"Welcome to Five Senses Coffee"

The 10 days I recently spent in Bali got me thinking about direct trade and what the term really means. Whilst there is no standard definition that works for all the people, all the time, the term was originally used to describe the action of roasting companies going direct to origin countries to source coffee, usually with some social benefit.

Like most emerging trends, many roasters scrambled to jump on the bandwagon, scared of losing market share and the term direct trade has become seriously compromised. Many roasters have appropriated the term despite very tenuous links to the coffee’s origins and one company has even tried to trademark the term.

Direct trade was a valiant attempt to address two of the biggest issues in our industry, the massive imbalance between the returns to growers and the returns to merchants and roasters further along the supply chain and to create a tangible reward for quality in the cup. Coffee farmers are like most primary producers in many parts of the developing world. Relatively uneducated, undercapitalised and at the mercy of world commodity markets, they really are the least empowered people in the entire supply chain. Often there is a long cultural and emotional attachment to coffee farming that keeps them locked in a cycle of debt and poverty. It would take several years to develop an alternative crop and move away from coffee. This is a luxury they don’t have.

For the companies who are committed to real direct trade, I salute you. This is no easy path, but one worth the effort. This is an incredibly complex topic with specific issues faced in different origin countries. I could never adequately describe the web of situations and problems that need to be unravelled by the various parties in this thing we call direct trade.

I believe there are few key things we can work on that underpin the whole shooting match and if we hold these as core promises the other stuff will take care of itself.

Intent

This is not something you can “half do”. Commit your brain and heart to the process and don’t expect instant rewards. Expect some hurdles. Jump them, plough through them but just keep on going. It is worth it.

Transparency

Negotiating like you’re in a poker game will not win hearts and minds. Be honest and open and demand the same in return.

Quality

At the end of the day setting up artificial markets doesn’t work — you heard about communism, right?! When the compost is hitting the fan the farmers who have improved their quality will always survive.

I hope that one day the wheel will turn full circle and the direct trade pretenders will have given up and the term direct trade will really mean something again. A group of lucky and privileged people trying to do the right thing by others who need a fair go.