Coffee is big business. Millions of folks on both ends of the supply chain rely on coffee for their livelihoods.

Unfortunately, both in the history of the coffee trade and in contemporary practice, the lives of coffee farmers have often been marked by exploitation and poverty.

That exploitation has damaged the land with unsustainable farming practices including high pesticide and chemical fertilizer use and clearcutting.

At Laughing Whale, we firmly believe that long-term protection of our environment, including the people within it, is more important than maximizing short-term profits. For this reason we support and participate in independent, third-party certification of Fair Trade and Organic practices.

There are some companies that falsely claim Fair Trade and/or Organic certified status, so please look for products that carry the certification marks.

Fair Trade standards such as those supported by TransFair Canada don’t just enforce minimum standards of practice — they create space for the voice of producers to be heard and promote sustainable cropping practices.