Coffee is the world’s favourite drink. It’s a global industry worth over a €100bn euro per year and every day we drink a mind boggling 2 billion cups of coffee. But almost none of the profits from coffee go back to coffee growing countries or to the farmers who work so hard to produce the beans we all love.  Around the world 25 million coffee farmers and their families (125 million people!) rely on coffee for their livelihood.

But the business model of global coffee is badly broken. The industry is dominated by a handful of ginormous multinationals obsessed with maximising profits for shareholders. Their model is to buy green beans on the cheap, export them as quickly as possible to the west where they are processed, roasted and sold for obscene profits. 

As a result 90% of coffee farmers earn less than €2 a day and the majority of coffee growing countries still rely on international aid. Poor prices and hardship for farmers can lead to deforestation and habitat destruction as land is cleared to grow food and help struggling families survive.