Fair Trade Twitter Experiment

Twitter-ers. There's a Fair Trade experiment a-brewin'. Fair Trader, Tim Davies is on the lookout for cafes out there that will actually serve your Fair Trade Certified coffee when you ask for it.

Have you asked for the Fairtrade option in a coffee shop that advertise it as an extra and been met by a bemused look from the person serving, been told that it’s out of stock, or simply been told they don’t sell Fairtrade coffee, in spite of the big Fairtrade logo on their menu?

I have. Quite a lot of times. And it’s really frustrating.

Tim decided to take action on the internets and created the twitter account @askforfairtrade for fellow twitter-ers to report on businesses who actually follow through on their promise to serve Fair Trade coffee.

Very similar to GreenLAGirl's Starbuck's Challenge that called out to folks to go to their local Starbucks and ask for their Fair Trade Certified blend and see if they would actually serve it or not. Starbucks has told their consumers that when you ask for Fair Trade coffee, the barista is supposed to French-press a cup of coffee of their Estima blend, which is the only Fair Trade coffee line that they currently carry. It shouldn't cost extra either.

I've taken the Starbucks challenge many times, even before knowing about GreenLAGirl's campaign, and Starbucks hasn't really delivered. I've gotten confused looks from baristas, have been told that they only brew Fair Trade coffee once a month (sometimes twice!), deny they have a Fair Trade blend, have received the stink eye because they didn't want to bust out the French press (which by the way makes the best tasting coffee) and have heard "No, but we do have a nice Holiday blend for you" pretty often. Only once or twice have they actually brewed me a Fair Trade cup and that was after they talked to the manager about it. Yes, I am that guy.

The purpose of Tim's experiment and GreenLAGirl's campaign is a great way to show companies that consumers really are asking for Fair Trade and that the demand is there.

Big companies are actively misleading consumers, giving the impression that their coffee is ethically produced and certified to Fairtrade standards, when in fact, Fairtrade is only available as an optional extra, and no effort is taken to actively encourage customers to ask for Fairtrade. In fact, from my experience, the level of service when trying to ask for the Fairtrade option actively discourages it.

By collecting reports of whether or not coffee shops and chains are living up to their promise to provide a Fairtrade option we can put pressure on them to make sure staff are trained, and products are in stock, for choosing the Fairtrade option to be the easy option. And we can demonstrate the consumer demand for Fairtrade as standard.

My most recent 'ask for Fair Trade' experience. Was at Peets coffee a few weeks ago and saw the TransFair logo next to one of their coffees. Asked for it and the barista seemed very hesitant telling me that it would take a very long time. Didn't look like she wanted to do it. Then tried to discourage me more by telling me that their other coffee is 'better than Fair Trade'. She also told me it would be $5. $5! My medium coffee at my local bakery is $1.25 everyday and they only carry Fair Trade. So, it doesn't have to cost that much. Even Starbucks isn't charging you extra. No thank you, Peets.

Have a story of your own? Share it. Follow @askforfairtrade, tweet your experience and show us all who's living up to their word.

[image: tim davies]