I agree with most of what you are saying about direct trade, however I do think that this is the way to go. I'm the Director of Coffee for Salt Spring Coffee, as you may know we were one of the first 100% Organic and Fair Trade coffee roasters in BC. We have been working closely with co-op's in Peru and Nicaragua for years now, and as of this year we are dropping the Transfair logo on these coffees and going with our own Direct Trade logo. All of the coffee that we buy from these regions will be bought directly not just some. Here is the list of rules that we hold ourselves to:

-We pay a minimum of 25% above the fair trade base price.
-We establish long-term commitments (3-5 years), providing security to farmers and co-op's
-Transactions and contracts are fully transparent to all buyers and sellers.
-We visit each of our coffee growing communities at least once every three years. ( We visit Nicaragua and Peru every year, we put at least every three because we hope to expand this program to Sumatra and Ethiopia in the near future and they are much harder to get to.)
-We work with these co-ops to raise the quality of their coffees year after year.
-We purchase only from certified organic farms and co-op.

I'm sure that there are roasters that are using Direct Trade as a way to make more money, but there are also many roasters like us that really care and want something better for the farming communities. I would advise consumers to do a little research on the roasters direct trade programs and ask questions.

Thank you, very cool website.

Banks

PS
Please only include your link in your screen name, not in the post. Also, I appreciate the referral to the site, but don't make it sound like your are speaking from a consumer's point of view when you clearly have a professional connection to them. Thank you.