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ETHICAL COFFEE CHAIN Taking Fair Trade Out of ‘the Ghetto’? PRESENTERS: ADAM KING & YOANI KUIPER
WHY COFFEE?
WHY COFFEE? Coffee is the 2nd most traded commodity in the world next to only oil
WHY COFFEE? Coffee is the 2nd most consumed beverage in the world next to only water
WHY COFFEE? So even a small change in the global coffee industry can have a impact.
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COFFEE is a SOCIAL OBJECT: A point of contact we gather around to have conversation. It’s something we all share.
COFFEE is a SOCIAL OBJECT: Breakfast with the family? Meeting up with friends? Having a break with co-workers? Chatting before a church service? Socializing after dinner?
Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee.
OUR CONCEPT
Use the social object of coffee as a medium to spread the concepts of ethical consumption and fair trade. ...and spread it everywhere.
OUR JOURNEY
Matagalpa, Nicaragua — One of the world’s premium coffee-growing regions
Child labourer on coffee farm — although illegal, rampant in most areas
Children of coffee workers at home — no schools or medical facilities available
Labourer’s meal — 2-3 daily portions of beans, rice and tortilla
WHY START IN NICARAGUA? SITUATION IN COFFEE COMMUNITIES In 2000-2003, coffee prices fell to a historic low of $0.40/lb. Horrific results in farming communities. Today’s coffee prices are up around $1.20/lb, similar to 1996 prices. However, the cost of food and agricultural inputs have risen 400-600% since 1996. Over 50% of children have chronic malnutrition in areas hit hard by coffee price volatility. This figure does not include kids with other malnourishment-related health issues.
OUR QUESTION:
Is our coffee industry’s practices really causing these families’ starvation?
Premium Coffee Growing Regions
Premium Coffee Growing Regions
Migrant Coffee Worker Areas
2008
Nicaraguan coffee farmers are facing a dangerous combination of low coffee prices, high input costs, and non-availability of credit.
And the results? Farm workers being laid off... or not paid. Banks possessing coffee farms and homes. Children dropping out of school. Families slowly starving. ...and similar situations in coffee-producing regions all around the globe.
GHETTO-IZATION OF FAIR TRADE
27% of coffee is certified ethical in the Netherlands, but in Canada... around 1%! The problem? Fair Trade is Ghettoized. It’s largely relegated to a cultural niche.
GHETTO-IZATION OF FAIR TRADE WHAT PROBLEMS NEED TO BE SOLVED TO MAKE “ETHICAL COFFEE” THE NORM:
Lack of Affordability Lack of Accessibility Lack of Awareness
OUR SUPPLY CHAIN MODEL BUILDING DIRECT LINKS BETWEEN CONSUMERS AND COFFEE FARMERS 1. Each bag of coffee will have: • Details of the coffee farm & farmer • Link to website where the farm’s community
improvements are logged and updated • Transparent accounting for the price of coffee
2. “Reality Tours” will allow people to go see farm families; help with community projects
ADDRESSING AFFORDABILITY PRICE / PAYOUT RATIO: CURRENT FAIR TRADE COFFEE “Ethical” coffee (such as Fair Trade Certified coffee) is sold in Canada at around $12-16 per pound. Coffee farmers only receive 10% of this price (US$1.25 per pound) even for Fair Trade certified.
Now compare...
ADDRESSING AFFORDABILITY With our line of “ethical coffee”, Canadian customers will likely pay as much as 40% less than current ethical coffee prices. Coffee farmers will receive 50% of the wholesale price — US$4.00 per pound of coffee — of which 25% ($1.00 per pound) will be invested in social & environmental projects in those communities. And our proceeds will go back into social projects.
ADDRESSING ACCESSIBILITY “The Ethical Coffee Locator” Google Maps directory mash-up will let people to submit locations you can buy ethical coffee of various certifications and systems (Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, etc.) along with prices and whatever other information can be gathered. We will build a distribution network for our own coffee via a grassroots community network, coordinated online, and through community “Ambassadors” as well as institutions such as churches, cafes, schools, stores. Through our network, we will lobby major store chains & coffee shops to switch to ethical coffee.
ADDRESSING AWARENESS Short film, “Double Double Standards” will follow the story of our starting this project by going to Nicaragua to research the coffee industry. Awareness Events: taking the story and film from community to community, sharing our experiences at churches, colleges, conferences, etc. “Ethical Coffee Ambassadors”: Wherever we go we’ll enlisting interested people to be active in their community, church, or school with promoting the cause of ethical coffee, helping us arrange distribution of coffee,
ADDRESSING AWARENESS
Social email advocacy site, similar in nature to AVAAZ.org, but devoted to spreading awareness on ethical consumption, so that people can in a few seconds easily send a message to all the friends in their address book, on their Facebook account, forwarding a video, message, petition, etc. (Tied into the Coffee Locator)
We Need Help!
All kinds of help! But especially... Fundraising ideas and volunteers Financial / organizational management Partnerships with other organizations People who will commit to buy the coffee! (
HELP US
HELP YOU
H E L P OT H E R S !
)
Questions? Ideas? Comments?
TO STAY UP TO DATE ON THE PROJECT, SUBSCRIBE AT
E TH IC A L C O F F EEC HA IN.ORG
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT US PERSONALLY
Adam King
adam@ethicalcoffeechain.org 519-774-0773
Yoani Kuiper
yoani@ethicalcoffeechain.org 416-888-2390
ADDITIONAL COFFEE SUPPLY INFO Traceability and Certifications:
To ensure to consumers certain checks and balances in the profit distribution, we will provide: a) Clear and transparent accounting of all costs and payments to farmers. b) Each farmer will provide goals and objectives for the use of the price premium for social investment. Each farm will provide photographs and records proving the social investment made, with external audits. c) Comparison between market prices and our ethical coffee prices will be provided to show the benefits to coffee farmers and labourers from our ethical business enterprises.