Please allow me a moment to respond to the specific questions addressed to Pura Vida in the April 7 issue of The Eagle by Ibbie Hedrick, Et al. As a card-carrying capitalist and Harvard MBA, as well as the co-founder of one of the country's largest independent sellers of Certified Fair Trade coffee (structured as a public charity to direct resources to help at-risk children), I am delighted to sell our product on college campuses across the nation to a growing base of customers who are passionate about great coffee but who expect - no, demand - that their purchases do good at the same time.
My dear friend, fellow MBA and Pura Vida co-founder, Chris Dearnley, has lived and served the poor in the slums of Costa Rica and Nicaragua for more than a decade. Pura Vida is the trail-blazing culmination of our dream to put the power of capitalism to work for the direct benefit of people in the developing countries where coffee is grown. Pura Vida is, and will always be, 100 percent charitably owned. All our resources go to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and bring hope to the broken. I'd encourage you to visit our site, www.puravidacoffee.com, to read one of the many stories about the at-risk children your purchase dollars help us reach.
I've pasted each of the questions from the April 7 issue below, with my response following.
1. Can it [Pura Vida] honestly 100 percent guarantee its certification as a "fair-trade company?"
Yes. All our coffees, teas and chocolate products are certified by Transfair, the most respected, independent certifying agency in the United States.
2. If it can, which certification organization examines its product? Is it third-party certified, meaning not by the importer or the grower so as to ensure no graft in the process?
As stated above, Transfair is the U.S. certifying agency. It certifies the coffees we purchase and what we roast. On an international basis, the Fair Trade Labeling Organization (FLO), headquartered in Bonn, Germany, coordinates inspection of all the fair-trade-certified farms to ensure that the money paid for coffee is really getting into the farmers' hands. If, as a coffee roaster, you aren't using these third-party verifying agencies, you can't be sure that the money is really getting to the people who really need it.
3. Is the certification organization considered legitimate by the greater coffee-growing industry?
Yes. FLO is recognized internationally as the pre-eminent certification organization, and TransFair is the only authorized agent for FLO in the United States.
4. What is Pura Vida's definition of "Fair Trade," since the definition can vary? How are the communities it is giving to realizing these profits?
FLO defines a very tight set of criteria for Fair Trade. It requires, among other things, that:
-We pay a premium price for the product. In fact, last year the average we paid for coffee was more than $1.60 per pound, well above the $1.26 floor price for fair-trade coffee.
-We pre-finance much of the crop so that the farmer does not have to use local banks or loan sharks that charge exorbitant interest rates.
-The farming co-ops are organized in a democratic manner so that the small, family-owned farms producing the coffee get a vote in the operations of the co-op.
-The co-op maintains records that are inspected by FLO to trace the flow of money and ensure it got to the farmers who grew the crop.
These are just a few of the criteria for 'real' fair trade. Pura Vida goes beyond the requirements of FLO and works directly with the farmers to enhance their growing methods, participate in community development projects and work on organic farming. While fair-trade coffees do not have to be organic or shade-grown, all Pura Vida coffees are certified as organic and shade-grown as well as fair trade because we consider the planet and the people who live here to be of utmost importance. Paying the farmer a fair price is just one piece of creating a sustainable market. Ensuring the health and viability of the land and ecosystem is equally important.
5. What is the quality of the coffee it sells, considering that Fair Trade may or may not be of acceptable quality?
Fair-trade coffee being of lesser quality is a myth and an excuse used by companies that don't roast fair-trade coffee. If you pay a farmer a premium price for his product, he will take better care of it, nurturing it to get the best quality. Pura Vida has all coffee it purchases tested by Coffee Lab International in Vermont. CLI tests coffees for roasters across the country and ranks them against one another.
The fair-trade coffee Pura Vida buys must rank exceptionally high in quality before we will accept it, and it does. Just taste it and you will agree.
6. If the coffee is priced equal to or less than Starbucks, how is Pura Vida able to do that, since certification often pushes prices higher?
Simple answer: We don't have to worry about our stock price and what Wall Street thinks about our earnings. We purposefully price our coffees aggressively to help build the fair-trade coffee market. Since Pura Vida is 100 percent charitably owned and exists to help at-risk children living in coffee-growing countries, buying coffee using a fair-trade pricing standard is congruent with our business model because it directly helps the children of small coffee farmers. It's a part of our overall commitment to return every penny we can to the people who deserve it most - people in the seven countries where we source our coffee.
7. Does it seem fair to discriminate against 99 percent of these third-world growers and penalize them for not partaking in certification when they often cannot afford it?
Again, this is a myth. The real reason more farmers aren't a part of the fair-trade movement is that the demand for the coffee hasn't been great enough. Last year, most farmers who grew coffee under fair-trade guidelines couldn't sell it all and ended up selling some of their crop for lower prices. There was an overall glut of coffee on the market, and the demand from U.S. consumers for fair and equitable prices for farmers simply wasn't there. The way to get more of the "99 percent" of farmers into the fair-trade system is for consumers to start demanding fair-trade coffee. The coffee market is like any other; it responds to demand. If you demand it, there will be more farmers growing it.
8. Also, what exactly does certification have to do with "environmentally sound" policies? Isn't it more environmentally sound to grow 100 percent certified shade-grown coffee, and does Pura Vida do that?
You're right, fair-trade certification, by itself, doesn't guarantee that the coffee will be "environmentally sound." That's why Pura Vida buys only shade-grown coffees, and all Pura Vida coffee is certified organic as well. We want to encourage growers to not only roast great coffee, but to avoid exposing themselves and their families to pesticides and take care of the land so that they can continue to produce for decades to come.
Bad weather across the world during one growing season could put Pura Vida's supply in danger. Let's see how well the naysayers do without their cup of joe in the morning. Is our collective student voice being unfairly represented by a very loud, very left-wing, minority segment of the campus that has fixated itself on an industry that it is not completely educated about? It could be.
As one of the nation's largest direct importers of fair trade, Pura Vida has longstanding relationships with growers who have stood the test of time. Our supply of superb-quality, fair-trade coffee for this year is on its way to the United States right now, and we have contracts booked out for at least the next 18 months. Millions of consumers are discovering that they can enjoy a great cup of coffee while also helping to improve the lives of farmers, families and communities. Pura Vida approaches business with a new, different mindset, one that is both "tough-minded and tender-hearted."
We are fiercely proud of our products, deeply committed to our customers and passionate about our social mission. Customers in all 50 states - including students on more than 70 campuses nationwide - are enthusiastic about our growing line of sustainable products, our professional espresso kiosk programs and, ultimately, our philanthropic mission to help at-risk children. We invite you to join with us in supporting "Great Coffee for a Great Cause."
We would be honored to bring you our growing family of 100 percent fair-trade, organic, shade-grown products that are good for the planet and people that live here, delivered in a warm, authentic brand experience. Join us in this revolution toward enlightened consumerism!
John Sage President, Co-Founder Pura Vida Coffee
