Fair Trade vs Direct Trade

There has been a lot of discussion over fairtrade recently in a number of coffee related discussion forums e.g.here, and here. Recently I became aware of a response written by Geoff Watts (a green coffee buyer for Intelligencia coffee) to criticism he received in relation to engaging in Direct trade relationships and not supporting fair trade with the display of the fair trade logo. Geoff's response provides an informed, constructive and insightful look into considerations surrounding the issue. The original article featuring comments from Geoff Watts was posted in the New York Times.