Transparency From Bean to Cup: Where Does Our Coffee Come From?
As college students and young adults, we live off of coffee and in many ways need it to function. I think that most of us consume upwards of two to three cups of coffee a day. Coffee is the second most-consumed drink after water! Thus, we are reliant on this substance and are active consumers in the market. The question is, do you even think about how you’ve been able to seamlessly pick up that iced latte from the pub or grab a hot coffee from the bookstore, or grab a premade Starbucks or Dunkin drink from the pub? In other words, what went into the production so that you could consume that specially brewed cup of joe? Since we are active consumers, we should be concerned about whether or not the coffee we drink is Fair Trade, ethical and sustainable. We have the most power to dictate how our coffee is produced because we are the ones paying for it.
Coffee Industry History Overview: The coffee industry is mainly a small-scale farming operation where almost 70–80% of the world’s coffee is grown by family farms. Yet, a conglomerate structure has caused three companies to control 40% of the world’s coffee roasting and just five companies control half of the trading of coffee. Some of the few companies that control most of the coffee we drink day to day are the JAB Holding Company and Nestle. From this model, unequal distribution of wealth has caused exploitation of workers and unequal pay for workers or farm owners. These mega-corporations continue to get wealthier and wealthier while the small-scale farmers and workers suffer. Fair Trade initiatives ensure that compensation for the suppliers is given months in advance to dismantle these wealth disparities and in turn, farmers can provide better working conditions for their workers.
Find out where your coffee is coming from: Animated map shows where your favorite coffee comes from
It’s great to hear when companies say their beans are sustainably sourced but, this doesn’t always mean that their workers are receiving fair wages or being treated ethically. Many companies greenwash their campaigns, displaying their performative activism. These companies will claim to be sustainably sourced while continuing to exploit their workers and leave these workers to suffer in slave-like conditions. Conglomerates like Coca-Cola or Nestle can often hide many aspects of their production. Thus, it is important to do your research and seek specific information about the process these companies are using to bring their products to the U.S. In other words, it is vital to consider what country and what specific farms are being used to produce the coffee beans we consume daily. Look for companies that take initiatives to be transparent about where their coffee beans are being grown, shipped from, and roasted. Holding these companies accountable for their actions is a job for the consumer because nothing else will have the effect we do.
What Does Fair Trade Look Like?
The World Fair Trade Organization is just one of many organizations that are trying to create a better world and ensure that workers globally are being treated fairly. WFTO is based in 76 different countries and works to serve marginalized communities. WFTO has a direct impact on 965,700 livelihoods, 74% of them being female workers, farmers, and artisans (World Fair Trade Organization | Home of Fair Trade Enterprises). The Fair Trade system operates off of 10 Principles:
Members of the Fair Trade network must implement these ten steps to continue their partnership with WFTO. WFTO strives for transparency and requires its members to have goals of continual improvement socially and environmentally. In summary, Fair Trade is a “concern for the social, economic and environmental well-being of marginalized small producers” and does “not maximize profit at their expense” (Downie).
Uganda: Uganda is the second largest coffee bean supplier in Africa behind Ethiopia. Within Uganda, women are responsible for 80% of the labor for food crop production and 50% of the production of cash crops. Yet, these women are often marginalized within this work (Kasente,117).
In a study reviewed by Kasente, one woman working on a farm in Uganda stated, “As women we are exploited. We neither participate in coffee marketing nor do we get meaningful proceeds from sale of coffee. As a result, we are not motivated, and we have no skill in coffee marketing” (Kasente, 117).
Kasente continued to state, “Male advantage across the complete coffee value chain means that men will benefit by default from all the interventions that intend to enhance entrepreneurship in poor rural communities through certified coffee” (Kasente, 126).
Nicaragua: In Nicaragua, coffee remains 30% of the countries export income. The industry in Nicaragua contains extreme levels of poverty. As many in the supply chain have experienced an increase in income, local farmers have suffered from a significant decline in their share (Macdonald, 796).
Coffee on Our Campus:
Caribou Coffee has recently been bought by the JAB Holding Company but continues to pride itself on being an ethically sourced and environmentally conscious company. So how can we be sure that Caribou Coffee is being transparent with its actions? Transparency within the coffee industry is vital to understanding where you can ethically buy your beans.
Companies like Caribou Coffee have strived to be open with their customers about where their beans are coming from. Caribou Coffee is the second largest coffee supplier behind Starbucks. Being the first major company to be 100% Rainforest-Alliance certified has had incredible environmental and social impacts. Caribou coffee strives to be both socially ethical and environmentally conscious. If you look at their website, you can see one of the farms where Caribou Coffee sources their beans.
