I’m the first to admit I don’t have a great understanding of how coffee is priced, bought and sold. Coffee economics seem so complex! The Kenyan auction system, for example, remains a mystery to me.

In our never ending quest to spread the word and educate the coffee drinking public about the issues that matter most to the specialty coffee industry, one can’t help but wonder where we will end up.

There’s no question that we are onto something ‘good’ here, not only in terms of better coffee, but also supporting farmers by paying for quality over quantity and establishing those direct long term relationships which inevitably end up providing better standards of living for the farmers, and better tasting coffee for the rest of us.

But is the current movement scalable once John Smith starts wanting “only the best”? 

The fact is, most people in the world who drink coffee daily, are drinking what we would consider to be a pretty average cup. Those of us drinking exceptional coffee are a very small minority, but suppose our numbers eventually grow to 10%, 15% or even 20% of coffee drinkers worldwide, all wanting to drink coffee from the best farms in the most unique and special micro-climates in the world. Like any business model, specialty coffee may or may not be scalable. If demand goes up for exceptional coffee, and there is the same amount of this coffee being produced, the price will rise also.

For this reason it is in our own best interest to ensure that while the specialty coffee movements grows, we continue to support farms so that they can improve the quality of their produce. If the amount of awesome coffee being produced goes UP at the same rate as demand for it, prices should in theory remain stable (although there are of course countless other factors which influence price – the cost of coffee labour being a major factor and challenge for the future as economies develop).

I think it is also important to convey to the public a sense of respect for exceptional coffees. Because they are special, and should be treated as such. And if we are fortunate enough to be able to drink them often, then I think we are very lucky and should at least attempt to give something back to this industry. On the whole, I think there is a lot of good being done already.