2021
Impact Report
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Table of Contents
Introduction & Reflections 3 Key Impact Areas +28 Million Pounds 4 Crisis Relief 4 Climate Action 4 SDG Alignment 4 MVPs 4 Continued Collaboration 4 Reflections from SH Origin Offices 4 Relationship Coffee Sourcing 6 MVP Program 6 Q-Processing Level 2 in Guatemala 6 MVP Program Launch in Africa 6 MVP Program Delivered Digitally 7 Relationship Coffee Sourcing in 2020: Summary Stats 7 Beyond Sourcing 9 Crisis Response 9 Leveraging Relationships to Respond to Critical Needs 9 Co-Investment to Build Producer Performance 10 CLIF® Coffee Collection Supports Organic in Colombia 10 Thrive Market Gives: Solar Drying Module with Finca Churupampa in Cajamarca, Peru 11 Strauss Coffee: Unlocking Women’s Potential Through Coffee in Huila, Colombia 11 Challenges Worldwide: Coffee Market Building for Peace and Prosperity in Rwanda 12 InterAmerican Development Bank: Scaling Climate Smart Transformation of Coffee Landscapes in Mexico with InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) 12 Inclusive, Impact-Driven Business Model 14 Industry Collaborations 14 Industry Thought Leadership 14 SCA and COVID 15 Launching into 2021 17 Living Income and Prosperous Livelihoods for Coffee Families 17 Climate Action 17 Accessing Digital Sustainability Intelligence 17 Transformative Change for Women and Families 17
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Introduction & Reflections
Dear Friends-
2020 brought out the best and worst in humanity. With so much fear and divisiveness in the world, we banded together. The belief that relationships in business matter and create value was tested and proven. Despite facing the worst crisis of our lifetime, we pulled through 2020 by working together, finding new ways to connect, and new levels of patience and humility. What we accomplished exemplifies what is possible through Relationship Coffee. Reflecting on our 2020, here’s what stands out to me: · Delivered over 28M pounds of sustainable coffees from 75,000 farm families to clients across the globe; · Facilitated more than 1 million USD of investment in coffee growing communities; · Committed to reach Net Zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 to keep global warming below 1.5C -- 20 years ahead of the schedule set by the Paris Climate Agreement; and While I am proud of all we have accomplished I am also acutely aware that it pales in comparison to the magnitude of what we now face as a society. Inequity, only deepened by COVID, and the climate crisis are the challenges of our time. And across the globe, the people and communities who are most vulnerable to climate change have the fewest resources to combat it. Our opportunity to work together to leverage business to accelerate meaningful change has never been more urgent. As you take a moment to read our reflections in our 2020 Impact Report, I also invite you to reach out to our team to find opportunities to work together through Relationship Coffee to take urgent and immediate action in 2021 and beyond. We must not give up, it is not too late. But we must take a different approach and move fast.
With respect,
Liam Brody President
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Key Impact Areas
+28
Crisis Relief
Through Relationship Coffee, we connected 75,226 families who farm nearly 180,000 hectares to roasters and coffee drinkers across the globe.
We led fundraising to provide US$530,000 in Relief Kits to nearly 14,300 farming families across 12 countries to support coping with COVID-19 and Hurricanes Iota and Eta.
Million Pounds
Climate Action We joined hundreds of leading B Corporations in committing to reach Net Zero emissions by 2030.
MVP’s We pivoted quickly to ensure that the Sustainable Harvest Most Valuable Producers (MVPs) received the content and networking they needed to navigate the year’s challenges.
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SDG Alignment We worked closely with the Committee on Sustainable Agriculture (COSA) to map our work to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including specific and important contributions to 12 of the 17.
Continued Collaboration Our commitment to collaboration was unwavering through continued engagement including the Living Income Community of Practice, the Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide, International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA), World Coffee Research, and the Sustainable Coffee Challenge.
Reflections from SH Origin Offices
Chabela Cerqueda For shipments, quality, fulfillment of contracts, supplier organizations responded impressively towards logistical and organizational problems, despite everything, including two category 5 hurricanes. Here is where the work that SH has been doing long before the COVID was reflected, such as visits to the organizations (the last ones were made in January and February 2019 to Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala), calibration, knowledge of the origins and quality, conferences, etc. The sense of cooperation and brotherhood between all those involved in the coffee chain also gives me great hope.
Claudia Rocio Gomez Despite the logistical challenges in each area, our suppliers organized to collect and stock the coffee with the help of their families and neighbors who were organized by villages and communities to be able to move forward and fulfill the commitments acquired. Quality was exceptional. Without a doubt, trust, transparency, and our direct relationship model as a Sustainable Harvest family demonstrated the trust and empowerment of our chain in the face of such difficult adversity as the pandemic. Our growers are undoubtedly strong, courageous, and committed to Relationship Coffee.
Oscar Gonzales With great pride, I can say that we have worked a lot over the years to cultivate great relationships with our supplier organizations. One of the great fruits is being able to have direct proximity with the leaders of each cooperative. This has created deep relationships, which allowed us to keep our clients informed, even in uncertain times. Suppliers are grateful to their customers and Sustainable Harvest for always supporting them. Our relationship includes innovations, training, business, projects, social and human issues, and working together to solve challenges, even in the most difficult of times.
Oscar Gonzales The pandemic hit right when some farmers in Africa were scheduled to deliver their harvest for sale - some had started harvesting already like in Rwanda, Burundi and DRC. We immediately worked to prevent or to cushion any blows that 2020 could bring. The beauty and simplicity of the Relationship Coffee model that we have been championing all these years definitely shone bright in 2020, for it was the transparency and honesty that allowed us to hear the voices of African coffee farmers, in hard-to-reach places, with limited access to infrastructure or support, who are so often unheard.
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Relationship Coffee Sourcing
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