It is very easy to forget that coffee is a widely traded commodity. It is, after all, available on every street corner, by the pound, with milk, and a staple at just about every meeting ever conducted. It is also the second most traded commodity on the New York Stock Exchage, only being succeeded by oil.
Since it is a commodity and the price for a pound of beans fluxuates so much, coffee farmers - many of them in South America and Africa - live life in poverty because they are not being paid fairly for the product they grow. This is something local coffee roasters and wholesalers Coda Coffee looks to change with the introduction of their Farm2Cup program.
Through the program, Coda will invest money directly into coffee farmers, who will ideally then invest that money into their product and their communities. This completely removes the stock market from the bean-purchasing process - a move that is greatly appreciated by all.
It is already being speculated that coffee is about to make a shift from being an everyday staple to a more luxury item - and we should all be prepared to spend more than $20 a pound for sustainable, fairly traded beans.
The good news? The business of artisan coffee is spreading. Denver alone is home to companies like Coda, Novo, Allegro, Pablos, and the new, small batch Huckleberry Roasters - all of whom roast quality beans that make for fine cups from fairly traded beans.
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