What is Fair Trade?
We source and roast ONLY Fair Trade Certified coffees that guarantee our growers fair prices. As the second most traded commodity in the world after oil, coffee is a key player in global markets. Fair Trade Certification empowers coffee growers to lift themselves out of poverty by investing in their farms and communities, protecting the environment, and developing the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace. BuyWell exists to make a difference for coffee-growing communities. Your purchase contributes to the well-being of farming families around the world.

What impact does our business have on the coffee communities who produce our raw beans?
For information on our individual cooperatives and their communities, please visit our catalog.

What is the Fair Trade minimum coffee price?
For most products, including coffee, FLO calculates a minimum Fair Trade price that is intended to cover the cost of sustainable production. For washed Arabica, the highest quality coffee, the Fair Trade minimum price is set at $1.25 per pound, plus an organic differential of $.20 if the coffee is certified organic. Should the world market price rise above these prices, the Fair Trade minimum price rises accordingly and becomes the world market price. In addition, importers pay farmer groups a Fair Trade premium, which is $0.10 per pound, over and above the Fair Trade minimum price. The Fair Trade premium is spent by cooperatives on community and business development projects. NOTE: The Fair Trade premium and organic differential were recently raised by $.05 cents each. Read more about the change here. In addition, the Fair Trade minimum price for coffee was raised by four cents in Africa, Asia, Mexico, and Central America, and by six cents in South America.  Read about this change here.

Fair Trade Social Impact
The Fair Trade Certified label guarantees that farmers and workers received a fair price for their product. The Fair Trade price means that farmers can feed their families and that their children can go to school instead of working in the fields. By receiving a fair price, Fair Trade producers can avoid cost-cutting practices that sacrifice quality. The Fair Trade producers' traditional artesanal farming methods result in exceptional products.

Fair Trade Ecology
The Fair Trade Certified™ label is a one-stop shop for consumers who want to do good by the planet and by the people who call her home.  Fair Trade Certified environmental standards are the strictest in the industry, benchmarked to meet or exceed all other consumer labeling criteria (with the exception of Certified Organic).  Fair Trade Certified ensures that farmers obey internationally-monitored environmental standards, while empowering farmers and farm workers with financial incentives and resources for organic conversion, reforestation, water conservation and environmental education.