Bill Barrett from Planet Bean Coffee: Celebrating 30 Years of Fairtrade Canada
To celebrate 30 years of Fairtrade in Canada, we sat down with pioneers of the movement to hear the stories behind their businesses, learn about their relationships with farmers, and discover their hopes and dreams for the future.
This is Bill Barrett, Founder of Planet Bean Coffee.
We got started specifically to roast fair trade and organic coffee.
Founded in 1997, Planet Bean’s fair trade journey began with a mission to champion economic justice and environmental sustainability. The company became a Fairtrade Canada licensee, then Transfair Canada, in 1998. In a time when fair trade was still largely misunderstood, Planet Bean’s commitment offered something unique: credibility through Fairtrade certification. “It’s not like just slapping ‘fair trade’ on a label,” he says, emphasizing the importance of transparency and third-party verification. This early commitment connected Planet Bean to a broader community of ethical roasters in Canada, a group that frequently gathered to discuss Fairtrade’s future and advocate for more sustainable practices.
Over time, this network helped bring about significant changes within Fairtrade Canada, including the creation of the Canadian Fair Trade Network (CFTN). “We worked on governance to make it more reflective of the community,” Bill explains. This shift gave Canadian fair trade businesses a stronger voice and helped elevate Fairtrade’s standards and reach in the country.
Facing Challenges: Market Growth and Climate Change
Despite the progress within the Fairtrade landscape, coffee farmers face significant challenges, including the need for market expansion. “Farmers go through the process of becoming certified, spend the money on certification, and then find out that there’s not a big market that they can sell into,” Bill shares, highlighting the need for more consumers to embrace Fairtrade products.
Climate change is another hurdle, directly affecting coffee-growing regions. “Coffee farmers have to plant their coffee trees at higher altitudes,” he says, illustrating how shifting rainfall patterns force farmers to adapt their practices. Fairtrade offers resources and training to help farmers adapt to these changes, though the work is ongoing.
A farming community in Ethiopia learns about what happens to their coffee when it comes to Planet Bean Coffee, 2010
Another pressing issue close to Bill’s heart? Succession in coffee farming communities. Young people in rural areas often seek opportunities outside of farming, leaving their family’s livelihoods and the coffee industry at risk.
One of the things I do when I visit farmers is visit schools and talk to students. I usually ask them how many want to be coffee farmers and very few put up their hands. Their parents work really hard and don’t get a lot of money. The kids live in tiny villages in the middle of nowhere, so they want to go to the big city — their parents also want them to become educated and live a better life than them.
Partnerships with Purpose
Planet Bean’s commitment to fair trade goes beyond coffee sourcing. The company cultivates partnerships that support communities both locally and globally, building lasting relationships that go beyond commerce. An example is the long-standing partnership with Saint Jerome’s University in Waterloo, where students have the chance to visit Cafe Femenino farms in Peru and participate in projects like building irrigation systems, deepening their understanding of the Fairtrade model.
Groups of students have gone down to visit Cafe Feminino in Peru every year for the past 17 years or so. They meet with farmers and help out on the farms. It has turned into a really meaningful partnership.
Bill Barrett with Sabina Hernandez and Isabel Uriarte from Cafe Feminino, 2015
Bill is also involved in the Las Nubes Project at York University — with part of the proceeds going toward local environmental projects — and in the University of Guelph’s Gryphon blend coffee. For Bill, Fairtrade is more than a transaction; it’s a model that fosters connection and mutual respect between communities.
We like to build those kinds of partnerships that have added meaning. It’s not just an economic relationship.
Staying True to Cooperative Values
Planet Bean operates as a worker cooperative, a structure that mirrors the values of Fairtrade cooperatives in coffee-growing regions. “It’s an attempt to create ethical consistency at both ends of the value chain,” Bill says. This cooperative model not only empowers Planet Bean’s employees but also aligns with the principles of Fairtrade. “We both speak the same language, share the same values and ethics,” he adds, highlighting the solidarity between Planet Bean and its coffee partners.
We recognize the importance of cooperatives in transforming the lives of small-scale farmers around the world. Cooperatives are unique — they teach things that people often wouldn’t learn on their own, like governance or business management. They’re a huge generator of intellectual capital within communities.
Customers may first come to Planet Bean for the quality of the coffee, but it’s the values that ultimately resonate. “You’ve got to tell them about Fairtrade and then hook them on the flavour,” Bill laughs. Quality remains a cornerstone of Planet Bean’s approach to ethical business, underscoring the belief that sustainability and high standards go hand in hand.
Hopes for Fairtrade’s Future
Looking ahead, Bill envisions a future where Fairtrade becomes the norm rather than the exception. “It would be nice if the importance of Fairtrade was overshadowed by a truly ethical economy globally,” he says, expressing a vision for systemic change that goes beyond Fairtrade alone.
Through its partnerships, cooperative values, and commitment to quality, Planet Bean isn’t just selling coffee; it’s fostering connections and championing a vision for a more equitable global economy. As Bill puts it, “Fairtrade is good for us too.”
Bill Barrett with Father Frans Van der Hoff, whose work was fundamental to Fairtrade International, 2023
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On the featured image: Bill Barrett and the Sumac Community Worker Co-op Board, owners of Planet Bean Coffee, 2023