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2020 Green Coffee Transparency Report

Green coffee poured into roaster

As excited as we are about new beginnings in 2021, we wanted to look back on 2020 and evaluate how well we supported the people who make our business and livelihood possible, Bluebeard's coffee growers. 

Big Picture Takeaways

Bluebeard paid an average of $3.33 for 51,985 pounds of coffee in 2020. Single origin (not for blending) coffees accounted for 28k of this at an average of $3.74, for those keeping score. For perspective, the coffee commodity price, C Market, fluctuated between $.92 and $1.34 per lb. in a volatile 2020 market and sits at $1.27 in January, 2021. The Fairtrade price floor is currently $1.40 per lb. of washed Arabica coffee and $1.70 for Organic Fairtrade coffee. 

Bluebeard is proud of these coffees, growers, source partners and our investment in them. We're fairly certain this places Bluebeard in good company, regarding prices paid per pound by specialty coffee roasters, although it's hard to gauge precisely with limited transparency across the industry.

Origin Lot Name Pounds EXW Price/lb Source Partner
Colombia Jose Elmer Olaya Tolima 1216 $3.90 Shared Source
Colombia El Guayacan, Nariño 3550 $2.81 Olam SC
Colombia Dulima Excelso, Tolima & Huila 1543 $2.32 Olam SC
Colombia Finca El Cedro, Diego Botina 1080 $4.06 Olam SC
Colombia Amigos del Huila EA Decaf 1445 $4.30 Shared Source
Colombia Catatumbo, Nariño 5400 $2.81 Olam SC
DRC: Congo Hutwe Washed Organic 661 $3.13 Olam SC
Ethiopia Yukro #7 Washed Agaro 661 $4.75 Red Fox
Ethiopia Nano Genji #9 ORG Washed Agaro 661 $4.85 Red Fox
Ethiopia Danse Mormora 2910 $3.79 Olam SC
Ethiopia Buku Sayisa Natural 397 $5.40 Shared Source
Ethiopia Halo Beriti, Washed, Yirgacheffe 661 $4.29 Olam SC
Ethiopia Danche Chelbesa Washed 661 $5.15 Shared Source
Ethiopia Deri Kochoha, Guji, Natural 1587 $4.70 Olam SC
Guatemala Don Santiago, Lake Atitlan 5324 $2.87 Olam SC
Guatemala Javier Martinez Huehue 760 $4.40 Shared Source
Guatemala Vista al Bosque, Wilmar Castillo, HH 913 $4.17 Onyx
Guatemala Organic Chochajau, Lake Atitlan 7606 $2.70 Olam SC
Guatemala Todos Santos, Huehuetenango 760 $3.50 Shared Source
Honduras Benjamin Paz, La Leona 913 $4.00 Bonaventure
Kenya Wachuri AB 396 $5.08 Olam SC
Mexico Guadalupe Miramar #3 Oaxaca 1216 $3.30 Red Fox
Mexico Yucuhiti #3 Oaxaca 304 $3.30 Red Fox
Mexico San Agustin Loxicha #2 Oaxaca 4529 $3.45 Red Fox
Mexico Brigada Blend Oaxaca 152 $5.92 Red Fox
Mexico Bluebeard Reserva Oaxaca 1369 $4.50 Red Fox
Mexico Organic Comalapa Chiapas 2738 $2.35 Olam SC
Nicaragua Regalo de Dios, El Doctor Honey 456 $4.08 Atlas
Papua New Guinea Kimel River Estate Peaberry 794 $2.48 Olam SC
Rwanda Kopakama Coop FT 661 $4.40 Artisan
Tanzania Heights Estate, AA 661 $2.39 Olam SC

 

Importantly, our listed price is the Ex-Warehouse (EXW) price, paid for from the point of entry warehouse in the US. You may also see Free on Board (FOB) price, the price of the coffee when delivered to the boat at the port of origin and ready to ship. As EXW covers nearly the entirety of our contracts and purchases, we utilize it. It's useful in understanding the full cost of a coffee once in lands at its port of consumption, it can tell you less about precisely how a farmer was paid. We recommend Red Fox's super informative series on Paying for Coffee: It's Complicated. 

The manner in which our partners at source have remunerated farmers is a fascinating and complex subject, which we won't begin to address here, save to pass along that it varies widely and necessarily by country, community, processor/coop/community/farmer, and stage at which coffee is purchased, whether it be cherry, parchment, bagged and ready for export, etc. 

Should you seek it, we would invite you to dive into the web sites of our import partners, who embody many best-in-industry practices in coffee, paying at the top of the market to farmers and communities in the interests of sustainability, living wages, sound environmental practices and value paid throughout the coffee chain.

Thank you,
Kevin McGlocklin
Bluebeard Coffee Roasters 

RED FOX COFFEE MERCHANTS | SHARED SOURCE | ATLAS COFFEE IMPORTERS | OLAM SPECIALTY COFFEE | ONYX | BONAVENTURE COFFEE PROJECT

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