Our Point of view

As a direct coffee importer, we believe that paying premium prices to producers does not automatically improve the lives of farmworkers, who often remain in extreme poverty.

Across coffee-producing regions, farm structures, labor systems, and economic realities vary widely. No single certification or sourcing model can address every challenge facing farmworkers. The coffee industry has been searching for solutions for decades.

Real change comes through relationships.

Paying a producer is only the beginning. The greater challenge is ensuring that the benefits of trade reach everyone who contributes to producing coffee—especially the people doing the work on the farm.

That requires engaging directly with farmworkers, understanding what they earn, listening to their needs, and investing in their well-being beyond the point of purchase.

Transparency is about more than what producers are paid. It is about understanding what farmworkers earn, sharing that information openly, and taking responsibility for improving conditions where improvement is needed.

We believe the success of responsible sourcing should be measured not only by the prices paid for coffee, but by whether the people who grow and harvest it share in the value they help create.

A more sustainable coffee industry will require accountability throughout the supply chain—not only at the point of purchase, but all the way to the workers whose labor makes coffee possible.