Despite the overwhelming popularity of coffee in the West, many of the estimated 20 million people who are involved in growing coffee beans live in extreme poverty. This is because small producers rarely have direct access to the international markets and sell their coffee at a local level to middlemen. When trading locally, farmers do get paid immediately in cash, but the price is often so low that it does not recoup the cost of production.

In the UK 72% of the UK population regularly drink tea.  In fact between us we drink an estimated total of 163 million cups of tea a day!

The Tea is traded in a variety of ways but is most commonly sold by auction. Tea prices fluctuate according to the time of year, availability, quality and demand.

Fairtrade guarantees a minimum price to coffee and tea producers that covers the cost of production and also ensures they and their families have enough money to live on.  It also guarantees:

• No child labour

• No chemicals, or on plantations where chemicals are still applied they are used in much lower quantities and in ways that don’t impact on the health of the workers and their families.

• Protection of women’s rights

• Social premium – extra money which goes towards projects that benefit the whole community, such as schools, healthcare and disaster relief programmes.