The roastery buys directly from the producer—without middlemen. This allows a larger share to reach the farmer, often multiples of the Fairtrade minimum price. However: Direct Trade is not a protected term, anyone can use it.

What is Direct Trade and why is it considered fairer?

The roastery buys directly from the producer—without middlemen. This allows a larger share to reach the farmer, often multiples of the Fairtrade minimum price. However: Direct Trade is not a protected term, anyone can use it.

Why that is

The traditional coffee trade has many stops: farmer → middleman → exporter → importer → green coffee trader → roastery. At each step, someone takes a margin—and the farmer at the beginning of the chain often only gets a fraction of the final price.

How Direct Trade works:

• The roastery visits the farm or cooperative in person.
• Quality is evaluated together and a price is agreed upon—usually well above the world market price.
• Long-term relationships are formed: the roastery buys from the same producer for years.
• Feedback flows back: the roastery tells the farmer what is working well and what can be improved.

Price comparison:

	Price per pound (approx.)
World market price (C-Price)	1.00–2.00 USD
Fairtrade minimum price	1.80 USD
Direct Trade (Specialty)	3.00–8.00 USD
Micro-lot / Auction coffee	10–50+ USD

Why it’s considered fairer:

• More money for the farmer—the middlemen’s margins are eliminated.
• Quality incentive: better quality = higher price. This motivates farmers to invest in processing and cultivation.
• Planning security through long-term partnerships.
• Knowledge transfer in both directions.

Criticism of Direct Trade:

• Not a protected term. There is no independent certification. A roastery that visited a farm once can print “Direct Trade” on their bags.
• Not scalable. Personal farm visits and direct negotiations are time-consuming—only larger or very dedicated roasteries can manage the effort.
• No minimum standards. Unlike Fairtrade, there are no binding social or environmental standards.
• Transparency problem. Without an audit, the consumer cannot verify whether the roastery actually pays fairly.

In practice at Green Wall Coffee

At Sophienstraße 27, we work with roasteries that disclose their Direct Trade relationships—farm name, region, price paid. Transparency is key: if a roastery claims “Direct Trade” but doesn’t provide details, we ask questions.

Related questions

• What is the difference between Fairtrade, Direct Trade and Rainforest Alliance?
• Why does specialty coffee cost more than supermarket coffee?
• What is specialty coffee?

Stop by Sophienstraße 27 — Mon–Fri 8am–5pm, Sat 10am–5pm.