Direct trade is a form of sourcing practiced by some coffee roasters, referring to direct sourcing from farmers, with standards varying between producers. Direct trade is seen as an alternative to Fairtrade certification, and represents the interests of roasters who disagreed with elements of Fair Trade, including:
Advocates of direct trade practices promote direct communication and price negotiation between buyer and farmer, along with systems that encourage and incentivize quality. There is no agreed definition of the term, and, unlike Fair Trade coffee, there is no third party certification that the conditions stated by the coffee buyers are being complied with.
The term was pioneered by the collective efforts of Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea (since 2006 or earlier), and Counter Culture Coffee. (since 2008), The term is also used by coffee roasters like Stumptown Coffee Roasters. In fact, within the specialty coffee industry, these three roasters are often referred to collectively as the "Big Three of Third Wave Coffee".
The term "direct trade" has since been adopted by other roasters; a list is maintained by the Direct Trade Coffee Club.