Quality: The Anti-Sweatshop

Normally, I buy coffee from a display of local product at Wal-Mart. A one-pound bag of beans costs something like $7. Come again? Yes, a local roaster sells his (her?) wares at Wal-Mart. However, for the past few months, the French roast I like has not been re-stocked.

So the last time I was in Sam's Club, I picked up a 3 pound bag of French roast beans for $10. Quite a savings, and looking at it, I discovered a few things about Marques de Paiva:

• Marques de Paiva is a 4th generation coffee-growing family (the company name is Cafe Bom Dia) in Brazil
  
• The coffee is kosher by OU. I don't know exactly how difficult it is to produce kosher coffee. The wife suggests that they only kill the beans by slitting their throats, and we can assume that until I drop the cream into it, it doesn't come into contact with any dairy.
• It is certified organic in several countries (Germany, US, etc.).
  
• Marques de Paiva is certified ISO 9001 and 14001. The former is a statement of quality, the latter is a self-certification of environmental friendliness.

So what do you suppose that says about the way the treat the workers and small farmers with whom they work? I have claimed that the best solution to sweatshops is not sweatshop free certification, but rather quality certification. I have been through the ISO 9001 process, so I have my doubts, and recent events at Delphi make me equally dubious about Shingo prizes, but I think that truly quality organizations (insert truism here: quality is its own reward, prizes don't confer quality, etc.) are more likely to treat their workers fairly than not.

Is Marques de Paiva a quality company? The fact that they are ISO 9001 and 14001 certified only says to me that they have gone to some trouble to standardize and document their work practices, but that may be a marketing ploy (read what ISO consultants have to say about it). The OU kosher certification impresses me more, but I'm not sure how difficult that is to obtain for coffee. But maybe this will impress sweatshop doubters:

• Marques de Paiva is certified Fair Trade by TransFair USA.

Shocked that Sam's Club is selling a FairTrade product? You shouldn't be. For one thing, quality processes are less expensive processes. And, as Fair Trade also points out, Fair Trade certification can be used as a marketing tool to differentiate your product (read: charge premium prices). As this press release shows, Sam's, Café Bom Dia, and TransFair USA all gained some exposure from the decision to market the new premium coffee through Sam's.

BTW, the incredibly low-priced coffee is also very good.

Sam's Club
sweatshop
ISO 9001
ISO 14001
Fair trade
kosher
quality
organic