Tag Archives: sustainability

47. “Getting to yes” (and beyond price and quality)

2010-05-20 Comments Off on 47. “Getting to yes” (and beyond price and quality)

I read the bestselling book Getting to Yes for a course in negotation I took during graduate school.  I don’t recall the book’s nuances, but some of its core principles have stuck with me, like moving beyond a party’s position to explore its underlying interests, and inventing new fields of engagement in which win-win solutions […]

46. How far can quality take a trading relationship?

2010-05-17 Comments Off on 46. How far can quality take a trading relationship?

For smallholder farmers, getting to the outer bounds of the quality spectrum — and staying there — is hard work. The marginal return on that effort — especially in a high market — may be negligible. So while we continue to promote a holistic approach to quality from the seedling to the mill, we are also continually asking ourselves how far to ride the wave of upward pressure on quality coming from the market end of the chain.

45. What are coffee companies investing in at origin?

2010-05-13 Comments Off on 45. What are coffee companies investing in at origin?

Over the past week and a half, I have been posting on the issue of how coffee companies are investing at origin.  Today: what they are investing in, and how that may be changing.

44. Bridging the gap between coffee and development

2010-05-11 Comments Off on 44. Bridging the gap between coffee and development

The most important divide in the discussion around coffee and development is the gap between coffee chain issues (productivity, quality, etc.) and issues that arise from beyond the coffee chain. The issue that bridges the gap? The price companies pay for their coffee.

43. Sustainability and the Coffee Quality Diploma

2010-05-06 Comments Off on 43. Sustainability and the Coffee Quality Diploma

In my last post, I shared some reflections on my recent discussions with diverse coffee industry stakeholders regarding the ways coffee companies are investing at origin.  I did not mean to suggest that coffee companies are struggling to find their way while established development agencies like ours have it all figured out.  In fact, even […]

41. How should coffee companies invest at origin?

2010-05-03 Comments Off on 41. How should coffee companies invest at origin?

Over the the past few months, I have found myself talking with a broad range of stakeholders in the specialty coffee industry about how coffee companies are investing at origin. Here are some reflections on what I am hearing in those discussions and seeing in the field, and some ideas about the directions in which industry engagement in the coffeelands may be moving.

39. Climate change and the “core business model”

2010-04-26 Comments Off on 39. Climate change and the “core business model”

I met at SCAA with Thanksgiving Coffee President Ben Corey-Moran, who explained that the company will be focusing more moving forward on its “core business model.” As it turns out, his concept of the company’s core business model includes innovative partnerships with NGOs in East Africa to create incentives for effective climate change mitigation and adaptation. It seems the concept of the “core business model” in the coffee industry may be evolving.

32. SCAA preview – A sustainability framework

2010-04-14 Comments Off on 32. SCAA preview – A sustainability framework

Over the past few days I have highlighted some of the leading causes of food insecurity and preferred strategies for coping with hunger — issues I will present during Saturday’s Hunger in the Coffeelands panel at SCAA. If you read those posts, you know that the issue of food insecurity is complicated. Today I share some reflections on a framework for sustainable development that tries to make sense of it all.

19. The water (not) in your coffee

2010-03-12 Comments Off on 19. The water (not) in your coffee

Every year, the trade show at the SCAA annual conference includes at least a few vendors selling the latest and greatest technology to filter, purify, ionize or otherwise ensure the quality of the water you put in your coffee. But you rarely hear anything at SCAA about the countless millions of gallons of water that are used to mill your coffee at origin. As it turns out, the best water may be the water that doesn’t go into your coffee.