A few weeks ago, Kickapoo Coffee Roasters publicly committed to paying farmers in their supply chain a minimum of $2.75 FOB per lb. FOB (FOB stands for Free on Board, which means this is the price of the coffee ready for export) for all of Kickapoo’s green coffee purchases. Their press release says that it […]
What’s in a name? Apparently, a whopping $9.56 per pound. In December 2015, that was the difference between the average retail price that select specialty roasters charged for lots that included growers’ names and the average retail price of those that didn’t, according to the folks behind Transparent Trade Coffee (TTC). Whoever they are. (Am I the only one […]
I have been so busy preparing for and participating in Sustainable Harvest’s 10th annual Let’s Talk Coffee in Colombia last week that I am just getting caught up on some recent news in coffee. Here are some of the biggest stories in specialty coffee from the last month.
I started asking questions a few weeks ago about communication standards among Direct Trade roasters. My series of posts on this issue did not generate much of a conversation here, but did prompt some very good offline discussion. One of the best-known and best-regarded roasters in specialty coffee — let’s call this person “Sam” — […]
I posted some questions here in June regarding the standards for communication in Direct Trade. Today I come back to those specific queries, which are not clearly addressed in the prevailing Direct Trade standards for communication.
A few weeks ago I asked here some searching questions regarding the standard for disclosure in Direct Trade. I will get back to that issue soon, but first it may be helpful to acknolwedge all the great work already done to establish and communicate clear standards for Direct Trade.
Over the past week or so, I have stumbled onto the websites of two different roasters who source coffee from a cooperative we support in Central America. Both are well-regarded Direct Trade roasters. Both have language on their websites that could be construed to suggest that they source all their coffees directly. One of them […]
It is early June, which means that the rains are falling heavier now here in the coffeelands, and Counter Culture is releasing another Direct Trade Certified Transparency Report in the States to much well-deserved fanfare. The report may generate less buzz in its sophomore season than it did last year as a rookie sensation, but […]
Last week I reflected on the implications of current market prices: the good, the bad and the ugly. This week, more comment on the current state of the market, starting with one Fair Trade roaster’s take on what it is calling “The New Coffee Crisis.”
Yesterday I suggested that Fair Trade has little to do with quality on the roasting and retail end of the coffee chain. On the sourcing end, however, I believe that there are elements of the Fair Trade model that help certain Fair Trade roasters get a leg up on the competition.
