Coffee is traded as a commodity and the main price is set by the coffee exchanges in New York and London, the same way that the price of oil or a currency is determined. The main reason coffee prices are low isn’t any grand conspiracy but it’s because of over-supply with countries like Vietnam coming into the market in the 1990s. Anything that helps small coffee farmers sell their product as a premium product rather than just a commodity is helpful and certifications certainly help with that.

The real problem I have with the certifications is that there are so many of them (Fair Trade, organic, Utz Kappeh, Rainforest Alliance etc etc). The price of certification is high and often the same farm needs multiple certifications to sell to different markets (you may not have heard of Utz Kappeh, for example, but it’s huge in Europe). The certifications have different emphases but given the degree of overlap, I would like to see more cooperation.

Farmer-owned coffee is a great way to benefit the farmers. The difference is that they are collectively doing more of the processing and the further you can go down the value-add chain, the more money you will make. However, as an environmentalist, I don’t think farmer ownership is enough. I also want to see preservation of tree cover, good water management, reduction or elimination of pesticides and so on.

Maybe this just points out the fact that marketing schemes like Fair Trade are more hype than reality! We should all question these claims, especially when the we are paying a premium for these labels when, in fact, only about 10% of that premium makes it back to the farmer.

As an alternative, buying from farmer-owned brands would benefit the farmer directly. I prefer to buy direct and ignore the hype coming from big retailers, marketers and roasters.

Just my 2 cents.

12c sounds shocking but is it really? I do support giving farmers a bigger share of the $3 but in reality we’re talking about increasing the share by a few cents at the most. It can’t be much more if you think about the heavy processing that happens to the coffee beans once they leave the farm, plus the high overheads of the cafe that makes the brew. Everyone else along the supply chain needs to be paid for their contribution as well. No one is getting rich off coffee – the roasters make more than anyone else but it’s hardly a road to riches for the exporters (who do the processing until roasting stage) or the cafes.

It’s the same thing if I buy a gourmet sandwich – a very low proportion of the price goes to the wheat farmer, but it’s not necessarily unfair when you think about what else goes into it.

That’s not to say that the increase by a few cents isn’t worthwhile. In fact, that can make all the difference to a coffee farming family and community. I love this post for the suggestions on how to buy coffee that benefits the farmers. But to play devil’s advocate, I’m just not sure the focus on the proportion of retail price of a cup of coffee is especially meaningful!