Peachy Blossom - Ethiopia

We paid the coffee farmer 35% more for this coffee

We pay the coffee farmer more for the coffee than the market price.

Research shows time and again that certifications such as Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance have no demonstrable positive effect on the living conditions of coffee farmers. (Cordes and Sagan, 2021)

Western coffee companies earn large sums while coffee farmers around the world live in poverty. This is wrong, and we must change it.

That is why we pay more for the coffee beans we import.

44% of coffee farmers worldwide continue to live in poverty. At least 5.5 million coffee farmers live below the international poverty line of $3.20 per day. Studies show that one-third of coffee farmers earn less than $100 annually from coffee production (Enveritas, 2018; Sachs et al., 2019).

When we pay the farmers more, we give them the opportunity to invest in themselves and their businesses. This can lead to further growth and the opportunity to invest in their farming practices and projects such as reduction of water consumption and reforestation.

The calculation:

We have paid $10.68/kg (FOB) for this coffee.

The market price at the time of contract was $7.85/kg.

This means that we have paid 35% above the market price.

Documentation

See the complete overview of the payments we have made for our coffee beans in our annual transparency report: CleverCoffee: Transparency Report

Sources

"Responsible Coffee Sourcing: Towards a Living Income for Producers" (Cordes and Sagan, 2021)

"Why do coffee farmers stay poor? : Breaking vicious circles with direct payments from profit sharing" (Ruben, 2023)

"Six Transformations to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" (Sachs et al., 2019)

A short and transparent supply chain

We always work with as short and transparent a supply chain as possible. In 2025, 93.58% of our coffee was traded directly with the coffee farm, i.e., without using an intermediary.

This coffee is an exception, as we used a transparent importer to get the coffee delivered.

The vast majority of our roasted coffee is also purchased directly from us - with a few individual retailers as exceptions, such as coffee shops and specialty stores. You cannot buy our coffee in any large chains or on online marketplaces.

This means that fewer parties need to "have a slice of the pie," and we can provide better payment for the coffee farms, which for decades have been underpaid and lived in poverty.

The supply chain for this coffee looks like this:

• The coffee is grown in the Guji region of Ethiopia
• The coffee cherries have been processed locally at the washing station, Arsosala
• The green coffee beans were imported to Europe by Café Imports Europe
• Thereafter, the green beans were transported to CleverCoffee
• The coffee is roasted and packed at CleverCoffee in our own roastery outside Aarhus