The concept of fair trade labeling, which guarantees coffee growers a negotiated preharvest price, began with the Max Havelaar Foundation's labeling program in the Netherlands. In 2004, 24,222 metric tons (of 7,050,000 produced worldwide) were fair trade; in 2005, 33,991 metric tons out of 6,685,000 were fair trade, an increase from 0.34% to 0.51%. A number of fair trade impact studies have shown that fair trade coffee has a positive impact on the communities that grow it. Coffee was incorporated into the fair-trade movement in 1988, when the Max Havelaar mark was introduced in the Netherlands. The very first fair-trade coffee was an effort to import a Guatemalan coffee into Europe as "Indio Solidarity Coffee".
The coffee roasting process consists essentially of sorting, roasting, cooling, and packaging operations but can also include grinding in larger scale roasting houses. In larger operations, bags of green coffee beans are hand or machine-opened, dumped into a hopper, and screened to remove debris. The green beans are then weighed and transferred by belt or pneumatic conveyor to storage hoppers. From the storage hoppers, the green beans are conveyed to the roaster. Roasters typically operate at temperatures between 370 and 540 *F (188 and 282 *C), and the beans are roasted for a period of time ranging from 3 to 30 minutes. Roasters are typically horizontal rotating drums that are heated from below and tumble the green coffee beans in a current of hot gases. The heat source can be supplied by natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), electricity or even wood. These roasters can operate in either batch or continuous modes and can be indirect- or direct-fired.
Following roasting, the beans are cooled using a vacuum system and stabilized. This stabilization process is called degassing. Following degassing, the roasted beans are packaged, usually in light-resistant foil bags fitted with small one-way aromalock valves to allow gasses to escape while protecting the beans from moisture and oxygen. Roasted whole beans can be considered fresh for up to one month. Once coffee is ground it is best used immediately.