supply chain

Breaking New Ground in Gender Research in Coffee

/ nationalcoffee / Leave a comment

The following is a guest post submitted to The First Pull. See our guest post guidelines. 

iwca-RwandacherryPicking4.jpeg

Women coffee farmers in Rwanda. Source: IWCA

By Ruth Ann Church and Josiane Cotrim Macieira, The International Women’s Coffee Alliance

In coffee, the women who perform much of the labor – up to 70%, according to the ITC’s Coffee Exporters’ Guide – to grow, harvest, process, and export coffee are all too often invisible.

Few organizations are focused on collecting or publishing data specifically on the women involved in the supply chain for commodities like coffee; and there has been little to no funding allocated to this task. Even in Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producing country, the lack of data makes one believe that women do not exist.

Experts agree that women are the greatest untapped resource available to avert challenges to the global coffee industry. But the lack of data on women makes it impossible to understand their impact  in the value chain. This leads to under-performance in the coffee industry, much like how poor recognition of contributions in any industry can cause lagging productivity.

Continue reading →

A Producer’s Perspective: Challenges Across the Coffee Value Chain

/ nationalcoffee / Leave a comment

Editor’s note: Next month, the global coffee industry will gather in Medellin for the World Coffee Producers Forum to explore how to strengthen farmers, discussing sustainability, labor, managing price volatility, and improving productivity and yields.  Here, Frederick Kawuma, Secretary General of the Inter African Coffee Organization (IACO), sets the stage for these discussions by providing an overview from the producers’ perspective.

Knowledge_is_power_-_driving_a_hard_bargain_(5984450612).jpg

Coffee farmer Feleke Dukamo checks the latest coffee prices. Source: Wikimedia Commons

By Frederick Kawuma, Secretary General of the Inter African Coffee Organization (IACO)

There has recently been a spate of studies analyzing the income of coffee farmers. The first thing that becomes evident is that the income from coffee farming varies depending on the country, and even the region within the country, where the studies have been done.

The second thing that becomes evident is that the income from coffee farming depends on the price the farmer gets for his coffee, which depends on “the market.”

Continue reading →

Gender Equity: Strengthening the Links of the Coffee Supply Chain

/ nationalcoffee / Leave a comment

NCA_Web_Blog_webinar_genderequity-Recovered.png

Gender equity is good for the coffee business.

The Partnership for Gender Equity (PGE) believes that vibrant farming communities are the key to producing better coffee, and more of it. Therefore, they’re working to address this issue through large-scale collaboration, standardized best practices, and stronger data – starting with the report, “The Way Forward: Accelerating Gender Equity in Coffee Value Chains.”

During a recent NCA webinar, “Gender Equity: Strengthening the Links of the Coffee Supply Chain,” industry experts Kimberly Easson, Samantha Veide, and Chad Trewick discussed key findings, required resources, and where the industry can go from here.

Four highlights emerged from the research:

Continue reading →

NCA Member Spotlight: Bühler

/ nationalcoffee / Leave a comment

“Coffee is part of an ongoing evolution that brings challenges, unleashing new ideas.”

COMPANY: Buhler, Inc.
LOCATION: Minneapolis, MNSnip20170517_3
TWITTER: @buhlergroup.com
FACEBOOK: /buhlergroup
LINKEDIN: Buhler Group

Answers attributed to Oskar Rutishauser, Sales Account Manager for Coffee in North America, Buhler Group.

What does Buhler do?

We provide turn-key coffee plant solutions for the entire spectrum of coffee processing, from green intake of coffee, to cleaning, to roasting, grinding and degasing. [We use] a variety of conveying solutions to integrate total process.

Continue reading →

Innovation, Sustainability, and the Global Coffee Industry

/ nationalcoffee / Leave a comment
ci_30097488_full-768x512

Source: Conservation International, Cristina Mittermeier ©

By Bambi Semroc, Conservation International

Innovation is all around us.

From a 3D printer that enables doctors to construct human tissue, to a virtual reality headset that transports a policymaker in Washington, DC to a remote village in the Amazon to experience projects helping prevent deforestation. Things we never dreamed of 20 years ago are changing our daily lives. And, innovation is not just defined as “the next hot thing” – it’s critical to ensuring the sustainable growth of an industry.

The coffee sector is continually innovating. Consider the new roasting and brewing techniques that led to cold brew and single serve coffees. Or, consumer engagement through creative retail shops offering everything from hands-on technology to fully compostable cups.

That said, innovation in coffee also includes things the everyday drinker might not know about – from researchers developing new varieties and improved practices, to small-scale farmers adopting those varieties and experimenting with new techniques on their farms.

One of the most important innovations the coffee sector has been leading includes the work being done on sustainability.

Continue reading →

Being Clear on Transparency

/ nationalcoffee / Leave a comment

By Angela Magnusson, Commercial Relations Manager, Fairtrade America

“At its core, transparency is the free and open access to knowledge, which implies that information flows all ways.”

coffee-producer

A Fairtrade-certified coffee producer based in Barillas, Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Credit: Sean Hawkey, Fairtrade International

In today’s digital age, instantaneous and open sharing of information no longer dazzles us. Transparency, from the perspective of the US consumer, has increasingly become an expectation and not just a ‘nice-to-have.’

According to “Transparency 2015, Establishing Trust with Consumers,” a recent study from the Hartman Group, while general familiarity with the term “sustainability” continues to grow and shape purchases in the U.S., transparency is emerging as a new buying ideal. This trend represents more than the simple economic exchange people have with companies, but a fundamental shift in the relationship we have with the world and others around us.

More companies are sharing the stories of their products and becoming more adept at communicating just what it is this new generation of customers want to know. But to what end does transparency serve farmers and their families? How can transparency in the other direction – with farmers and cooperatives – provide the groundwork for long-term trust and sustainability in the coffee industry?

Continue reading →

Sustainability Beyond Origin: Q&A with Counter Culture Coffee’s Meredith Taylor

/ nationalcoffee / Leave a comment
girl-coffee-farm

Source: Neil Palmer (CIAT) via Wikimedia Commons

“Coffee has a lot of potential to effect positive change in the world.”

Meredith Taylor, Sustainability Manager, Counter Culture Coffee, on the issues threatening the coffee supply chain, “pre-competitive collaboration,” and how any company can start taking action – today:  Continue reading →