Actual Payment to Farmers | Level Ground Trading

Is the farmer better off with Direct Fair Trade?

Attached Files

1997-2009 Payment to Farmers

Over the last twelve years, Hugo Ciro (president of Level Ground Trading) has visited producer regions to meet with farmers, cooperatives, and exporters. On these journeys, he has sought to calculate "What the Farmer Gets" —a cost distribution for every pound of green coffee beans purchased and shipped to Level Ground Trading.

By calculating what the farmer gets on each shipment, we ensure that farmers receive a fair and sustainable share of the total price we pay for green beans. Level Ground is committed to ensuring farmers receive 65% of the price we pay per pound of green beans. We receive a transparency report from each of our trading partners to verify this. This is what we call, Direct Fair Trade.

Knowing what the farmer gets allows us to ensure that justice is inherent in every trade transaction. We import coffee directly and in 2009 we paid farmers on average 27% above the FLO certified minimum price.

A history of our payment to farmers in 2009:

View the history of payments since Level Ground's inception

Below is detail on the distribution of the payments by country:

Colombia

Of the price paid for Café San Miguel (at the port of Buenaventura), here's where the money flows:

67% Cash Payment to Farmers
15% Cooperan Coop & Expocafe (exporter). The Coop is responsible for milling costs, sorting and shipping the coffee to port.Exporter is responsible for arranging the export and shipping of the coffee
18% Direct Fair Trade Premium. This is an extra premium paid by Level Ground Trading. This premium is invested in the coffee farmer's community.

Payments to Farmers

Historically, here's how Fair Trade has made a difference in farmer's pockets:

Peru

Of the price paid for Café Pangoa green coffee at port of Callao, here's how the payment is distributed:

71% - Cash Payment to Farmers
12% - CAC Pangoa Coop. The Coop uses this portion of the money to cover operating costs such as milling and shipping the coffee to port
17% - Direct Fair trade Premium. This is paid by Level Ground Trading and invested in the coffee farmer's community

Payments to Farmers

Here's a record of Level Ground's trade with the farmers of CAC Pangoa in Peru.

Bolivia

Of the price paid for green coffee at the port of Arica (Café La Paz), here how the money is distributed:

67% - Cash payment to Farmers
27% - Agricabv. Milling plan and exporter's share of operating costs.
6% -Direct Fair trade Premium. This is paid by Level Ground Trading and invested in the coffee farmer's community

Payments to Farmers

A historical record of Level Ground Trading's purchases of green coffee in Bolivia:

Tanzania

Of the price paid for green coffee at the port Dar es Salaam (Café Mbeya), here's how the money is distributed:65%- Cash payment to Farmers

65% - Cash payment to Farmers. This is the portion of the price that goes directly into the pockets of farmers.
30% - LIMA Ltd. LIMA Ltd is the Tanzanian company that operates community washing stations and a milling plant. LIMA also covers the cost for organic certification and the costs for exporting.
5% - Direct Fair Trade premium. This premium is over and above the fair trade minimum which is invested in the coffee farmer's community.

Payments to Farmers

A historical record of Level Ground Trading's purchases of green coffee in Tanzania:

Ethiopia

Of the price paid for green coffee at the port of Djibouti (Café Awasa), here's how the money is distributed:

69% - Cash payment to Farmers
27% - Coop Union & Fero Coop & Exporter. The Coop is responsible for operating costs of milling and shipping the coffee to port
4% - Direct Fair Trade Premium to farmers. An additional payment invested in the farmer's community.

A historical record of Level Ground Trading's purchases of green coffee in Ethiopia:

Direct Fair Trade Information