Two Questions For….
Martin Elwert — Coffee Circle
We all drink it. We all love it. Most of us couldn’t live without it, especially in these dark winter months. Yes. Coffee.
This time we talked to Martin, Founder of Coffee Circle.
Coffee Circle personally sources green coffee from small-holder coffee growers around the world and roasts those coffees in its roastery in Berlin. A fixed share of Coffee Circle’s revenue goes back to the farmers and is invested in community projects in the areas of health, education and coffee value chain. Coffee Circle managed to positively effect the life of 130,000+ people through its approach.
One of the big tasks in the area of sustainability is awareness/education — what do we probably not know about our favourite drink in this context?
Fair trade is a hoax, for many reasons. I want to name four.
1. Farmers have to pay themselves to be certified. A big investments with no guarantee that farmers actually receive more money for their coffee.
2. Fair Trade does not guarantee that prices paid to farmers are actually fair, because Fair Trade does not take production costs into account. Ethiopian farmers picking by hand are put into the same bucket like large scale and highly automated Brazilian farms. That is unfair per default.
3. Talking about money: Consumers pay up to 2 EUR more for a pound of coffee when its Fair Trade certified. Farmers however receive only a fraction of that premium (around 20%), and only if they find a buyer who is willing to pay extra for certified coffee. I doubt that consumers know that.
4. When it comes to creating a sustainable value chain, we believe in economic incentivation and not in solidary giving. If you produce a great product, you get a good (fair) price. If you continue to fulfill market demand, you create a sustainable business. Fair Trade does not take quality into account. Thus, it creates a dependency from their premium and their certification. That is not sustainable.
The topic is complex. And Fair Trade surely has the right intentions. But the system is weak and forgot to re-invent itself in the last decades.
Tell us your secret of how to be a sustainable producer -what can other companies in different fields of production learn from CoffeeCircle?
It all comes back to values of decision makers and shareholders. We all have the chance to do things right, for people, planet and profit. We have the choice to ask the uncomfortable question, to sacrifice profit for the greater good. I believe with that simple attitude and a a little more courage, we could all do already a lot better for the world and even use business as a force for good.
Thank you, Martin and Coffee Circle for your impressive work!
