More and more customers are willing to pay a premium for certified products such as fair trade coffee: according to Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), Fairtrade certified product sales were up 37 per cent last year. There are two ways for sellers or producers to enjoy that premium: give the customers what they want, or lie. Which they choose depends on the integrity of the certification process.

That integrity is under question. As we reported in this newspaper last Saturday, workers on certified coffee farms in Peru are being paid less than that country's minimum wage, contrary to the requirements of the Fairtrade mark. Industry insiders also claim that non-certified coffee is being passed off as Fairtrade and that certified coffee is being illegally planted in protected rainforests.