Tag: small specialty roasters

For years, the global coffee supply chain has been viewed through a simple lens: big corporations exploit farmers, while small specialty roasters champion fairness and sustainability. But recent research reveals a more complex truth — one that challenges long-held assumptions about who actually benefits along the chain from bean to cup. While coffee prices, tariffs, and retail margins fluctuate worldwide, the distribution of value within the coffee supply chain has barely changed in two decades. Farmers, particularly in producing countries, still …