I was just sent Counter Cultures direct trade annual report
http://www.counterculturecoffee.com/docs/CCDTC_Annual_Report.pdf
It starts with...
This report is the product of real transparency: the first annual report on our Counter Culture Direct Trade Certified coffees, the people, and relationships which make those coffees possible. The intention of this report is to give a succinct, transparent summary of our financial and personal relationships with the producer partners
whose coffee was certified under the Counter Culture Direct Trade Certification program in 2009.
Transparent pricing from origin is a neat concept although not unique to Counter Culture, not many of the others publish an annual report. Kudos to them for putting it out there for discussion.
Our goal is to build long-term, durable, mutually beneficial relationships with our producer partners. The duration of these relationships is a good indication of their sustainability.
Well... Just because you have a long term relationship certainly doesnt mean that its sustainable or a good partnership. Heck, just ask Nike about the long term relationships with kids making shoes for $1/day. Ok, maybe Im being overly cynical but the facts are that while producers ride donkeys coffee moguls drive Ferraris.
The gotcha for me in this report is the fact that most of these hand selected coffees which are directly traded are being bought for a small percentage over the NY-C index price for commodity grade coffee and many of the coffees purchased in this report were sub $4/kilo FOB.
I dont think this is the true market price for these coffees and the growers could yield a far better price for this, the premium selection from their annual crop.
One day I hope to see less marketing spin and a fairer price for the farmers via web based auctions for specialty coffees (eg: CoE style auctions)
Ok, so the price is in US$, you still need to freight and clear the coffee but these prices are still way too low in my opinion. Counter Culture (and others) are landing these coffees for sub $5/kg and selling for $35/kg+ and the cafes are selling per cup for $100s.
I dont want to beat-up Counter Culture Coffee for releasing this document, Im sure there are far worse practices out there by other roasters/brokers/importers but as we know, the industry doesnt need to take much from the fat-end and feed it back to the thin end to make huge differences to the lives of the farmers on the ground.
Hmmm... I guess this is yet another reason FairCrack still sits so well with me.
Footnote: The NY-C price for coffee today is $1.32/lb and last September it was $1.48/lb
http://www.counterculturecoffee.com/docs/CCDTC_Annual_Report.pdf
It starts with...
This report is the product of real transparency: the first annual report on our Counter Culture Direct Trade Certified coffees, the people, and relationships which make those coffees possible. The intention of this report is to give a succinct, transparent summary of our financial and personal relationships with the producer partners
whose coffee was certified under the Counter Culture Direct Trade Certification program in 2009.
Transparent pricing from origin is a neat concept although not unique to Counter Culture, not many of the others publish an annual report. Kudos to them for putting it out there for discussion.
Our goal is to build long-term, durable, mutually beneficial relationships with our producer partners. The duration of these relationships is a good indication of their sustainability.
Well... Just because you have a long term relationship certainly doesnt mean that its sustainable or a good partnership. Heck, just ask Nike about the long term relationships with kids making shoes for $1/day. Ok, maybe Im being overly cynical but the facts are that while producers ride donkeys coffee moguls drive Ferraris.
The gotcha for me in this report is the fact that most of these hand selected coffees which are directly traded are being bought for a small percentage over the NY-C index price for commodity grade coffee and many of the coffees purchased in this report were sub $4/kilo FOB.
I dont think this is the true market price for these coffees and the growers could yield a far better price for this, the premium selection from their annual crop.
One day I hope to see less marketing spin and a fairer price for the farmers via web based auctions for specialty coffees (eg: CoE style auctions)
Ok, so the price is in US$, you still need to freight and clear the coffee but these prices are still way too low in my opinion. Counter Culture (and others) are landing these coffees for sub $5/kg and selling for $35/kg+ and the cafes are selling per cup for $100s.
I dont want to beat-up Counter Culture Coffee for releasing this document, Im sure there are far worse practices out there by other roasters/brokers/importers but as we know, the industry doesnt need to take much from the fat-end and feed it back to the thin end to make huge differences to the lives of the farmers on the ground.
Hmmm... I guess this is yet another reason FairCrack still sits so well with me.
Footnote: The NY-C price for coffee today is $1.32/lb and last September it was $1.48/lb
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