1 | Sustain ab le HarvestÂŽ
FOR OVER 20 YEARS, the vision behind the Relationship Coffee Model has remained unchanged: to connect roasters, producers, and all other stakeholders as directly and transparently as possible. We’ve stood by our belief that the key to effecting a sustainable coffee industry, one where everyone shares in each other’s long-term success, lies in the simple act of building relationships deeply rooted in trust, empathy, transparency, and collaboration. These relationships can transform the supply chain into a robust and resilient network, creating an environment that promotes sustained growth and prosperity.
By definition, for something to be sustainable, it must be able to be maintained—indefinitely, ideally. With the current pressures facing the producing world, from the ever-mounting threat of irreversible climate change to years of persistently low prices to a widening generational gap, obstacles to sustainable livelihoods are growing more massive—and will keep growing unless we take collective action as an industry. Because there is still much more work to be done, we hope that by highlighting some of our successes and achievements in 2019, we can inspire more industry partners to explore initiatives to make the coffee world a better, more equitable and just place.
When Sustainable Harvest® was founded in 1997, the concept of “sustainability” and the idea of doing business transparently was, at best, considered “unusual.” Today, we know that businesses can not only operate successfully under such a model—they can thrive.
By sharing our 2019 Impact Report, we hope that we can help to refocus, as an industry, our understanding of “sustainability” to reemphasize its importance and convey the urgency by which we must align all of our goals to realize a sustainable future for everyone.
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Sustainable Livelihoods The UN’s Food & Agricultural Organization (FAO) defines a livelihood as sustainable “when it can cope with and recover from the stresses and shocks, and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets both now and in the future without undermining the natural resource base.” In 2019, we sustainably sourced nearly 32 million pounds of coffee from 62,341 farm families, paying 63% above the C-market price, on average. When it comes to Organic and Fair Trade social premiums, $11,334,326 USD were generated for farmers. Additionally, because we fundamentally believe that roasters and producers should have greater visibility into specialty coffee pricing, in 2018 we became a founding data donor for the Transparency Initiative’s Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide. 2019 marked our second year contributing as a data donor. Ensuring that farmers receive a fair and decent price for their coffee is unquestionably essential to building
62, 341 Farm families served
119 Producer partners
sustainable and prosperous livelihoods—but it’s only one half of the equation. Above all else, farmers depend on stability in order to reliably forecast and plan for the years ahead. This involves a commitment, on both our part and on the part of our producer partners, to developing close, long-term relationships rooted in transparency and trust. Doing so allows us to invest more deeply in our producer partners and, together, work to improve quality and consistency, year after year. Perhaps most importantly, this model gives us the opportunity to develop key strategies that can help farmers remove or mitigate risks and become more resilient to the “stresses and shocks” (such as natural disasters or market volatility) that inevitably occur. We’re proud to share that, as of 2019, the average length of our relationships with our producer partners spans 13.5 years—and counting.
16 Countries 31,802,766 Pounds of sustainably sourced coffee
86% of coffee sourced from certified sources (Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, Organic, and B Corps) Organic: 73% of all purchases Fair Trade: 77% of all purchases 13.5 years: Average length of producer partner relationship
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Spotlight: Sustainable Harvest® & Twin Trading
We are convinced that this new combination of Sustainable Harvest® and Twin will produce synergies that will result in more meaningful impact. -Aurora Izquierdo, ANEI
In November of 2019, we announced our first-ever acquisition, carrying on the powerful legacy of UK-based ethical sourcing pioneer, Twin Trading. Formed in 1985, Twin revolutionized the approach to trade in favor of smallholder producers, laying down the principles of Fair Trade and pioneering ethical and transparent supply chains in coffee, nuts, and cocoa.
Key members of Twin’s former team joined Sustainable Harvest®, forming the new UK branch of our operations based in London. In this new chapter, we integrate immense talent and history as we combine forces to champion sustainable sourcing that provide dignified livelihoods for farming families at the foundation of the coffee industry.
In many ways, we consider ourselves to be a spiritual “twin” of Twin Trading, sharing many of the same values and missionled initiatives. As soon as we learned that Twin was closing its doors, we knew we had to act. We felt a deep responsibility to preserve the livelihoods of thousands of Twin producer partners across East Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia.
“We are convinced that this new combination of Sustainable Harvest® and Twin will produce synergies that will result in more meaningful impact,” said Aurora Izquierdo, long-time Twin Trading and Sustainable Harvest® partners and leader of ANEI, a cooperative of over 600 indigenous farmers producing organic coffee in Northern Colombia. “This is an organization that will promote the best for humanity and the planet.”
