Fair trade coffee is a program that ensures the livelihoods of small scale coffee producers in LEDCs. Retailers of the coffee sell it at a higher price to consumers, the extra funds will directly aid small family businesses that are dependent on producing coffee to earn a living. Fair trade Coffee is traded at a reasonable price which protects farmers from being exploited with lower wages by transnational corporations. Countries which participate in the Fair Trade Coffee certification are mostly located in South America (though a few are in Africa as well). Consumers are willing to purchase Fair Trade Coffee at a higher price which guarantees the reasonably set traded price of importers. Otherwise, they would have to sell their coffee beans at lower prices because of their lack of competitiveness in the global market in comparison to large scale coffee plantations. This is a dominant example of the consideration of ethics in businesses. It raises awareness and provides certainty and satisfaction to those consumers in MEDCs who are know the advantages of purchasing coffee with the Fair Trade labels on them. They can be sure that the coffee has been produced at a set standard, and traded with ethics which promote the well-being of consumers and producers.