More than a fair trade
We Support our Farmers
Coffee farmers are suffering - 120 million people around the world rely on coffee for their livelihoods and 80% of them live in poverty, despite the rising price of retail coffee.We purchase our coffee from Bellwether and their first-of-its-kind Living Income Pricing initiative that ensures a sustainable livelihood for farmers beyond any certification program currently in practice. Bellwether is the only company in the world dedicated to purchasing 100% of their coffees using Living Income Pricing and we are encouraging the industry to join us.
Living Income Pricing
What is it?
Equitable pricing models like Fair Trade and Direct Trade don’t go far enough to lift farmers out of poverty or create sustainable livelihoods for their families. In order to end the cycle of poverty for the world’s 12 million coffee farmers, we need a new pricing model that pays farmers based on living income, not on global market demand.
How does it work?
Bellwether partners with farmers and organizations to collect data from producers on things like their cost of production and productivity, as well as lifestyle data like the cost of food, education and more. We then use that data to establish a new minimum price for coffee that includes what it cost to produce that coffee and also what it costs a farmer to thrive at home. Bellwether then signs contracts with producers based on this new Living Income Pricing.
Farmers Impact Fund
What is it?
Most coffee origins produce just one harvest per year. To get that coffee to market, farmers must pay the cost of a year of growing, managing, harvesting and processing their coffee up front, before they receive any compensation. To make ends meet, producers often take out predatory bank loans to finance their upcoming harvests. The Farmer Impact Fund helps break this lending cycle by making direct cash payments to producers year-round, enabling them to freely invest in their farms and communities
How does it work?
Bellwether Coffee retailers who participate in Farmer Impact Fund pay a slightly higher price for green coffee which is collected and distributed to producers who decide independently how to spend it. To date, Bellwether’s customers have distributed $34,100 to 11 different producer groups.
