On Radio 4 Now

Book of the Week

09:45 - 10:00

Fleeing suburbia for Art School brings liberation in many guises.

Coming up at: 10:00

Woman's Hour

View full schedule

  1. BBC Radio 4
  2. Programmes
  3. Food Programme
  4. The Coffee Business

The Coffee Business

Listen :

Listen now (25 minutes)

Availability:

Available to listen.

Last broadcast on Mon, 16 May 2011, 16:00 on BBC Radio 4 (see all broadcasts).

Synopsis

Episode image for The Coffee Business

With coffee prices at a 30 year high Sheila Dillon traces the money we pay for a cup along the supply chain and also hears how it raises big questions for Fairtrade.

Recently the price for coffee on the world market broke through the important $3.00 barrier. Just a few years ago prices were as low as 60 cents.

Speculation from investors is one reason, but other factors like growing demand for coffee in Brazil and China look like creating a long term spike in prices. So what does this mean for growers and what will this mean for us? Will we start to taste the difference as roasters in the UK are forced to source different and cheaper beans?

This price spike also raises big questions for the Fairtrade model. Current prices are way above Fairtrade's minimum price, so do coffee growers still need Fairtrade?

Producer: Dan Saladino.

Broadcasts

  1. Sun 15 May 2011
    12:32
  2. Mon 16 May 2011
    16:00

More details

A programme from

Duration

25 minutes

More from BBC Radio 4

bbc.co.uk navigation

BBC © 2012

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.