Coffee does not grow in Switzerland, but in the so-called Coffee Belt, between the 23rd northern and 25th southern parallels, parallel to the equator. Central America, Brazil, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam are among the major production regions, as is Eastern Africa with Ethiopia and Kenya. While coffee is omnipresent in our daily lives, the social, ecological, and financial damages in coffee cultivation are far removed.
The Corporate Responsibility Initiative directly affects coffee cultivation and trade and the responsibility of roasters. Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Suter also uses coffee as an example in interviews<1><2>, but derives an argument against the initiative from it.
As a coffee roastery, Switzerland's largest coffee school, and co-operator of a coffee farm in Nicaragua, we vehemently disagree with Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter's portrayal.
Instead, we see important impulses emanating from the Corporate Responsibility Initiative that can contribute to a more sustainable and future-oriented coffee industry. The Corporate Responsibility Initiative is an opportunity for the Swiss coffee industry to position itself for the long term, build lasting trade relationships with producers, and secure access to the increasingly scarce resource of coffee.
The Corporate Responsibility Initiative is a historic correction for the coffee industry
For the past two centuries, the coffee industry has been able to hide behind anonymity. Production conditions, purchase prices, trade practices, and the asymmetrical power balance between producers in the Southern Hemisphere and the processing industry, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, were long unquestioned – and if they were, much remained the same.
However, there have recently been more and more positive developments, and increased commitment to transparency and fairness along the coffee chain within the international coffee roasting industry<3>.
Opponents of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative say that "global supply chains with thousands of suppliers are highly complex" and "mostly outside the sphere of influence of the clients"<4>. As a coffee roastery, we must disagree.
Every roastery has it in its own hands to carefully set up and control its supply chain and to work with partners who share a similar mindset. It is not beyond the sphere of influence of the client – in this example, the coffee roastery – whether coffee with a cleanly prepared supply chain can be procured or not.
It is solely a matter of will and ambition whether this path of entrepreneurship is taken.
The fact that coffee chains can become traceable, more resilient, and more predictable is a development that is long overdue and has historically been treated quite laxly. The Corporate Responsibility Initiative is a correction for the coffee industry with the potential to address the signs of the times.
Opportunities instead of risks for coffee roasters
For a growing number of smaller and larger roasteries, the Corporate Responsibility Initiative has no or little impact. These roasteries source coffee directly or semi-directly (through intermediaries), build lasting relationships with coffee producers, and maintain constant communication both by phone and through travel to the growing countries.
The decision for direct sourcing among smaller roasteries is particularly based on their desire to take on co-responsibility. In many cases, higher prices are then paid for green coffee, which are not based on the coffee exchange.
The larger the roastery, the more green coffee it buys. Thus, it indirectly deals with a larger number of production and trading partners. While this increases the effort, it does not absolve the roasteries of their responsibility. Roasteries have the task of carefully and conscientiously selecting green coffee suppliers. Consumers should be able to rely on their coffee having been produced responsibly.
The Corporate Responsibility Initiative is a complementary impulse here that can help to sharpen the focus even more on risks on coffee farms. It provides a basis for targeted dialogue with trade partners. The Corporate Responsibility Initiative is a necessary wake-up call for the coffee industry and coffee trade to pay more attention to the sustainability of the value chain.
Such a structured trade relationship is an opportunity, not a risk. Due to growing coffee consumption in new markets like China or India and changing cultivation conditions due to climate change, the coffee industry faces a shortage of high-quality coffees in the next 15 years. Reliable, sustainable, and jointly responsible trade relationships secure roasteries' access to the increasingly scarce resource of coffee.
Philipp Schallberger and Benjamin Hohlmann
<2> SRF ARENA
