Is $1.60/lb. for green coffee a fair minimum price?
Yes, $1.60/lb., which exceeds the FTC floor price by 19%, is a fair minimum. To us, this figure represents a baseline for producing the level of quality which we demand for CCDTC. It was challenging to set a minimum price (initially we tried to avoid it) because minimum prices tend to be interpreted—by consumers and sometimes by buyers—as standards, as opposed to an absolute minimum. Because our goal is to pay growers based on their costs of production, we chose a fixed minimum price of $1.60/lb. based on discussions with our grower partners. We chose not to index our minimum to the minimum for Fair Trade Certified coffee because it, like the commodity market price, is subject to daily fluctuation. We will pay more than the minimum of $1.60/lb. for most CCDTC coffees, and we are always willing to share the price paid for any particular lot.
