Coffee has been traded for commercial purposes for 400 years. From there, it has spread to approximately 70 countries where it is currently grown. The Dutch were the ones who began to establish economies of scale around the production and export of coffee. Later they grew coffee in Java and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The first exports from Java to the Netherlands occurred in 1711, and the Dutch East India Company was the first multinational corporation in history and the first to export coffee on a large scale.
During these four centuries, a pattern of neo-feudal behaviour has been generated, which has forced small coffee growers to chain themselves into ultra-dependent relationships with large landowners or multinationals, which have caused multimillion-dollar profits for large companies, in addition to the concentration of land, marginalization and slavery. This is how this business model has been perpetuated until today.
With the emergence of the idea of specialty coffee, it was thought that the way of trading coffee in the world would change. In fact, the movement was born with the aim of being more ethical, traceable, sustainable, dignified and equitable. But since large corporations are obligated to their investors and these to their returns, there is a conflict of interest between the philosophy of specialty coffee and the harsh reality of having to generate the greatest amount of profit through the classic, buy cheap to sell high. At the expense, of course, of the small coffee farmers.
Buying at origin is becoming more and more difficult, and we find ourselves more often having to deal with multinationals who claim to be committed to the idea of specialty coffee, but who are really in the business of volume and generating the maximum amount of profits possible. We, like many of you, would prefer that each farmer get paid more per Kg of cherry (at least 1 USD), and let them buy their own cows or spend their money as they see fit.
Judge for yourself, find out who is behind your green coffee suppliers, and exercise all your power through your purchasing decisions.
Buying at origin is becoming more and more difficult, and we find ourselves more often having to deal with multinationals who claim to be committed to the idea of specialty coffee, but who are really in the business of volume and generating the maximum amount of profits possible. We, like many of you, would prefer that each farmer get paid more per Kg of cherry (at least 1 USD), and let them buy their own cows or spend their money as they see fit.
Judge for yourself, find out who is behind your green coffee suppliers, and exercise all your power through your purchasing decisions.
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