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Gender Equity
Though men are typically presented as the face of coffee, women make up the majority of the over 12.5 million coffee farmers worldwide. Despite evidence that their inclusion strengthens productivity, quality, and their communities, women coffee farmers are far too often excluded from decision-making and training. We’re committed to partnering with women coffee producers and their families to promote gender equity and improved livelihoods.
We do this by focusing on three areas: 1) SOURCING In 2019, we impacted over 62,000 farmers, 19,000 of which were women. We also purchased more than 2.1 million pounds of coffees exclusively grown by women and women’s producer groups. Each year we review the strategic alignment of our producer partners using diagnostic tools that dig into social, environmental, and core business performance. Gender equity is an essential component of the assessment—from identifying women farmers to reviewing supplier policies and practices, like equal pay for equal work. This allows us to recognize star performers and target opportunities for continuous improvement. 2) INVESTMENT Gender equity won’t be achieved by higher prices alone. We must all go above and beyond. In 2019, we collaborated with producers, roasters, philanthropists, social financiers, best-inclass NGOs, and governments to design and implement social investment projects reaching nearly 40,000 women coffee farmers worldwide. Projects focused on a range of topics: increasing women’s participation; building leadership, entrepreneurship and farm business management skills; integrating new and innovative technologies; and leading workshops on best agricultural practices, price risk management, cupping, quality control, and more. 3) COLLABORATION We take inspiration from the proverb that says, “To go fast, go alone. To go far, go together.” That collaborative approach is the glue that binds the Relationship Coffee Model. To facilitate systemic action with expert guidance, we turn to top academics, innovative philanthropists, and industry leading organizations like the Partnership for Gender Equity and International Women in Coffee.
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From 2013 to 2019 Bloomberg Philanthropies partnered with Sustainable Harvest to increase economic opportunities for Rwandan women coffee farmers and their families through more professionalized, market-based skills to increase their family incomes. The impact and scope of this six-year partnership has been extraordinary. Over the course of the project, 40,000 women farmers from Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo received direct skills training and learned to manage their own organizations, improving incomes, yields, and market performance.
2,103,336 Pounds of exclusively women-grown coffee sourced in 2019
2019 Partnership for Gender Equity (PGE) Supporter
2019 International Women’s Coffee Alliance Sustaining Partner
18,867 Women coffee farmers sourced from in 2019
Spotlight: Women’s Center for Entrepreneurship
In 2019, we collaborated with Peet’s Coffee and our producer partner Coocentral to launch the Women’s Center for Entrepreneurship in Huila, Colombia. Working with best-inclass experts from the Escuela de Administración de Negocios in Bogota and cooperative leaders, we designed a curriculum for women producers that was specifically tailored to empower, build confidence, and develop the skills needed to succeed as business leaders and entrepreneurs. In total, 112 “Mujeres Cafeteras” were enrolled, and all participants successfully completed the 9-month program spanning coursework in finance, communications, marketing, and technology.
Spotlight: Premium Sharing Rewards
2019 also saw the launch of the second year of an innovative capacity building and training program serving 300 women farmers in Colombia. We partnered with The Strauss Group to spearhead a program centered on a model called “Premium Sharing Rewards,” which we originally developed for women growers in Rwanda. The model incentivizes participants by rewarding points upon demonstration of mastery of skills and subject matter; areas range from Best Agricultural Practices like pruning and mulching to basic bookkeeping skills. Participants can then redeem these points for locally relevant household assets, such as solar lamps, clean water filtration kits, home roasters, smartphones, and farm equipment.
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Additionally, the project also funded the construction of coffee drying beds for each of the women producers as a way to improve quality and address climate change.
Farmer Investment: Our Most Valuable Producer (MVP) Program
In 2015, we launched our Most Valuable Producer program, our preferred supplier sourcing initiative that has since become the truest expression of the Relationship Coffee Model and the north star that guides almost every aspect of our business operations. Our Most Valuable Producer program connects roasters to the top echelon of Relationship Coffee producers, a group uniquely dedicated to buyer relationships, quality, performance, sustainability, and organizational prowess. In 2019, we’re proud to say that 57 of our producer partners consistently exceeded our expectations, demonstrating a remarkable commitment to coffee excellence and holding the designation of MVP.
At its heart, the MVP program is about capacity building. Through training events held around the globe each year, our goal is to equip MVPs with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed as top suppliers, creating pathways that lead to long-term professional development. In 2019, we invested more than $160,000 in farmer capacity building—holding 17 training events, more than any year before. Professional training was provided on price risk management, Q-processing, market analysis, agricultural best practices, quality control, and calibration. We also facilitated learning journeys in Italy, Switzerland, and the United States (New York City and Boston), allowing producers to visit customers, build direct relationships, and better understand emerging market trends and evolving consumer preferences.