Take a look at their statement: “The original estate was founded in 1851 by Francisco de Rosal Marquez. In 1887, the farm was passed on to the owner’s 3 daughters. The youngest of the daughters, Mercedes, was determined to see it thrive. Based on her hard work, the farm we know today was named after her and the coffee we bring to you today honors her legacy. Over the following years, this over 700-acre farm was passed from generation to generation and now is managed by Don Francisco’s fourth great-granddaughter, Ruth de Hammond and her husband Dennis. Because of the grit and innovation of this family of coffee farmers, the farm now consistently produces world-class coffee. It even classified as a winner in the 2012 Cup of Excellence in Guatemala, an honor recognizing the coffee’s excellent profile and production” (Discovery — Guatemala 2020 — Caribou Coffee).
Caribou Coffee is a perfect example of a company that is doing its part to be clear and honest with its consumers. Being 100% Rainforest Alliance and being open about their operations shows that Caribou Coffee is an ethical company that we can trust.
Dunkin Donuts: In 2021, Dunkin Donuts has taken steps to make their company more socially and environmentally conscious.
Dunkin Donuts’ Partnership for Gender Equity’s Virtual Learning Journey:
Dunkin Donuts’ Disaster Relief Efforts in Nicaragua and Honduras:
Dunkin Donuts’ Sustainable Coffee Challenge:
Dunkin’ Continues Commitments to Coffee Sustainability in 2021
Through these initiatives, Dunkin Donuts has shown that they are committed to being a socially conscious and sustainable company.
Starbucks’ program has allowed them to claim they are 99% ethically sourced. Yet, as of 2018, the Brazilian labor administration found that slave-like working conditions were peaking at a 15-year high at local coffee bean farms, many of them being Starbucks-owned. Labor inspectors found that these many Starbucks-owned farms were operating in unethical, slave-like conditions. To understand why Starbucks has become so problematic when it comes to the conditions their workers are facing, we first must understand the “Starbucks’ C.A.F.E. Practices program.” In response to public pressures, Starbucks released their “Starbucks’ C.A.F.E. Practices program” in place of joining the Fair Trade system. In using their own code of conduct they can hide many aspects of production from the consumer. No true changes ethically or sustainably were apparent through Starbucks’ program. Showing that they implemented these initiatives to get activists to quiet down so they could continue their corrupt ways of production. Over two decades the labor cost for farmers producing the coffee beans we drink daily has not changed. Yet, companies like Starbucks have increasingly become more wealthy (Canning).
So What Can You Do?
- Continue to buy from Fair Trade or Rainforest Alliance Companies like Caribou Coffee or Dunkin Donuts
- Stop supporting Starbucks!
- Do your research when trying new coffee brands or buying coffee in a grocery store
- Spread the word about slavery in the coffee industry
- And keep learning!
More Resources to check out:
Slavery: A Global Investigation
The Source: The Hidden Human Cost Within A Cup of Coffee
Slavery-like working conditions at suppliers to world’s largest coffee company
Works Cited:
Canning, Anna. “Starbucks Has a Slave Labor Problem.” Fair World Project, 19 June 2019, fairworldproject.org/starbucks-has-a-slave-labor-problem/.
“Discovery — Guatemala 2020.” Caribou Coffee, www.cariboucoffee.com/discoverybeans-guatemala/.
Downie, Andrew. “Fair Trade in Bloom.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2 Oct. 2007, www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/business/worldbusiness/02trade.html.
“Dunkin’ Continues Commitments to Coffee Sustainability in 2021.” Dunkin’, news.dunkindonuts.com/blog/dunkin-continues-commitments-to-coffee-sustainability-in-2021.
John, et al., directors. Slavery: A Global Investigation. Top Documentary Films, 31 Oct. 2008, topdocumentaryfilms.com/slavery-a-global-investigation/.
Kasente, Deborah. “Fair Trade and Organic Certification in Value Chains: Lessons from a Gender Analysis from Coffee Exporting in Uganda.” Gender & Development, vol. 20, no. 1, 2012, pp. 111–127., doi:10.1080/13552074.2012.663627.
Macdonald, Kate. “Globalising Justice within Coffee Supply Chains? Fair Trade, Starbucks and the Transformation of Supply Chain Governance.” Third World Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 4, 2007, pp. 793–812., doi:10.1080/01436590701336663.
“‘Slavery-Like’ Conditions At Brazilian Coffee Farms.” YouTube, YouTube, 7 Mar. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HgQTej6ZV8.
“Slavery-like Working Conditions at Suppliers to World’s Largest Coffee Company.” Danwatch, old.danwatch.dk/en/undersogelseskapitel/slavery-like-working-conditions/.
World Fair Trade Organization, wfto.com/.
