How can you taste sustainability? How can sustainability bring more quality to a cup of coffee? The answer is found in one word: ALIGNMENT. When a farmer remains partner with his coffee, his interest in a thriving coffee business aligns with the interest of the consumer to have a high-quality cup of coffee with a positive impact on the world.
The greatest enemy of a coffee farmer — even more than climate change, fungus or drought — is the volatile commodities market in which he or she cannot anticipate a consistent price from one day to the next. Pair that with an ever-increasing cost of production and all the normal risks a farmer faces, and you have a valid excuse for farmers, and more importantly their children, to leave coffee farming in search of an easier and more stable means to put food on the table.
We also know that demand for socially sustainable coffee options is growing for both corporations and everyday consumers. Through THRIVE Farmers, consumers not only receive farmer-direct coffee, they also directly support our coffee farmers with each purchase.
Companies can have a lasting impact on coffee-farming communities around the world by purposefully choosing to purchase such items through a more transparent model. This integrates corporate social responsibility into necessary spending. By simply directing budgeted dollars to a product that has a more tangible and traceable impact, companies can bring a CSR commitment and message to employees at the most basic level.
Once farmers can wake up each day without the stresses of an unpredictable income, they can begin to think proactively about all aspects of their work, including environmental and social sustainability.
Farmers’ proactive investment in sustainability usually begins with a focus on the health and education of their families. Once basic needs such as food and education are stable, farmers can adjust priorities toward investing in their farms, which for the first time make sense as a business. With a properly functioning business, focus and resources pour into the actual quality of the product.
When all of these economic hurdles are off the table, the farmers’ mealtime conversations shift toward satisfying coffee drinkers around the world. They genuinely want that coffee to taste better! When coffee quality rises, it has an exponential effect economically because better coffee results in a better price and higher value to the consumer marketplace. In turn, farmers receive more income and consumers can enjoy the satisfaction of having a positive impact on those who grow their exceptionally good coffee.
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Published May 24, 2016 3pm EDT / 12pm PDT / 8pm BST / 9pm CEST