BBC NEWS | Business | Why cheap beans don't make cheap coffee (#)

  „World coffee prices are low because there is an oversupply of coffee, the world's second most valuable commodity after oil. Many coffee growers across the developing world have produced too much coffee which they have simultaneously released into the world market. The global supply is estimated to be about 8% above demand, according to Oxfam. This has depressed world prices.“

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1307081.stm - Cached

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BBC - iCan - - A1978752 - Making all trade Fair Trade

  „The result of this competition has driven the cost of raw coffee beans to a 30 year low, with growers receiving less than cost price for their beans. Such competition presently benefits the roasters (the main ones being Nestlé, Philip Morris-Kraft, Procter and Gamble and Sara Lee/Douwe Egberts). Nestlé is reported to make 26% profit on its processed coffee (more than most other products on the supermarket shelves). Competition on price is driving people into poverty.“

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ican/a1978752 - Cached

BBC NEWS | Business | East African coffee growers fight back

  „Coffee prices reached their lowest level for almost 40 years at the start of 2002. Kenya produces some of the world's top grade Arabica coffee beans but quality and output have fallen because the poor prices have persuaded farmers to turn to other crops. "If the quality of the coffee produced in the regions improves, then farmers will get better prices," Mr Kawuma said. The EAFCA hopes it can improve coffee growing practices which have deteriorated as earnings have fallen.“

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2225803.stm - Cached

Tea & Coffee 10/04 - World News

  „The pact also calls for closer ties with growers of the best coffee beans to ensure they get the highest price. Yet critics say prices will rise if coffee’s huge oversupply is tackled.“

http://www.teaandcoffee.net/1004/world.htm - Cached

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  „Fair trade coffee comes from companies that buy their beans from grower-owned cooperatives and pay a guaranteed minimum price to the growers. That price, now $1.26 a pound, can be several times the world market price, which has ranged in recent months between 30 cents and 70 cents a pound.“

http://www.cooperativecoffees.com/about/news/ strib091903.html - Cached

Fairtrade | About Fairtrade | Frequently asked questions

  „Oversupply is usually a result of coffee growers increasing production in the brief periods when prices are high. However, it is clear that the recent surge in global coffee production, and consequent low prices, is largely a result of government agricultural export policies in Vietnam and large-scale farm expansion in Brazil. Paradoxically, in an attempt to compensate for lower prices, many small-scale farmers dependent on coffee will increase output at the expense of quality.“

http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/about_faq.htm - Cached

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