Coffee supplier to sue over fairtrade logo row

A major Irish coffee supplier is set to sue Fairtrade Ireland over a row surrounding the company’s use of the Fairtrade logo, it emerged today.

Java Republic said it was in the process of issuing defamation proceedings against the organisation in response to an allegation by Fairtrade Ireland that the company was infringing the use of the term.

Earlier this week the charity threatened legal action against the coffee firm, which it said was misusing ‘Fairtrade’ in its tagline: “our commitment to ethical trade includes Fairtrade coffee and direct partnerships with farmers and co-operatives”.

But Java Republic said it had been using the line with Fairtrade Ireland’s full permission for more than two years and had demanded an apology, which had not been forthcoming.

And the company alleged the row had blown up after the charity – which certifies brands with the trademark – had come under pressure from a rival coffee supplier.

David McKernan, founder of Java Republic, said: “Whilst these events demonstrate a serious error of judgement on the part of Fairtrade Ireland, I feel it is important to acknowledge that we do accept the explanation given to us, that Fairtrade Ireland believed they had no choice but to take this course of action because of pressure placed on them by one of our leading competitors in the Irish coffee industry, which was grossly unfair to both Fairtrade Ireland and our business.

“One can only assume that this row has nothing to do with ethical trade and everything to do with shelf space and new and unwelcome competition in the retail coffee industry,” he said.

“As a small but growing company with a commitment to ethical international trade, we were devastated by the calculated way in which these actions were carried out.

“We will do everything we can to minimise the damage this regrettable occurrence has done to our long-standing reputation and our valued relationship with our customers,” he said.

Java Republic said it had been an authorised user of the ‘Fairtrade’ mark since 2000 and 12% of its sales were in fairly traded products, making it the second largest food supplier of Fairtrade goods in Ireland.

A spokesman for Fairtrade Ireland said they were not in a position to comment on the legal situation, as it was currently with their solicitors.