$161,328 In MVP investments
17 training events in 7 countries in 2019 (Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Peru, USA, Switzerland, Italy) 396 MVP producer leaders directly participated in events
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57 MVP Producer Organizations
Spotlight: MVP Peru Q Processing
Out of the 17 MVP training events we held in 2019, this one was definitely one of our favorites. In August last year, we sponsored 10 producers from our MVP producer partners to participate in a Q-processing Level 1 course certified by the Coffee Quality Institute. In true Sustainable Harvest® fashion, however, we took the opportunity to invite a few of our roaster partners to join as well. Over the course of two days in Moyobamba, this group of producers and roasters became students engaging in discussions, cuppings and shared learning. All participants passed their exams, receiving their Level 1, Q-Processing Generalist certification.
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One of our core values at Sustainable Harvest® is believing in the power of convening producers and roasters whenever possible. By bringing both sides of the coffee world together, we’re able to facilitate ways for producers and roasters to connect and share their experiences, deepening relationships and fostering empathy. Roasters are able to see firsthand the challenges that producers face, from seed to cooperative; producers, on the other hand, have a chance to learn the needs of their roasters and better understand the market for their coffees. Events like these are the heart and soul of the MVP program, and are what drive us to do better for our producer and roaster partners.
Spotlight: NextGen Origin Leaders
In October of 2019, we brought a delegation of 10 enterprising MVPs in their 20’s and early 30’s to attend the 10th-annual Swiss Coffee Trade Association Conference in Switzerland. These intrepid leaders had the opportunity to share their vision for the future, engaging with many of the most influential figures in the global coffee industry. Following that event, these NextGen Origin leaders traveled throughout Switzerland and Italy to network with global brands, take part in an inaugural training at the La Marzocco Academy, and learn about highly differentiated agri-tourism models that can be applied to coffee, such as olive oil and wine. We’re excited to continue expanding our NextGen Origins program to nurture and inspire the next generation of coffee professionals.
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Environmental Justice We don’t have to sugarcoat it: every year, the threat that climate change poses over the global coffee industry looms larger and larger. Every year, we see accounts of drought lasting longer, frosts biting more frigidly, storms making more severe landfall, disease and pests that become more relentless. Combined with years of low prices, coffee farmers worldwide are facing some of the most formidable challenges yet, with the worst of the climate crisis still to unfold.
62, 341 Farmers served
As an industry we must do everything we can to avert the climate crisis and to help the world’s most vulnerable coffee farmers become more resilient. In doing so, we not only protect the future of coffee and the communities that produce it, but we can also build a more inclusive, responsible economy. We believe that one of the most effective ways to do this is by leveraging access to climate information and innovative technologies, and putting the right tools and resources into the hands of at-risk farmers.
31,802,766
167,994
Pounds of sustainably sourced coffee
Hectares under sustainable production
86% of coffee sourced from certified sources (Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, Organic, and B Corps) Organic: 73% of all purchases Fair Trade: 77% of all purchases
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Spotlight: IDB LAB
™
In 2019, we launched a three-year partnership with the InterAmericanDevelopment Bank to help smallholder coffee farmers in Southern Mexico build climate resilience by giving them access to cutting-edge science, technology, and training. The program focuses on three key elements: 1) ESTABLISHING WORLD COFFEE RESEARCH-VERIFIED SEED NURSERIES We are entering a golden age of coffee science. However, most smallholder farmers still lack access to modern, genetically-verified plants. We’ve brought in help from World Coffee Research to establish nurseries that will act as a distribution channel to give smallholders access to high-quality, climate-smart, WCR-verified planting material. 2) CALCULATING THE ROI OF ON-FARM CLIMATE-SMART INVESTMENTS Farmers often lack the tools and training to assess the value of on-farm investments, especially urgently needed climate-smart investments. An integral part of the project lies in helping farmers understand the long-term value of these investments in sustaining their livelihoods by protecting the health of their farms. We’re creating a digital tool to help farmers better calculate their investments and providing training to help make cost-effective decisions. 3) IMPROVING DATA-DRIVEN DECISION MAKING Lastly, the project is developing and refining supplier cooperative informationmanagement systems aimed at analyzing and improving social, environmental, and core business performance.
Spotlight: Cafe Moto & Las Hermanas
Our friends at Cafe Moto in San Diego have been purchasing coffee from our producer partner, the Las Hermanas women’s group of the Soppexcca cooperative in Nicaragua, since 2003. In recent years, however, we noticed a troubling change in coffee quality from Las Hermanas. Part of the issue was related to climate change causing erratic rainfall patterns. The less predictable rains became detrimental to quality control for Las Hermanas, which was compounded by outdated drying practices: in Nicaragua, it’s typical to pre-dry coffee at the farm and take wet parchment to the co-op. Together with Soppexcca, Cafe Moto contributed to fund the installation of 80 solar dryers for the members of Las Hermanas to address this problem. In just one harvest cycle, Las Hermanas saw an increase in quality, and a cleaner, sweeter cup profile.
