Pact Coffee | B Corp™

This morning I spoke to Will Bain on BBC Wake up to Money about some of the reasons the commodity market price has reached historic new highs, what the impact is likely to be for consumers and how we at Pact Coffee | B Corp™ have moved on from trading commodity market rates to ensuring a living income for producing great coffee, for farmers we’re partnered with around the world. Have a listen here: https://lnkd.in/eywmcszm

As coffee prices hit a record high, after decades of trading below the cost of production. At last farmers are being paid profitably, hopefully the whole industry can use this impetus to maintain a living wage for coffee farmers globally long into the future. Read the whole article at The Guardian and The Grocer https://lnkd.in/eeeERvda Pact Coffee | B Corp™

The morning is always better when it's the first Monday of the Pact Advent Calendar 🗓️ And this year, for the very first time, you can drink along with our team with daily videos - the Coffee Countdown 🎄 In these, you'll hear more fascinating facts on the farmer, explanations of coffee terms, and tips and tricks on how to brew the day's roast ☕ There will be a new video uploaded every morning until the 25th - you can find them here: https://lnkd.in/eGAhJCgA

For those of you following the extraordinary Arabica market spike.... Thank you to The Grocer for taking the time to interview us. #Arabica #Commodity #Sustainability #BCorp

So, #coffee prices are going up, and packet sizes are going down. But the real story is that coffee has been sold for far too cheap, and farmers have been grossly underpaid - for a very, very long time... To cut a long story short, coffee is traditionally sold on the commodity market, like grains, gas, and oil. On this, it’s a race for the traders to buy coffee at its absolute cheapest and sell it for its highest price – that way, these market traders make gigantic profits in their plush Western offices, while rural-poor farmers are regularly left to lose money on a year’s crop.  But for the past two years, partly due to harvests in Brazil (the country that produces the most coffee) being short, the commodity market price has been higher than usual – anywhere from $1.80-$2.90 per lb of Arabica coffee. In 2022, it was estimated that a smallholder coffee farmer in Colombia needs to make $1.55 per pound of coffee to cover production costs – and that’s before the worldwide inflation we’ve seen since.   Simply put, this rise in prices might be bad news for cheap coffee, and gigantic companies, but it’s pulling many farmers, families, and communities out of poverty. But there’s other influences at play here, like Fairtrade International increasing their minimum Fairtrade price last year (yep, if you’re cutting margins this closely, it’s probably not complying with Fairtrade…) and, conversely, market speculators inflating prices to maximise their stocks.  That’s why, for Pact, it’s vital to trade directly with the farmer and scrap the commodity market entirely. Through direct trade, we can guarantee that the farmer is the one to receive the premium price and come back, year after year, for repeat purchases. It’s the only way to protect farmers from the fluctuating commodity market (which will inevitably dip in the near future) and know that the brewing habits of Pact customers are making a positive social impact at origin. Ultimately, for us, the higher price simply means much better coffee through truly ethical sourcing, and it’s worth every penny. https://lnkd.in/eAfQWd8v

ITV made a TV star out of the Pact Advent Calendar today ⭐ That's following a five-star review in The Independent and a 10/10 quality score in The Guardian - all testament to the fantastic work of our Director of Coffee and Social Impact, Will Corby, and our coffee and design teams. If you're quick, we’ve still got some available… https://lnkd.in/eugHbvWZ

Fancy joining us in the Haslemere roastery? We've got multiple vacancies for those that want to roast and produce some of the world's greatest coffee while making the industry better for everyone 🧑🌾 🌎 The open positions are: - Senior Roaster - Production Roaster - Production Operatives To apply, just head to our careers page: https://lnkd.in/erGV7aDQ

We're very happy to announce that we're bringing the first ever brewing kit (the Pact V60) to the Waitrose & Partners coffee aisle on 17th November. Thanks to The Grocer for covering the story today 🗞️ https://lnkd.in/eysi5wQs

Thanks to Refreshment Mag FoodBev Media for talking to our Head of Business-to-Business Sales, James Fairbairn, about: - The continued growth of speciality coffee ☕ - The coming EU Deforestation Regulation 🇪🇺 - Why ethical sourcing is the only way to be truly sustainable in the face of climate change 🌍 https://lnkd.in/ekdZFH9n

Thanks to Waitrose & Partners for shining a spotlight on Pact Coffee in the coffee issue of Waitrose Weekend. Take a quick peek with our Director of Coffee and Social Impact (who’s interviewed in this month's issue), Will Corby, in his local Waitrose store 🗞️