4.08.2006 ET

(CSRwire) OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 8, 2006--Answering great and long-felt consumer demand, TransFair USA -- the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade goods in the United States -- is pleased to announce that Fair Trade Certified(TM) Kenyan coffee is finally available on the market. While Kenyan coffee is one of the most sought after origins in the world, particularities in the Kenyan auction system have prevented many coffee farmers from accessing the fast-growing Fair Trade market, or from getting a fair deal on their sales to markets that they were able to access. After several years of hard work and the cooperation of two of Kenya's three auction processors and millers -- SOCFINAF Co. Ltd. and Thika Coffee Mills Ltd. -- Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) and TransFair USA have successfully applied the Fair Trade system to the Kenyan auction structure, creating a reliable and transparent link between international markets and coffee cooperatives. This ensures that tens of thousands of subsistence coffee farmers throughout Kenya will be paid a fair price for their premium crop in a timely manner in addition to premiums for business and community development projects; and that they will be able to access U.S. industry partners that have long sought after their coffee as Fair Trade Certified.

The addition of Kenyan coffee to the Fair Trade market could have a dramatic and positive impact on poverty during a crucial time in Kenya's history -- with over 3 million people at risk of starvation due to drought, Kenya is entering what many warn could be the worst humanitarian crisis since gaining independence in 1963.

"While East Africa suffers extreme poverty, East African origins are the fastest-growing segment of the Fair Trade Certified coffee market -- already the fastest-growing segment of the $11 billion specialty coffee industry -- promising a watershed of additional revenue for those who both deserve it and need it most," said TransFair USA CEO and Founder Paul Rice. "Fair Trade has revived coffee's homeland, having a profound effect throughout Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania -- communities transformed, coffee quality enhanced, trade routes reformed. Those same opportunities for economic renewal now exist for Kenya."

Kenyan coffee cooperatives Rumukia Cooperative Society and Gikanda Farmers Cooperative are currently Fair Trade Certified, and many more cooperatives have applied for certification. The registered importer is Nairobi-based C. Dorman, Ltd., Kenya's leading coffee exporter and roaster, shipping approximately 250,000 bags of green coffee from Kenya and Tanzania every year. TransFair USA expects to add more producers and exporters to Kenya's nascent Fair Trade market, and the organization will keep industry and producer partners apprised of any changes. Any specific questions regarding Fair Trade Certified Kenyan coffee can be sent to info@transfairusa.org.

About TransFair USA

TransFair USA, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization, is one of twenty members of Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO), and the only independent, third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. It audits transactions between U.S. companies offering Fair Trade Certified(TM) products and the international suppliers from whom they source, in order to guarantee that the farmers and farm workers behind Fair Trade Certified goods were paid a fair, above-market price. In addition, annual inspections conducted by FLO ensure that strict socioeconomic development criteria are being met using increased Fair Trade revenues. For more information, visit www.transfairusa.org.

Copyright Business Wire 2006

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