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Inclusive Business As a pioneer of the B Corp movement since 2008, and a leading social enterprise disrupting opaque supply chains since 1997, we know that change can only be achieved when you bring together a pool of creative, diverse and multicultural groups of people that share common visions for a brighter future.
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Sustainable Harvest® team members
Sustainable Harvest® is not only different in its approach to sourcing coffee but also in the composition of its team. We strongly believe that in order to be an organization that fights for equity and better livelihoods, we need to have a team that represents the underrepresented voices in our industry.
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Nationalities Family-Owned, Certified B Corporation 72% of team are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) 57% of leadership (managers & above) are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) Gender breakdown of team: 41% Women and 59% Men Gender breakdown of leadership (managers & above): 37% Women and 63% Men 44% of team at origin 57% team who are multilingual 9 Languages spoken by team: Spanish, English, French, Vietnamese, Kinyarwanda, Estonian, Dutch, Portuguese, Mazateco (Indigenous to Oaxaca)
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The Future Sustainable Harvest® aspires to be the world’s leading importer of Relationship Coffees that work with our roaster partners and other stakeholders to deliver farmers a living income, farmworkers a living wage and bring their communities environmental justice. The history of the coffeelands has been a story of inequality; its the pernicious legacy of slavery and colonialism. The climate crisis has further exacerbated this divide and poses an existential threat to our industry—but it doesn’t have to be this way. Right now, we all have a chance to put our minds together and take actions that can mend our divisions, heal the Earth, and change the course of history for the better. Together, we can build a future where living sustainably and making sustainable choices aren’t the exception, but the norm. We can build a future where doing business transparently, ethically and compassionately is not a tall order, but an expectation—a standard to be held to. We know this is doable because we’ve seen firsthand how swiftly our industry has changed over the years as more and more industry partners and colleagues have worked alongside us to disrupt opaque supply chains and champion transparent, direct relationships. We’ve come a long way, but it’s clear that the next decade will hold critical turning points that will determine the lasting future of our industry. As we move into the year ahead, Sustainable Harvest® will take decisive actions to help put the coffee industry firmly on a path towards sustainability, justice, and prosperity for all.
Here’s how: 1) ALIGN OUR IMPACT WITH THE UNITED NATIONS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS) The SDGs are a universal call to action to eradicate poverty, end inequity and protect the planet from an impending climate catastrophe. Established in 2015, 17 goals were set for the world to rally around and achieve by 2030. While ambitious, the SDGs play a critical role in prioritizing focus and action on the most essential areas. Currently, our work impacts at least six of the 17 global goals, and moving forward, we will specifically align our impact KPIs with the SDGs. 2) COMMIT TO A NET ZERO EMISSION FUTURE The science on the climate crisis couldn’t be clearer. The actions we collectively take over the next decade will influence the course of human history—and the trajectory of the coffee industry. All actors in the coffee value chain must dramatically reduce emissions and eliminate dependence on fossil fuels. This might seem like a lofty goal, but that only speaks to the urgency of the crisis. Sustainable Harvest will commit to reaching Net Zero by 2030, 20 years ahead of the targets outlined in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Using science-based targets, we will accelerate and deepen our commitment to a carbon-free future that can generate new revenue streams for producers, eliminate direct and indirect emissions, and help roasters access credible nature-based offsets with tangible
3) CONTINUE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE LIVING INCOME COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE, FACILITATED BY SUSTAINABLE FOOD LAB, GIZ, AND ISEAL The Living Income Community of Practice defines living income as “the net annual income required for a household in a particular place to afford a decent standard of living for all members of that household.” We will pilot our first Verified Living Income study, and will incorporate the Anker methodology for calculating living income into our Producer Partner Diagnostic, impact assessment framework, and MVP training program. 4) HELP BRING REGENERATIVE ORGANIC CERTIFIED COFFEE TO MARKET Sustainable Harvest® believes that regenerative agriculture is an urgently needed approach to restore the coffeelands before too many of them become inhospitable to coffee, as the climate data suggests. The new Regenerative Organic Certification will give roasters and consumers an opportunity to take direct action with clear, meaningful impact. 5) DIGITAL TRANSPARENCY We will launch a Roaster and Producer Portal that will give roasters access to several tools designed to optimize operational efficiency and streamline workflows. Not only will the portal make inventory management faster, easier, and simpler, roasters will have access to critical impact data. Additionally, we will partner with the world-class experts at the Committee On Sustainable Assessment (COSA) to layer in a new digital sustainability intelligence system. This will expand our existing data collection efforts and refine the social, environmental, and economic performance indicators we track. As the saying goes, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.”
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