When they go low, we go high: combatting value volatility in the coffee industry
We spent the first weeks of 2022 visiting with partner cooperatives, engaging in a negotiation process unlike one to be found in the standard coffee industry. In these meetings to finalize prices for our 2022 contracts, space was given to farmers to detail the obstacles they faced in 2021 and transparently explain which they overcame and those that require additional persistence for the year ahead. As an organization, we provide assistance, expertise, and accompaniment where possible and as a coffee importer, we broker prices of green coffee on behalf of our wholesale customers. However, at the end of that supply chain are customers who are not just buying coffee, rather they’re investing in a community with whom they’ve come to know and care for over the years. This gives way not to a “negotiation,” rather a relationship that ethically compensates producers for their labor and expertise as well as propels these farmers’ vision of making coffee production a sustainable livelihood.
In the traditional coffee supply chain, farmers encounter extreme price volatility. Their profession demands consistency and discipline without knowing how they’ll be compensated when the harvest comes. In our meeting with La Suiza Cooperative, Rafael, the vice president, explained. “If the price goes up, we have to be consistent with our work. But, if the price goes down, we still have to maintain our fields.” Right now, the value of green coffee is higher than it has been in ten years, something that is worth celebrating for the global community of small-scale farmers. “But coffee prices come and go,” explains Mincho, a member of the Santa Anita Cooperative.”It’s high now, but we don’t know what it will be like next year.”
DLG sets out to disrupt this cycle of volatility and provide a stable income for farmers. We’re proud to say that we work with coffee-buyers who have joined us in this mission and created relationships that these communities value. Alfredo, the president of La Suiza Cooperative explained, “We say no to other buyers because those buyers come and go. But with [DLG], we know they're steady, and a lot of people here are aware of this and our goal is to continue and maintain our market.”
For us, these yearly meetings to discuss coffee prices with partner cooperatives are reminders of the mutually beneficial connections we’ve cultivated over the years between producers and customers. “What we have is stable,” says Mincho. “We have a connection as friends. Actually, more than friends – we’re family.” It’s only fair that coffee producers generate a stable and dignified income for their investment in this industry and the expertise that they persistently seek to acquire. Even when the market value of coffee is low, we stay high, because our work is about much more than negotiations and prices. It’s about relationships and creating opportunities within coffee-growing communities.
