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pay more for your coffee, and ask questions of the cafes and roasters.
I'm paying more, shop prices for beans have doubled in 10yrs but none of that is reaching the farmer it seems. Where would the price need to reach for it to trickle through to them?
rhb-
There isn't a tipping point, and by pay more I mean, be willing to buy away from the big brands ans be willing to pay more for a cup of coffee.
It's obvious that you do both, so that's a great start.
beyond that, its a good rule of thumb that coffees that are more traceable will usually cost more to buy (and so the farmer is paid more), so stick to them rather than blends.
This really is a mine field though so the best thing you can do is research and or ask q's of your chosen roaster, if you're not happy with their ethics, then move on.
Matisse
Okay, how to precis the state of a deeply neo-colonial system that undervalues and underpays those at the far ends of the value stream.
Now the longer version.
Re: losing coffee and the coffee price crisis
. The continued low prices ( in real terms prices has gone down steadily for 30 yes) and effects of climate change / disease means that we are losing both growing ground for arabica and a generatiu of farmers in Central America who are becoming economic migrants, or simply don't want to take on the family business. Rich expats or whit saviours often fill these holes, somewhat elevating the problems. We are seeing new growing areas open (china, California etc) but not enough to keep up with the losses. That said there is an annual surplus of production. This is due to high levels of mechanisation in Brazil and v cheap labour in Vietnam. Both are producing quality, but it's mostly quantity Tbh. ( They are 1&2 in terms of production volume)
This glut feeds into the volitility of the C price. This is the price for Arabcia futures set by the NY commodities exchange. Here futures and derivatives traders bet on future prices and supplies. So crop warnings due to down years, frost etc can have significant impact as the traders react. This C price forms a key marker for the internal price paid for coffee in growing countries. So you can see how the farmers are at the whim of much larger entities, many of which have no interest in coffee as a product, just a avehicle to make profit.
On the whole the cost to produce a kilo of coffee is more than the price paid to the farmer in most countries.
TL:DR pay more for your coffee, and ask questions of the cafes and roasters.