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Article: Often-confusing bumper crop of specialty-coffee labels promote fair trade.
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- September 20, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By Jake Batsell, The Seattle Times Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Sep. 20--BALGUE, Nicaragua--Coffee has helped provide water for Jose Felix Centeno Castillo's home, school for his nine children and a better life for his fellow farmers.
Castillo and other members of his farming cooperative receive among the highest prices in the coffee industry -- $1.61 a pound -- for the beans they grow under towering trees on the volcano slopes of Ometepe Island.
But don't look for a Fair Trade Certified label on the packages that carry Castillo's coffee. That coveted stamp of approval costs money -- farmers pay at least 5 cents a pound for the ...