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Bulk Coffee: Fair Trade, Local Roasters, Great taste!

Shop bulk coffees here at Healthy Living and it’s a win for you, the local economy and the world! For the consumer, bulk packaging and shipping means better prices for you and you can buy as little or as much as you need, always keeping you supplied with the freshest coffee! For the local economy we have local roasters like Uncommon Grounds from right here in Saratoga and Lucy Jo’s out of Hebron, NY and Tierra Farms from Valatie, NY and Equal Exchange out of Massachusetts.   So how does our bulk coffee benefit the world? More effective shipping and reduced packaging, as well as organic and sustainable farming are good for the environment. And then there is fair trade.

Fair Trade: The going rate for “free trade” coffee is  around $0.75 per pound.  “Effective April 1, 2011, the minimum price set by Fairtrade International for washed arabica coffee beans was  $1.40 per pound. Another 30 cents is added if the coffee is also certified as organic. An additional 20 cents, called the Fairtrade Premium, is collected and is used to fund social and business development projects in the producing communities. One fourth of that premium is set aside for efforts to improve quality and productivity. These prices are paid to the farmers’ cooperatives, which then distribute profits after expenses. Fair Trade farms must also meet labor standards such as paying a minimum wage to workers, allowing workers to organize, and ensuring health and safety standards (http://www.ethicalcoffee.net) Additionally, Fair Trade certification has sustainability standards  for farming not present on “free trade”  farms.  Fair Trade cooperatives put money back into the community providing education where often there was none.

Great taste! As a coffee drinker and self proclaimed connoisseur, run of the mill coffee just won’t do! Each coffee here is picked for it’s quality, complexity, consistency and did I mention? GREAT TASTE!

Stop by and say,  “Hi!” and let’s talk coffee!