Direct relationship, or direct trade. They’re phrases you might hear being thrown about whilst perusing the web for your next coffee fix. But what does it mean and is it important?
Well, it's not a complicated idea really, you could have a pretty good stab at working it out. But it can be shrouded in ambiguity that isn't all too easy to fact-check. But as a consumer, it is important to take some responsibility for the ethics of the products we’re buying; the more emphasis we put on the importance of fair trade, the more commonplace it should become.
So, direct relationships, in theory, would suggest the roaster has, quite literally, a direct relationship with the producer of the coffee, at its origin. Sounds lovely right? But why is that important?
Well in order to understand the importance of this, we need to have a little look at the basic economics of the supply chain of roasted coffee beans in the UK. Without wanting to make this too convoluted, there are several basic steps to get from seed to cup.
THE (SIMPLIFIED) STAGES OF SEED TO CUP.
- The farmers grow the coffee trees and thus, the beans, which are harvested and usually processed at source or at a nearby washing station or mill, ready for the green beans to be sold on.
- The coffee beans are often sold to an exporter. Exporters generally take care of logistics and general export/import business.
- Coffee suppliers source beans from exporters.
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Roasters buy the green beans from the supplier, to turn them into the roasted coffee beans you know and love.
Now, this is a generalisation, it can be more or less complicated than this. There are sometimes other intermediaries too though, logistics people, cooperatives, packing, holding stations etc. Whilst this isn't always a bad thing, as each step of the way tends to be managed by people who know their craft. But it does mean that that juicy pie does need to be cut into more pieces to make sure that everyone is paid for their work.
More mouths to feed means less money generally makes it back to the farmer, and without them, there would be no coffee at all. Everyone enjoys the idea of fair pay for farmers, but it's a different story altogether when you ask £5 for their flat white. So the reality is that the same amount of money has to be split between all parties.
By now, I think you can probably see where this is going, some roasters will buy their beans directly from the farmers, cutting out the middlemen and in theory allowing for more of the profits to make it back to the farmer. This is the direct relationship that we refer to. Although let's save the farmgate vs FOB pricing for another day.
Huzzah. Now the farmer can reinvest more of that change into growing more, better, crops AND the roaster can still take a fair share for their expertise and marketing.
SO. DOES DIRECT RELATIONSHIP ALWAYS MEAN DIRECT RELATIONSHIP?
Here's the fun part, no, it doesn’t. I’m not here to throw shade, but, it's seemingly not too unheard of to be misled by this phrase, being used as a marketing ploy. From time to time people will say they have a direct relationship with a farmer, but what this actually means is that their supplier or exporter has a direct relationship with the farmer, which isn't exactly the same thing. That’s not to say that this is exactly bad, the traceability is still brilliant, but it just feels a bit icky to me to sell an ideal that isn't quite true, especially when direct trade is so synonymous with good - fair pay, good relationships, essentially all things nice.
How much does it matter? Well, truth be told, whether or not a coffee roaster has direct relationships with its producers isn't the be-all and end-all, but it is nice to know. Especially as we put ever more emphasis on ethics and the pay and conditions of the people who produce the things we consume on a daily to day basis.
The more you know, right?
