Organic Coffee Now a 1.4 Billion Industry

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Organic and fair trade coffee are good for health and the environment and consumers are starting to notice.

The North American organic coffee market topped 1.4 billion dollars in 2009 with more than 93 million pounds of organic coffee imported into the United States and Canada, according to Giovannucci's North American Organic Coffee Industry Report 2010.

"It's not surprising that demand for organic coffee is growing. Consumers are increasingly knowledgeable about the attributes of organic coffee—its benefits not only to the environment and health but also to the livelihoods of the farmers who produce it," said Christine Bushway executive director of the Organic Trade Association.

The organic coffee market grew 4.1% in a year.