McDonald's has announced it will serve Fair Trade certified coffee in 658 of its restaurants in New England and Albany, N.Y. Starting Nov. 1, participating locations will be switching 100% of their coffee products over to Fair Trade certified organic coffee from Newman's Own Organics, roasted by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.
BOSTON, Massachusetts — McDonald's has announced it will serve Fair Trade certified coffee in 658 of its restaurants in New England and Albany, N.Y. Starting Nov. 1, participating locations will be switching 100% of their coffee products over to Fair Trade certified organic coffee from Newman's Own Organics, roasted by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.
"Fair trade provides significant benefits to coffee farmers, including enough income to invest in their harvest and in quality improvements," said Lorenzo Castillo, head of the Junta Nacional del Café, an organization representing small coffee farmers in Peru. Fluctuations in the price of coffee jeopardize small-scale coffee farmers' businesses. Fair trade, by providing a stable price, helps to mitigate the impact of the coffee crisis, which many farmers continue to suffer through. Castillo continued, "It's great that McDonald’s has recognized that to secure the highest quality coffee they need to pay farmers a fair price."
The market for Fair Trade Certifiedâ„¢ coffee has grown by an average of over 70% each year since 1999. Fair trade coffee is now available from over 400 coffee companies at 20,000 retail locations across the U.S.
Source: GreenBiz.com
