In business, there are many factors involved in the channel of distribution for any product. The way in which a company’s product will travel from producer to consumer is one of the most critical decisions a business will have to make. In some industries, businesses have taken advantage of a variety of ways to manufacture and distribute their products. A great example of where this is in effect is in the coffee industry. Among all commodities, coffee is the second most traded product in the world, after only crude oil. With the example of coffee, it is apparent that industries become more complex as they grow, and as the commodity involved is traded more frequently. This essay sets out to prove that the coffee trade is a multi-faceted
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The production of coffee starts at the farm. There are three types of farms in which coffee is grown. There are coffee cooperatives, coffee estates, and small, independent coffee farms. For each type, the process of farming the coffee is essentially the same. Farmers grow and harvest the coffee beans, of which there are two main types. This includes the Arabica bean, which accounts for about 75% of coffee produced worldwide, and the Robusta bean, which is grown in West and Central Africa, as well as in Brazil. After the cherries have been processed and the beans are dried, the coffee then moves on to a coffee mill. At local and international coffee mills, the mill workers remove the last layers of skin on the coffee, in addition to sorting and cleaning it. Once the main farming stages of coffee production are complete, tasters partake in what is known as “cupping”. Coffee is tasted with a spoon and then spit it out into a cup. This is a way to test the coffee for quality and taste, and to ensure that it is ready to move on to distribution. In an effort to get better compensation, coffee farmers and producers become coffee cooperatives, wherein they work together to achieve their goals in order to get better prices for their products. As seen in the 2004 New York Times article “Rwanda Savors the Rewards of Coffee Production”, Rwandan coffee farmer Emerthe Mukabavugurije was got $82 from her efforts in farming cooperative. This is a lot of money when compared with the dollar-a-day average on which other Rwandan citizens have to survive. Her farming cooperative, known as Project Pearl, consisted of farmers and the U.S. government working together in order to get more money for the products they sell, and to engage in fairer trade. On another note, a coffee estate is a plantation wherein coffee is farmed. The difference between a coffee estate and a cooperative is that the owners
The production of coffee starts at the farm. There are three types of farms in which coffee is grown. There are coffee cooperatives, coffee estates, and small, independent coffee farms. For each type, the process of farming the coffee is essentially the same. Farmers grow and harvest the coffee beans, of which there are two main types. This includes the Arabica bean, which accounts for about 75% of coffee produced worldwide, and the Robusta bean, which is grown in West and Central Africa, as well as in Brazil. After the cherries have been processed and the beans are dried, the coffee then moves on to a coffee mill. At local and international coffee mills, the mill workers remove the last layers of skin on the coffee, in addition to sorting and cleaning it. Once the main farming stages of coffee production are complete, tasters partake in what is known as “cupping”. Coffee is tasted with a spoon and then spit it out into a cup. This is a way to test the coffee for quality and taste, and to ensure that it is ready to move on to distribution. In an effort to get better compensation, coffee farmers and producers become coffee cooperatives, wherein they work together to achieve their goals in order to get better prices for their products. As seen in the 2004 New York Times article “Rwanda Savors the Rewards of Coffee Production”, Rwandan coffee farmer Emerthe Mukabavugurije was got $82 from her efforts in farming cooperative. This is a lot of money when compared with the dollar-a-day average on which other Rwandan citizens have to survive. Her farming cooperative, known as Project Pearl, consisted of farmers and the U.S. government working together in order to get more money for the products they sell, and to engage in fairer trade. On another note, a coffee estate is a plantation wherein coffee is farmed. The difference between a coffee estate and a cooperative is that the owners