Further Reading and research

Making coffee more equitable for all

Below are a set of resources that can inform how and why farmer-ownership and cooperative business models create a more sustainable, profitable future for farmers. Try out the links below or contact us directly - info@pachamamacoffee.com

Academia and industry

1. "Farmer-Owned Enterprises and the Governance of Value in Global Value Chains" - FRIIDOM (English/Español) -- Nicholas Porchet

  • "What happens when farmers don't just supply raw materials but co-own the enterprises that brand, transform, and sell them?...Ownership reshapes the entire value process – not only how profits are shared, but also how economic and non-economic value are generated, governed, and distributed."

2. "Rethinking the 'necessary' trade-offs to distributing value to suppliers: An analysis of the profit sharing model" -- Harvard Kennedy School

  • "...profit sharing can distribute value without requiring suppliers to compromise price stability, profit maximization, value creation, or alternative economic opportunities."

3. "Alternative Ownership: Moving Beyond Shareholder Primacy to Reward All Stakeholders " -- Stanford Social Innovation Review

  • "We need models that limit the profit-maximizing drive of outside investors and allow other stakeholders the opportunity to influence and financially benefit from the companies that affect their lives."

4. "Coffee Development Report 2019 – Growing for prosperity: Economic viability as the catalyst for a sustainable coffee sector" -- International Coffee Organization (ICO)

  • "More direct, stable and transparent supply chains enable the channeling of better incentives that promote the economic viability of coffee farming."

5. "The Real Price of Coffee and Steps Towards a Sustainable Future" -- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI)

  • "Purchase coffee directly from the farmer. This is the most impactful action a consumer can take to ensure the farmer earns more of the final retail price."

6. "Ensuring Economic Viability and Sustainability of Coffee Consumption" -- CCSI

  • "...we believe there is a clear opportunity for coffee sector actors to work together to take the sustainable development path, and to achieve greater sustainability within coffee production and in coffee-growing regions."

7. "Responsible Coffee Sourcing: Towards a living income for producers" -- CCSI

  • "Coffee companies have a responsibility to enable producers in their supply chains to achieve a living income and to ensure that farmworkers receive a living wage."

8. "Cooperation for the Transition to a Green Economy: Global Thematic Research Report " -- International Cooperative Alliance (ICA)

  • "Through their ownership structures and dedication to members, cooperatives have an enormous advantage in their resistance to short-termism, their preservation of assets and (indivisible) reserves, and hence consideration of future generations."

9. "Cooperatives in the coffee value chaines of Guatemala: their contribution to achieving social, labor, and environmental objectives "(in Spanish) -- ICA

  • "...cooperatives contribute to building sustainable and relational value chains with a triple bottom line that includes social, labour and environmental objectives."

10. "The Grounds for Sharing: A study of value distribution in the coffee industry" -- IDH

  • "The sector has an opportunity to pro actively address value creation and (re)distribution in a way that enables farmers to prosper and companies to work on long-term supply stability and viability of their business models in an ever more volatile world."

11. "More from the cup: Better returns for East African Coffee Producers" -- International Trade Centre

  • "...groups of producers, supported and working together, could earn significantly higher margins by transforming their green beans into branded coffee in international markets."

12. "Reshaping Value Distribution in the Coffee Supply Chain" -- Specialty Coffee Association (SCA)

  • "...people throughout the coffee sector know the system should change, but structural barriers, power imbalances, and economic risks keep the sector operating the way it does. Closing this gap means transforming the knowing–doing gap from a barrier into a bridge—moving from shared awareness to coordinated action, from individual efforts to systemic change"

13. "How to Make a Sustainability a Shared Practice" -- SCA

  • "By discovering and developing sustainability solutions with, rather than for impacted communities, and deeply embedding them in our organizations’ purpose, governance, finance, networks, and ownership, we can all move toward a system where value is shared more equitably, making coffee better for all."

14. "Assessing Social Return: Pachamama Coffee Co-op" (Business Case Study)-- London Business School

  • "How should [Pachamama] communicate the value of the business to the socially oriented investor that [it] was seeking?"

Media Articles Featuring Shared ownership models

1. "Who Owns the Future of Coffee: Exploring Farmer Ownership Models" -- Roast Magazine

2. "Coffee's Economics Rewritten by Farmers" -- New York Times

3. "Thinking Out of the Box" -- The Economist

4. "Equity for Coffee Farmers" -- Fortune

5. "Whom Does Transparency Serve?" -- Roast Magazine

6. "The Mother of Direct Trade Coffee" -- Wine Spectator

7. "A Cooperative Cup" -- Comstock Magazine

8. "A Cooperative Take on Farm-to-Cup: Pachamama Coffee Cooperative Continues to Grow" -- Sacramento Business Journal

Related Pachamama Blog Posts

1. "Soaring Coffee Prices: Why We Should Talk About Ownership not Price"

2. "Choosing Pachamama is Making a Difference"

3. "The Farmer's Roastery"

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