I was recently reading the introduction to James Hoffmann's World Atlas of Coffee, which someone in our house seems to have because this is a subject close to our hearts.
He had this to say in his introduction:
There is growing demand for coffee, but also for speciality coffee specifically. Meeting that demand faces some challenges – climate change continues to be deeply disruptive and challenging in coffee lands, and there is a looming crisis of labour. Already, in many producing countries, the average age of a coffee farmer is late fifties, if not sixties. Finding labour to pick coffee has always been hard, but now finding labour for farm management is also hard. People don't want to be coffee farmers; people don't want to work in coffee. Coffee has been too cheap for too long.
That comment jumped out at me.
Around the world, Hoffman estimates that about 125 million people earn their living from coffee in some way or other. A great many, of course, do so in the UK — not only in the hospitality sector, but also behind the scenes, as well as in the production of instant coffee for the supermarket trade. But the livelihoods of a great many of these people are threatened for two reasons.
One is our dependence on just two forms of coffee bean, when there are well over a hundred known varieties in the world. Coffee is not quite as vulnerable as bananas in this respect, but the dependence upon a limited number of varieties creates considerable risk. That risk, of course, just adds to those created by climate change and the wider crisis in our biosphere.
The other issue is that as we have steadily undermined the value of productive work in supply chains around the world, the number of people willing to undertake such work is now declining, imperilling supply in areas where automation offers no alternatives. The implication of James Hoffmann's comment — that coffee farmers are now ageing and unable to recruit young people into the arduous work from which they have earned their livelihood — is clear. Presumably, there are supposedly better alternatives available to the younger people who might have been coffee farmers, where, even if life is not easier in any meaningful sense, it might at least appear to be more superficially appealing.
I have quite often noted how capitalism, especially in its neoliberal form, appears determined to destroy itself. Marx thought it was going to do that. So, from a quite different perspective, did Schumpeter. Right now, the signs are all around us. The over-financialisation of the state is destroying the foundations of many markets, and AI might add to that dilemma.
James Hoffmann does, however, point to another way in which this is happening. As a result of developed countries, large brands, multinational entities and supermarkets trying to extract every last ounce of money out of supply chains for their own benefit, the risk now exists that those supply chains might collapse because the foundations on which they are built will not be there to sustain them. Until we realise that those who actually take the real risks in the world — and who undertake the hard work of ensuring that delivery happens — need to get a fair share of reward in the supply chains on which we are dependent, capitalism is at risk of destroying the very things which are supposed to be the basis of its appeal, which are availability and choice.
If coffee growers are denied a fair price as a consequence, as now seems to be the case, meaning that they cannot earn enough to compensate those who might otherwise work in this sector, then the whole arc of coffee — from the fields of Vietnam, Africa and South America, right through to the shelves in your supermarket, and the barista in your favourite coffee shop — is at risk, and all because of the misallocation of resources that results in the top of the supply pyramid taking far too much of the reward proprtionate to either effort or value created. Campaigners have been pointing out for decades that this is going on, but the warnings have not been heeded.
I doubt that James Hoffmann intended that the words he wrote should give rise to the thoughts I express here, but they touch on something of great significance — and not just for coffee. The point he makes is systemic. Precisely because of the misallocation of resources engineered by neoliberal business, and the false narratives of well-being that their marketing presents, there is a crisis in labour supply around the world, including in many sectors (farming included) in the UK, where there is a similar shortage of skills in most trades. The result is that the quite literal physical underpinnings of many markets are collapsing — and with those foundations gone, the very things on which capitalism was really built, which were highly skilled labour and the availability of choice at affordable prices, will disappear.
There is a lesson here for those who make grabbing profit their business: sometime soon, they might realise that doing so is ultimately killing the economic system in which they claim to have faith. The paradox of that is staggering, and still ongoing. The question is, for how long can this last?
Hoffman had this to say when referring to the price of coffee:
This is going to change, and the demand being so high will make coffee much more expensive in the coming years.
He may be right, but unless the rewards of that higher price go to those who actually produce coffee, then the higher price will solve nothing. We cannot afford to reward the producers of financial engineering any more; what we must ensure is that those who do the hard work in the world get fair pay. If we don't, the coffee trade will be over, and with it, a great deal more of the economy as well.
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I am currently reading ‘Goliath’s Curse’ by Luke Kemp, a study of societal collapse over the millennia to the present Global Goliath which constitutes modern society. His premise is that it only takes one extra shock to tip a society over into collapse. Because modern society is so integrated this just might be the one!
I’ve got this on the bookshelf as well, enjoyed Kemp’s conversations with Nate Hagens: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/194-luke-kemp and https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/153-luke-kemp.
That said, I’ll be mindful to keep a sceptical eye open when reading given the commentary from Art Berman here: https://www.artberman.com/blog/goliaths-curse-bold-claims-and-hidden-traps/
I am off to pick up some speciality coffee from my local roaster this afternoon and have shared the post with them.
