What does fair trade taste like?

Not much. If you would believe the vast majority of coffee, chocolate and tea makers that are certified as "Fair trade" producers the only reason we should buy their products is that they are produced by people in the third world whose working conditions are "fair". And not only do they ask us to choose a product with no special taste, they want us to pay a premium for it! Pretty much the same often goes for organic products.

But, doesn't it feel right for people to just pay some extra bucks to contribute to people who´re not that privileged like we are? In fact, I doubt that. Not as long as I get something that's not that good that I usually pay for. And if I am that kind of guy that doesn't bother so much about what groceries cost, instead I probably shop for quality and special features.

Maraba Bourbon is a great coffee from Rwanda. It's made of fantastic beans handpicked from some of the best small producers in the world. The producer, Union Coffe Roasters, the very same that promised what I wrote in the last sentence argues the coffee is vibrant from daytime to midnight, milk chocolate with hints of fresh citrus. Price: 52 Swedish kronor ($7) for 227 grams. Something I noticed the third time I was buying it. Because even if it's more than double the price of the same amount Lavazza coffee, the design, the promise - and together with the fact that it was "Fair trade" just made me look away from that.

What Union Coffee Roasters are doing is a shift in how to change people´s minds about fair trade. Instead of trying to change our perception of what is important when choosing coffee they change our perception of what is making a coffee great.

When normal fair trade producers say:

Quality and taste is important       Fair trade is important   

Union Coffee Roaster say:

Fair trade    =   Great quality and taste

That's the way to do it.