Your morning latte costs $4.50.
The author traced every penny through 17 years of coffee industry data, from your local café to farms in Honduras.
The result? Your barista captured $1.67 for 3 minutes of work. The farmer who spent 6 months growing your coffee? They profited $0.04.
That's not a typo. Four cents.
This isn't about individual greed—it's about infrastructure. The entire supply chain is architected to ensure 97% of value is captured before coffee reaches the farm gate.
fainpul•2mo ago
It sounds extreme, but the bulk cost comes from the coffee shop and those costs seem very reasonable (labour, equipment, rent, milk etc.).
On the other hand, I buy high quality, roasted coffee and prepare it myself. I pay maybe $0.30 per cup. If you compare that amount to the $0.04 the farmer gets, it seems far easier to grasp.
oldnetguy•2mo ago
> First, infrastructure. A wet mill—the machinery needed to process coffee cherries into beans—starts at $50,000 for basic equipment. Industrial-scale operations run into the hundreds of thousands. A moisture meter for quality control? $2,000. Drying beds? Storage facilities that prevent mold? Cupping lab for quality assessment? The capital requirements stack up fast.
I'm surprised there is no group trying to raise funds for small coffee farmers to obtain this equipment.
somberi•2mo ago
fainpul•2mo ago
On the other hand, I buy high quality, roasted coffee and prepare it myself. I pay maybe $0.30 per cup. If you compare that amount to the $0.04 the farmer gets, it seems far easier to grasp.