Its a situation that is happening all across ‘Land Work’ – look at Clarksons Farm, you might not like him but he says it how it is.
If you were looking for a ‘Guest Post’ either ‘Coffee Focused’ or more widely on Farming I can suggest a few names
Maybe…
See Velcourt getting out of contract farming. Around 10 square miles if my arithmetic is right. Just not worth resource allocation. It does mean something else can be done with the land if there’s an opportunity and which system might do that less badly than the others. https://www.fwi.co.uk/business/velourt-confirms-20-cut-in-contract-farming-operation
We have a specialist coffee shop called La Brùlerie in the nearby town of Pamiers in France where we live. You might be interested to look up their website.
To put a price on your narrative, we buy supermarket coffee beans, usually from Brazil, at around 20€ for 900g, recently reduced from 1kg, shrinkflation at play, our coffee shop offers a wide range of coffee from other countries. We recently bought 250g of Columbian beans from them at 15€ which is roughly what they charge for many in their range although some cost more. I suspect the price they charge is closer to the real cost of beans if the farmers were to get a fair price for their product.
Hmmm…………I have considered whether or not we can continue to drink good coffee in the future. It’s price has risen considerably. Currently – if we watch our budget – we get rather expensive coffee through a local company of roasters set up by CoE that employs ex drug addicts – The Sacred Bean they are called. The young cleric who set it up – an ex drug user himself. We get a Brazilian blend (‘Bon Jesus’) 800g of beans to grind. We think it worthwhile to spend more because the growers get a fair price and how it sustains a good cause (they used to have a shop, but now have gone online like much of everything). And it is really good coffee.
But we enjoy it whilst we can, because one day – like our pets – the wonderful market that we are in will just call coffee a ‘luxury’ item and price accordingly. Sod that. And I’m not drinking Maxwell House for anyone.
Sometimes you know, I dream of a consumer strike. That those of us who buy things that makes the economy go around simply refuse to do so anymore as a protest? Don’t withdraw your labour: withdraw your spending power and make sure they know what you are doing. Make sure Rachel knows too.
That is what I will do with coffee eventually and a lot of other things too I think. Well, whilst our water seems drinkable at least! And that is even not guaranteed.
Much to agree with
I also like tea….
There are good ones available there too
I’m a big fan of James Hoffmann (and have been for years), and was lucky enough to be bought a signed version of his 3rd edition World Atlas of Coffee for my birthday this year!
My impression, from watching his YouTube videos, is that he is quite a conscientious gentleman – it might just be a front of course – and suspect that he would be delighted that you’ve taken his comment and followed it through.
On the topic of specialty coffee – I am more then happy to (and regularly do) spend upwards of £20 on ~200g of beans. My assumption is that that price goes back to the producer, but I’ll double check next time I have a chat with one of my local roasters.
Whilst people may gasp at that cost, for my recipes, it works out at somewhere around the £2/cup mark, which for a cup of the best coffee you can buy, is actually fantastic value (in my opinion). It may even be that this cost is too low – I don’t know where my “too expensive” limit is – but it only seems fair to pay producers for the skilled work they carry out.
Finally, using whisky as an exemplar, I would suggest that a shift of coffee to luxury commodity is possible, or may even be inevitable. I don’t think I would mind (I might already be in that space)
I treat coffee as a luxury – and good ones as real treats. And why not? They are? That is why I never understand the takeaway coffee thing. I can never understand paying a lot and not having time to enjoy it.
There’s a quite amazing feature of social enterprise (using business models and methods, but for the common good, rather than private gain): it often does business better than business, and charity better than charity – and the fair trade coffee pioneer Cafédirect demonstrated this for many decades, taking market share from multinational corporations, while at the same time achieving greater social impact for poor farmers than conventional charity or philanthropy.
It did this in fact mainly by shortening the supply chains – selling (before the supermarkets caught on) direct to a sympathetic public through church and community groups (something of a Quaker thread in this too, since Oxfam was a key founder) – but also organising and working directly with farmers’ co-operatives in developing countries, entirely cutting out the multinational ‘middle men’.
How I wish more socialists would get into business ! We do it so much better than capitalists.
🙂
Cafe Direct have a direct link to their farmers and give them a fair price and support.
I like good coffee and am prepared to pay a price that reflects a fair deal for the producers. I have for some years subscribed to Pact Coffee, a small company which takes care to develop personal relationships with their growers. This enables them to help communities and buy very small lots of coffee that would not be viable to larger companies. My wife and I recently went for a week’s holiday in France, where the standard of restaurant coffee was on the whole disappointing everywhere and just about acceptable on our one night stay in Paris while travelling home. Much of the coffee industry supports mediocrity at a cut price. I agree that coffee is a luxury, to be taken sparingly and paid for fairly.
Agreed
I think that the ancients were on to the right idea with bans on usury
While markets and traders can serve a purpose its time I suggest to rein them in as of course happened to the City after WW2
And on the subject of misallocation of resources, we have this: Elon Musk’s pay deal.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyk6kvyxvzo