Colombia is the world's largest coffee producer.
Colombian coffee accounts for about 8% of all coffee grown. Prices
for Colombia's Arabica beans are at a decade high. The price has
had a spike of 30%. Colombia's main harvest that takes place
in October- will represent 10% of the world's Arabica output for
2010-2011.
Latin Organics knowing what is going on in Colombia in the
coffee fields is worried to see how retailers continue to offer
roasted coffee at never seen before low prices. How is this even
possible and why is this being permitted is an interesting
question.
Martha Bowen, CEO of Latin Organics is concerned that consumers
are getting the wrong idea of the real value of Premium Organic
Colombian Coffee- forgetting the hard work that farmers and their
children have to go through to get their coffee product out into
foreign markets. Here at Latin Organics buying directly from
farmers represents the largest expense in our organization and it
also lowers are profit margin greatly, nevertheless we know that
there is no chance to see change in Colombia's social climate if
farmers are not brought up to speed. For this reason Latin Organics
continues to do business in the same way - as from the beginning
through Direct Trade. There seems to be a price war between
retailers and coffee brands. This is a strategy that Latin Organics
does not plan to participate in, as this would likely bring more
hardship to Colombian farmers and more misleading information to
consumers.
Consumers need to be weary of lower retail pricing seen at
Grocery stores for Organic coffee, packaging size also needs to be
looked at, as more and more companies out there are decreasing the
weight of the content of their packaging but the packaging size or
foot print of the bag remains almost the same.
Bottom line: coffee prices for Colombian premium coffee
certified organic will continue to rise and these coffees have no
room for negotiation to lower prices- without putting into jeopardy
the true origin of the coffee beans and the livelihood of the
farmers. Do you know what you are drinking- really?