Know the value of a cup of coffee, or risk losing it

Coffee is booming. High-quality specialty beans line the shelves of shops across Canada. Grocery stores are introducing special origins and new roasts. You can have it hot, you can have it cold, you can have it “nitro-brewed.”

But I’d suggest you also mix in a dose of reality. Over the next few decades, we could find ourselves without our favourite beverage unless we sincerely ask ourselves: What is coffee really worth?

The accelerating effects of climate change, decreased soil fertility coupled with rising costs of fertilizer and other inputs, competition for natural resources, and an aging farming population have put the world’s coffee supply in a precarious position.

But don’t fret. There’s one threat to the future of coffee that you can address right now — price.

While growing markets and stable prices for consumers should be a positive sign, small-scale farmers at coffee’s origin are bearing the brunt of an unprecedented price crisis that is fuelling mass hunger and migration.

In August 2018, the global market price for coffee fell below $1 (U.S.) per pound. Coffee has always been a volatile commodity, but even now the price continues to hover around $1.

The price crisis is a perfect storm of conditions. It’s estimated that the majority of coffee farmers are selling their coffee at prices below the cost of production. That means that coffee-farming families are now subsidizing the growth of the global coffee market.

There are obvious economic implications resulting from low prices paid to farmers, but the ripple effects are significant: child and forced labour increases, environmental stewardship decreases, food insecurity and emigration rise, and coffee quality lowers.

Add to that the fact that farmers have little to invest in the necessary farm renovations or processing methods that can ensure a consistent supply of quality coffee.

This results in a cycle of poverty that is driving away both present and future generations of coffee farmers.

Ultimately, the most important factor is price. It is impossible to ask farmers to grow their way out of poverty at current price levels.

Small steps, like seeking out fairly traded coffee, offers concrete benefits to farmers and sends a signal to the market that you want change. Research shows that Canadian consumers are increasingly demanding fairly traded coffee, and as this demand grows coffee brands will need to ensure they can demonstrate what steps they are taking to ensure a dignified livelihood for coffee farmers of the Global South.

If we aren’t able to make a business case for coffee for those at the very beginning of the coffee supply chain, we will all have to bear some responsibility for the decline of coffee.

So, how much is coffee worth to you? Because it means everything to the farmers.