Updated: Oct 7, 2021
AND THE COST OF THAT COFFEE.
Enjoying our great coffee every morning is a result of a very complex system that tends to exploit the small coffee producer. If you find yourself wondering how much of what you paid reaches the actual producer, then we hope you are sitting down. The answer is about $1 per pound of processed coffee, which is the global average. With the average cost of one pound of regular roasted coffee around $8 and specialty coffee at $17, you can see there's a vast disparity between you and the coffee producer. Yes there are other costs that go into the final price but lets focus with the common supply chain. Which concentrates most of the profits in the middle and hurts the producer and the consumer. These big export companies leverage themselves by buying whole farms of coffee which is appealing to small farmers, but usually it's at a low price. Then they sell to roasters at 300%-500% markup which means less of the final cost gets to the producer.
Our ‘The Producers First’ ethos is about being transparent to the customer and paying a fair price to the producers. We are on a mission to help change the status quo, we work directly with the small producer we source our coffees from. We currently pay on average 80% more than the fair trade standards which are currently at $1.70 a lb of green coffee. With goals of paying more per pound in the future, the reality is without fair partnerships we wouldn't be able to grow the way we want. So as much as we love our customers we will continue to put the producers' needs ahead of everyone to ensure that we keep sending you the best coffee.
We still want our customers to be happy with their purchase. Let us explain how we make sure you know where your money goes and how you receive the purest form of Guatemalan coffee. Our transparency is anchored in only offering Single origin coffees. When you could trace the coffee to the exact producer and farm then it makes it difficult to hide anything. Other specialty coffee companies usually source from different producers and locations within a region, so they will get certified fair trade as a measure of accountability. To be honest, fair trade is a start but not enough, so not only are you drinking a unique coffee that came directly from one spot on this beautiful planet. You can also know that vast disparity has now just gotten narrower thanks to you!
So from the Paralelo 14 team we want to thank you for the support and hope you continue enjoying our coffees!!