FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 8, 2001
Contact: Deborah James 415-255-7296

Responding to a Price Crisis in the International Coffee Market, Shareholders Warn that Folgers' Image and Profits Will Suffer in the Long Run Unless the Company Commits to Fair Trade Principles

Cincinnati--A group of socially responsible investors will attend Procter & Gamble's annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday to warn company executives and fellow shareholders that Folgers may soon become synonymous with overseas exploitation unless the giant coffee company takes immediate steps to guarantee a living wage for the families harvesting its coffee beans. The socially responsible shareholders will call on Folgers to immediately begin offering its consumers the choice to buy "Fair Trade certified" coffee.

The Procter & Gamble shareholders meeting will take place at 12:00 noon at the Cincinnati Music Hall, 1243 Elm Street. Concerned shareholders will meet at 11:00 a.m. in front of the music hall.

The shareholders' petition comes in the midst of a price crisis in the international coffee market which is hurting family farmers around the world. Coffee normally trades on commodity markets for about $1 a pound. The international price is now at 49 cents a pound, and the price slump is ruining many of the 20 million farming families around the world who depend on the crop. Tens of thousands of Mexican coffee farmers have fled their fields in search of incomes to feed their families. In El Salvador, an estimated 30,000 jobs have been lost due to the price drop. Many of the 60,000 coffee producers in Nicaragua are losing their land because of indebtedness. In all three countries, farmers on the brink of starvation have taken to the streets to demand government support.

Global Exchange, an international human rights organization that has long promoted fair trade policies, is asking Procter & Gamble and Folgers to promise to begin buying Fair Trade certified coffee to help farmers in the world's poor countries. Fair Trade certification corrects market imbalances by guaranteeing a minimum price of $1.26 per pound for small farmers' harvest. With a stable income, coffee growers are able to invest in their families' health care, education, and community development. The Fair Trade system currently benefits 550,00 farming families organized into 300 cooperatives in 20 countries.

In a September 29 letter, Global Exchange called on Folgers to commit at least 5 percent of its annual purchasing to Fair Trade beans. Already, more than 7,000 cafes and grocery stores around the country--including Starbucks and Safeway--sell Fair Trade certified coffee.

"Folgers, one of Procter & Gamble's 'billion dollar brands,' has been a hugely profitable enterprise," says Deborah James, Global Exchange's fair trade director. "Certainly the company can afford to pay farmers a living wage. If Procter & Gamble truly is committed to ethical business practices, as it says it is, then the company should work to improve the lives of thousands of farming families around the world."