prices are set by the markets so a market within the commodity market (as I understand it)

Who sets these levels?