The market
Global coffee production will yield 125 million bags (7.5 million tons) in 2010, 2.3 percent less than last year due to poor weather conditions. Colombia experienced the steepest decline, with over 2 million bags down, resulting in an overall price increase of 10 percent. Peru was one of the exceptions in this trade, with exports rising 12 percent last year and production doubling in a decade to 5 million bags. Although this volume is rather insignificant compared to global demand, Peru has positioned itself as the world's leading producer of certified organic coffee. There are an estimated 25 million coffee farmers worldwide, and while prices have recovered slightly, they have only risen slightly after nearly 40 years of steadily declining revenues. After oil, coffee is the Southern Hemisphere's main export commodity. On the other end of the spectrum, the five largest coffee buyers account for 70 percent of the global trade. Since Max Havelaar introduced Fairtrade coffee to Dutch and Belgian consumers in 1989, global consumption of Fairtrade certified coffee has steadily increased, demonstrating strong consumer sympathy for the plight of producers, ensuring them a fair price, equitable working conditions, and community development. Coffee is the first consumer product enhanced with certificates and labels designed to increase farmers' incomes while also meeting specific consumer interests. Countries like Ethiopia aim to protect their protected designations of origin, as certain regions like Sidamo are known for producing excellent varieties. Organic coffee is grown without artificial chemical inputs. The Rainforest Alliance promotes shade-grown coffee, which requires less water and causes less soil erosion. Finally, there is Bird Friendly coffee, which is mostly associated with shade-grown coffee. Around 150 bird species live on shade-grown coffee farms, while open-field farms support only 20 species. The widespread introduction of monoculture coffee plantations has led to a steady decline in the local songbird population. Experts agree that while coffee grows more slowly in the shade, it produces more sugars and biochemicals that give it its distinctive flavor. Therefore, the environment, biodiversity, and quality are interconnected.
Innovation
While we applaud all the efforts of businesses and NGOs to dedicate time, effort, and money to fulfilling corporate social responsibility through all these certifications, ultimately, it still implies that the company must first make money in its core business, making the most of its essential skills such as supply chain management and marketing. If shade-grown coffee takes longer, it costs more on the market, and if consumers care so much about birds, this should be reflected in a higher price. The money earned can then be earmarked for funding certain social and environmental causes that help advance the global societal agenda beyond business. When Helen Russell and Brooke McDonnell, two female entrepreneurs with an exceptional reputation as suppliers and roasters of high-quality coffee, learned at the Specialty Coffee Association meeting in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) how Chido Govero taught women in Zimbabwe how to cultivate mushrooms on local coffee waste, it became clear to them that there was an opportunity to do much more than just certifications and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The two founders of Equator Coffees & Teas, based in San Rafael, California, envisioned a business model that, simply by selling high-quality products at competitive prices, would fund the training of more women in Africa than their limited CSR budget could support.
The first cash flow
Helen and Brooke then created "Chido's Blend," a blend of coffees sourced primarily from farms that reuse coffee bean and plant waste to grow mushrooms. Purchasing and labeling the coffee with a direct link to the farms themselves generates 25 cents per pound of revenue, which funds women's training. Each 17-ton container of coffee beans generates nearly $10,000 for local training programs. At just $50 per woman, it empowers them to achieve food security. The trading company Neumann facilitated the advance purchase of the first container. The opportunity to fund training while simultaneously reviving Zimbabwean coffee exports, which had been dormant for over a decade, has a cascade of benefits. First, the women—mostly single mothers, orphans, and the elderly—gain access to protein through readily available, locally sourced resources. This creates jobs, and the combination of work and food is often all that is needed to end violence against women. If women are respected at all ages, it curbs the sex trade and even reduces the risk of AIDS within society.
The opportunity
Who would have imagined that by promoting "Chido's Blend," it would be possible to contribute to education, food security, abuse reduction, and the fight against AIDS? If it's possible with a pound of coffee, imagine what would be possible if this approach were used everywhere? While this initiative first proved successful in Zimbabwe, the same logic has been applied elsewhere. La Place, in the Netherlands, pioneered a similar approach after learning from both Chido and Equator. These innovative approaches are generating jobs and quality food in and around Amsterdam. Since these cases were documented, the pioneering approach has inspired others in Madrid and Berlin. Several entrepreneurs who have witnessed this emerging trend of going beyond CSR have now decided to offer Chido Govero, the orphan who has been developing this strategy without money or experience since the age of 12, shares in the companies that are popping up around the world. Making the pioneer a shareholder pushes the concept of CSR into a whole new dimension.
