Understanding Coffee Certifications

Understanding Coffee Certifications

We recently helped Tom Hunt from the Guardian taste and rate 10 pre-ground supermarket coffees. It was an interesting (and somewhat bitter!) experience - at the cheap end these coffees didn’t even reference an origin country and had no positive sensory aspects. At the expensive end of the spectrum these coffees were better, but were the same price as freshly roasted specialty coffee from a local roaster, but without the traceability or freshness.

You can read Tom's column with the full tasting comments and ratings here.

One observation of these coffees was their heavy use of certifications. All the coffees had at least one certification, some had multiple. At Calm Coffee Roastery we often get asked is our coffee certified - and the answer is no.

In this article we look at three common coffee certifications - Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, and Organic - and what they entail. We finish by looking at how they don’t fit into our specialty coffee buying model.

Fairtrade Certification

Fairtrade is a certification focused on fair compensation and better trading conditions for coffee farmers. Established in the late 20th century as a response to volatile coffee prices, Fairtrade coffee is usually produced by smallholder farmers organized in cooperatives. The certification sets a minimum price for green coffee beans (currently US $1.80/lb, equivalent to £2.95/kg) that buyers must pay farmers, plus an additional Fairtrade Premium that funds community projects like schools, healthcare, or infrastructure in coffee-growing areas. Fairtrade also includes basic environmental and labour standards (e.g. restrictions on harmful pesticides and a ban on forced or child labour) to promote sustainable and ethical farming practices. Its overall aim is to improve farmers’ livelihoods, ensure safer working conditions, and foster community development through a fairer trading system.

However, there are some limitations and issues with fairtrade certified coffee. Fairtrade’s focus is on social price justice rather than coffee quality. Having a guaranteed minimum price reduces the incentives for farmers to engage in improving quality, since even lower-grade beans can earn the floor price. While Fairtrade coffee can be high quality, the certification does not specifically reward cup quality. Specialty coffee importers and roasters generally prefer to pay farmers directly for exceptional quality, above Fairtrade prices.

Joining and maintaining Fairtrade certification can be costly and administratively demanding, which is feasible for cooperatives but often prohibitive for individual small farmers. Not all of the price premium paid by consumers reaches the individual farmer directly – a portion may go to cooperative administration and operations.

Rainforest Alliance Certification

Rainforest Alliance (RA) is a certification scheme centred on environmental sustainability and social welfare on farms. Founded in 1987 and represented by the green frog logo, it has a mission to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods. Rainforest Alliance standards cover wildlife conservation, soil and water protection, and good farm management, as well as workers’ rights and decent working conditions.

RA-certified coffee is often grown under shade trees that preserve forest habitats, and farms must meet criteria for ecosystem protection and worker safety. The certification’s philosophy is that environmentally friendly, ethical farming can improve productivity and farm resilience, thus benefiting both nature and producers.

Rainforest Alliance places strong emphasis on protecting ecosystems. Certified coffee farms must conserve native forests and biodiversity around them. For example, RA standards often require maintaining shade canopy cover and prohibiting the destruction of primary forests. By encouraging shade-grown coffee cultivation, the program helps provide habitat for wildlife (such as birds and insects) and preserves rainforest ecosystems that might otherwise be cleared for agriculture.

Farmers in the RA program receive guidance and training on sustainable agriculture techniques. In addition to environmental criteria, Rainforest Alliance sets basic social standards on certified farms. Workers should have decent wages, access to safety equipment, and no child or forced labour is allowed.

While RA does not guarantee a price premium like Fairtrade, many RA-certified farms do earn higher prices if buyers value the sustainable methods. Rainforest Alliance has no fixed minimum price or required premium for coffee.

There have been enforcement and “greenwashing” concerns with the program. Rainforest Alliance relies on periodic farm audits and inspections to ensure standards are met – essentially a policing approach. However, ensuring consistent compliance across thousands of farms and multiple countries is challenging. There have been cases raising questions about the rigor of auditing: for instance, independent investigations have uncovered labour violations (like underpaid workers or poor working conditions) on some RA-certified plantations.

Organic Certification

Organic coffee certification confirms that the coffee is grown according to organic farming standards – without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or genetically modified organisms. Instead, organic farmers rely on natural methods for soil fertility and pest control (such as compost, manure, shade trees, and biological pest predators). In coffee, organic certification is usually regulated by national or international bodies (for example, USDA Organic in the United States or the EU Organic standards in Europe). To be certified, a coffee farm must undergo a transition period (often about 3 years) of following organic practices, and then pass annual inspections to verify compliance. The core goal is to produce coffee in an ecologically sustainable way that avoids harmful chemicals, thereby protecting ecosystems and human health.

Organic coffee farming helps maintain healthy soil and ecosystems. By banning synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, it prevents chemical runoff that can pollute rivers and groundwater. Soil is nourished through natural compost and crop rotation, which improves its fertility and structure over time. Overall, organic practices support biodiversity – from birds and insects to microorganisms in the soil – creating a more balanced environment on and around coffee farms.

The organic label can add market value to coffee. Consumers often are willing to pay a bit more for organic products, meaning farmers or co-ops can sometimes negotiate higher prices for organic-certified beans (especially when paired with quality).

However, organic certification isn’t realistic for most smallholder coffee farmers (who produce around two-thirds of the world’s coffee). Obtaining organic certification can be expensive and complicated - there are fees for the application, yearly audits, and documentation requirements that require time and bureaucracy. Farms must maintain meticulous records and undergo inspections at least once a year. Smallholders often cannot afford these costs unless they band together in cooperatives or receive external assistance. In some coffee-growing countries, cooperatives handle organic certification collectively, spreading the cost among members.

Because of the demanding requirements, many farmers who actually use organic practices are not certified – they may grow coffee naturally by necessity or tradition, but lack the funds to navigate the formal certification process. This means the coffee could be organic in all but name, and the farmer doesn’t get to charge the premium because they don’t have the official label. For example in Ethiopia it is estimated around 90% of the coffee produced is organic, whereas only around 20% is certified organic.

Conclusion

Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, and Organic certifications each approach sustainability from different angles – economic fairness, environmental stewardship, and ecological health respectively. In the context of commodity or low-end specialty coffee, these certifications can be helpful signals for consumers who care about how their coffee was produced.

These certifications seem broadly positive – so why do we not see them on most specialty coffee in the UK? Specialty coffee is generally bought at a quality-based premium, well above commodity or certification minimum prices. Roasters can buy directly from producers or from specialty importers who have longer term relationships that support good environmental and social practices.

For these farmers if they have been able to connect to a well paying specialty buyer, their story, quality and transparency of their practices provide more financial incentive than other third party labels.

At Calm Coffee Roastery, we buy high scoring specialty coffee from socially responsible importers with long term connections to origin. They pay prices for the coffee that cover production costs and reflect the high quality of the coffee – well in excess of the Fair Trade minimum price. Paying for quality encourages a positive cycle of improved farm practices, improved coffee and more money to the farmer.

You can see all of our coffees here.

References

Stanford Social Innovation Review, (2011). The Problem With Fair Trade Coffee. Available at: https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_problem_with_fair_trade_coffee [Accessed 28 Sep 2025].

Ethical Consumer, (2022). Tea and Coffee Certification Schemes. Available at: https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/food-drink/tea-coffee-certification-schemes [Accessed 28 Sep 2025].

Fresh Cup Magazine, (2023). The Challenges of Coffee Certifications Go Beyond The Retail Shelf. Available at: https://www.freshcup.com/the-challenges-of-coffee-certifications-go-beyond-the-retail-shelf/[Accessed 28 Sep 2025].