C2C is a service provider for farmers: We buy directly from coffee farmers and represent them in overseas markets. We put our wholesale and individual customers in touch with their true suppliers - the farmers - and provide farmers with the tools to realize premium payments and bonuses connected to sales of their product on the consumer end of the supply chain.

 

 

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One pound of Crop to Cup coffee provides a 20% increase in farmer wagesand a 55% increase in overall community benefit.


Q. How much do farmers receive for their coffee?

A. On average, our farmers receive a premium of $.14 cents over market price per pound of parchment. In Uganda, 2007/2008, the farm-level price was about $.73 per pound of coffee in "parchment" form (see chart). This means that our farmers received just over $.88 per pound of parchment, $1.11 per pound of green coffee, or $1.31 per pound of roasted coffee. That is pure income for individual farmers, 20% over standard market prices.

On top of this we reinvest in farmer communities 5% of what we receive for selling their coffee. On average, this results in an average increase of $.37 per pound of roasted coffee that is reinvested in development projects benefiting entire coffee growing communities. Thus, the benefit to coffee farming communities (via individual incomes and investment in community-wide projects) totals $1.68 per pound of roasted coffee (or $1.13/lb parchment or $1.43/lb green coffee). That's a 55% increase in benefit to farming communities.

We call this our “20, 5, 10” program. Farmers receive 20% over market price for their coffee, plus 5% of their coffee’s selling price in coffee consuming communities, plus 10% of company profits.


Q. How does Crop to Cup compare with "Fairtrade"?

A. While we support the Fairtrade movement, and seek to source certified beans when we must go outside of our relationships, we require neither Fairtrade nor organic certifications. Rather, we believe that respectful and credible relationships with the farmers are the best way to make an enduring difference through coffee. Our goal is not to compare ourselves with FT, but if you are looking for a point of reference, it would look like this:

Fair Trade

  • FT set minimum payment to farmers: 
    • There is no published data on this
  • FT set minimum payment to cooperatives:
    • $1.25 / lb of green coffee*
    • This is a flat-rate applied across regions; this is paid to a farmer's cooperative.
    • Includes farmer pay and other costs such as those for marketing, transport, processing, etc.
  • FT support for community projects: $.10 / lb of green coffee*
    • Ten cents per pound is set aside to support community project

Crop To Cup

  • C2C market-driven minimum payment to farmers: $1.11/ lb of green coffee
    • We ensure that farmers receive 20% above market-rates; this allows farmers to experience the upsides of selling specialty coffee.
  • C2C payment to cooperatives/export partners: $1.48 / lb of green coffee
    • Includes farmer pay of $1.11 and cost of purchasing, transport, processing, administration and export (i.e. costs separate from farmer pay).
  • C2C support for community projects: avg. of $.37/lb of green coffee (5% of C2C’s coffee sales) + 10% of profits.
    • Support for community projects is connected to selling price of farmers’ roasted coffee in specialty coffee consuming markets.


The chief difference between FT and C2C is that FT works at the cooperative level, meaning that the costs of purchasing, transport, processing, administration, certification and export are taken out of the $1.25 paid to the cooperative before this amount reaches the farmer.

C2C’s payment practices, on the other hand, are based on market prices and actual payment to individual farmers. We ensure that individual farmers receive a 20% premium over market prices. For the most recent crop, this equates to $.88 / lb of parchment or $1.11 / lb of green coffee.

We outsource the other in-country services (processing, transport, export, etc) on behalf of the farmer, then reinvest 5% of our roasted coffee sales and 10% of overall profits to give them a stake in the business.

While we do have a nonprofit organization associated with us (www.dnetiganga.org), this is no charity. Our coffee is specialty washed Arabica, and our relationships are packaged into value-adding marketing materials and customer loyalty functionalities so that you can get much more out of your coffee.

*According to Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International “Pricing and Premium: VALID FROM 1 JUNE 2008”