The coffee industry is undergoing significant shifts as farmers in Colombia, like Edgar Correa and Andrés Felipe Botero, are moving away from traditional fair trade certifications towards direct trade in response to financial difficulties and an increasingly fragile coffee ecosystem. Despite producing 70% of the world's coffee, small-scale farmers are struggling with decreased yields due to climate change, high fertilizer costs, and an aging farmer population. Fairtrade asserts that its minimum price provides a safety net, but many farmers find the system's financial benefits inadequate. New initiatives like Campesino Coffee are offering better pay and transparency, while the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation has launched CAFIX to streamline exports. Critics remain skeptical about the scalability of direct trade without standardized certification, and whether it can be more than a marketing tool.
Enjoying the read? Subscribe for free to one of the fastest-growing newsletters and get weekly coffee news (TL;DR updates) delivered right to your inbox.