Target commits to sustainable coffee

Fair Trade USA, a certifier of Fair Trade products in North America, in collaboration with the Sustainable Coffee Challenge, is joining with major retailers, such as Target Co., to commit to sustainable coffee sourcing and improved farmer livelihoods.

As part of its commitment to the challenge, national retailer Target Corporation has committed 100 percent of the company’s Archer Farms coffee in both bags and pods to be certified sustainable by 2022 according to the Fair Trade USA standard or an equivalent. In collaboration with Fair Trade USA, they will partner with suppliers who meet Fair Trade social, economic and environmental standards, ultimately striving to enable coffee farmers to receive better prices and invest in their communities.

“Growing coffee for a farmer at this moment is not sustainable at all,” said Lenin Tocto Minga, commercial agent at the APROCASSI Coffee Cooperative in Peru. “Farmers are very committed to growing coffee, but they are quickly losing hope. They are effectively losing money every day with these (current market) prices.”

This announcement comes at a pivotal moment for coffee farmers around the world who have been struggling with low C-Market prices. The unstable coffee market has millions of producers looking for the price assurances and community development funds provided by the Fair Trade model.