As consumers become more environmentally conscious, businesses are doing all they can to make their product as marketable as possible. This has started a new wave of green, but what do all of these terms mean?
Marty Meitus from the Rocky Mountain News gives us these tips in her article, “New coffee labels, same bargain”.
- Fair Trade: This ensures that farmers are being paid a set minimum set by TransFair USA. This helps the customer know that they aren’t being ripped off and that they are supporting a company that pays their employees a reasonable wage.
- Organic: Coffee with this label on it is not grown with the help of pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers. This is regulated by the U.S. Dept of Agriculture.
- Single-Origin: Coffee that is taken from one single region.
- Bird-Friendly: Coffee that is grown under canopy trees, also know as “shade grown”, without disrupting these habitats. This coffee is also organic. This is regulated by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center as well as the Rainforest Alliance Certified. Unfortunately, this label does not hold much weight yet because there is not just one international standard for the requirements of this label.
This Greentime video also gives a more in depth explanation of these labels and lets you know what to look for and what to avoid.
