Radboud hospital has taken a sustainable route for their coffee consumption through this tender. While they were seeking flavors and stories that were complementary, they were constricted to the financial indexations of the Dutch Healthcare Authorities. This Side Up in association with Selecta Netherlands and BYBO coffee, specially curated a blend to suit the interests and expectations of Radboud UMC without compromising on the quality.
The Radboud coffee blend has been curated to have coffees from specific countries for flavor balance. All the coffees scored above 80 (of a maximum of 100) points, making them specialty coffee, which means they have been processed to achieve the highest quality. The coffees from South America provide chocolatiness, fruitiness and are balanced with the bitters of the Fine Robusta from Indonesia and enhanced by the body and acidic flavors offered by the East African (in this case the Rwandan) washed coffees. This blend was curated to be flexible in a way that these components will always be used to build up to the final product and will be checked for consistency by This Side Up and BYBO coffee. This also allows Radboud’s support to different farmer groups who greatly benefit from this opportunity both financially and socially. Radboud’s contract allows the whole value chain to work in close cooperation to create a stronger and sustainable future.
The total kilograms bought in these origins represent the total volume purchased from this origin from the beginning of this contract until September 31st 2024.
“At This Side Up, we take a bottom up approach when it comes to producer prices. What does it take to produce a kilogram of coffee, what does that cost, and what’s a price you (as a producer) are happy with? Unlike popular belief, the prices that come forward are in fact very reasonable.”
“As a high volume specialty coffee roaster, I see many coffees on a daily basis. I have been working with Brazilian coffees for over a decade. I noticed for the coffees from Capricornio, if your volume increases, the product still stays at the same level. It’s very consistent. They deliver what they promise.”
We took the prices of these kilograms to measure the financial impact on the ground.
We paid more for coffee than we were asked to by Radboud, in direct conversation with the farming communities. In some cases, the set price levels of most tenders but also the prices put forward by farmers communities, are anticipated to not be enough to cover for the cost of production, and therefore not the personal cost of living.
Therefore, we are in the path towards working with each of the farmer groups to start getting them document their cost of production per harvest season so we can have conversation to follow up on whether it is sufficient and how can it be improved for the upcoming seasons based on the reality of these said grassroots.
More money was paid with no strings attached. Money that comes in is managed locally, to fit their demands the best, destined to support the cooperative, or group, in what is needed or urgent. This can be through the different projects they develop (ecological or social) or in becoming financially stronger and offering more opportunities to farmers in the region.
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$180.161,33 was invested in origins with the purchase of green coffee for this contract between November 1st 2023 and November 30th 2024.
FairTrade price level was $3.53 for arabica from 2011 to 2023, This Side Up paid an average of $4.36 on the FOB price, which stands for “Free on Board”. This is the international price standard to compare coffee prices.
FairTrade price level was $ 2.76 for robusta from 2011 to 2023, where we paid an average of $5.31 on the FOB price.
The minimum price set by FairTrade for coffee is generally considered as a decent remuneration for the produce by the industry. It is fairly top down and not based on the farmer’s (local) cost of production. It is generalized as a world standard.
TSU takes a much more personalized approach. Since This Side Up has direct farmer contact, the prices are updated annually in cooperation with farmers to match the reality of the said harvest year. Through recurring contracts at this price range, Radboud contributes positively to different farmer groups throughout this time period.
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When comparing against Fairtrade minimum prices, TSU paid $64.003,75 more than FT in this time period (November 1st 2023-November 1st 2024)
Radboud paid almost 41 % more than the average Coffee Commodity price (C-price) in 2024 by buying their coffee through This Side Up. The commodity price is used for any general coffee, that has no FairTrade or other label, and is just sold as “coffee” on the world market. It is the coffee that is used in most tenders, offices, hospitals and supermarkets.
The average C-price for Arabica and Robusta vary significantly. The C-price was very high last year, a very rare situation. The cause was a high international demand for coffee, which was good news for most farmers, though the gap to a “good price” that covers basic costs of production or living, were still not met. It’s amazing to realize what this general international price is in “bad years” if the good years don’t even do the job.
Since This Side Up works with producers and fixes the price at the beginning of every year taking into account the different variables, it is much more thorough than the London or the New York exchange.
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TSU paid $74.264, 14 more than C prices in this period. (November 1st 2023-November 1st 2024)
Overview of the origins that were used to create the Radboud
blend between November 2022-2024
Partner: Intango
400 smallholder farmers
245 bags consumed by Radboud *
30% of blend together with Rushashi
Partner: Abakundakawa Rushashi
2109 farmers
245 bags consumed by Radboud*
30% of the blend together with Intango
*the Rwandan coffees were taken together, so 245 bags in total
*the South American component were taken together, so total of 272 bags
An in-depth look at the origins that were used to create the Radboud
blend between November 2022-2024
After the genocide ended, leaving behind widows, displaced and separated families, single mothers, children at risk, poor sanitary and health measurements, hunger, vulnerability, and trauma - Rwandas government began implementing a restoration project to bring unity to the population. Abakundakawa Rushashi was born from these efforts. However, it was not until 2012, when its former manager and lifelong coffee farmer Antoine Kagenza took over the management of the cooperative, that specialty and quality coffee was taught and spread over the 17 districts that form it.
Members of Ishema, gathered in a training session.
Over the past years, Abakundakawa has significantly grown, attracting more farmers to produce specialty coffee and carefully developing a savings and credit system that offers economic security to its members. In 1999, the cooperative started with 103 members. Today it is formed by 2109 farmers, of which 919 are women, and 477 are youth. In 17 villages in Gakenke district, they supported the creation and development of two women in coffee groups: Duhingekawa and Abanyameraka, as well as the Ishema Youth Coffee Group, also conformed mostly of women (from the 477 farmers 289 are women), developed thanks to an initiative that came from Rutabo farmers when they noticed the alarming reality on the ground.
In Rwanda, 80% of the farmers are elderly, unemployment is high (24%), and the risk of joining gangs is also quite elevated. "The options young people have are limited," shares Antoine. "A young man can help their parents with their lands, migrate to the city, or join the army. A young woman can marry, migrate to the city (and usually work in sex services), or become a sewer or a hairdresser."
“The production increased because many farmers were motivated. The youth is encouraged and so they support their parents or family members. ”
Access to a bigger and broader market, such as Radboud, helped Abakundakawa to develop this much-needed coffee group that also serves as a solution to one of the biggest challenges in coffee: the generational gap. By actively engaging the youth in coffee, production increases for everyone. The most labor-intensive chores rely on the youth. The elder also chose to leave the land to them, increasing the productivity of each tree. The Ishema Youth Coffee Group started in 2016 with 63 members. Today, 477 young farmers are part of this group. They learn credit, savings, administration, and, mostly, coffee.
New to working hard on the social impact, This Side Up and Abakundakawa Rushashi have been working hard on implementing ecological friendly farming practices. Read more about our regenerative project at Rushashi here.
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Abakundakawa Rushashi won the excellence award of 2024 for the best cooperative in the Nothern Province of Rwanda on International cooperative day. The biggest impact that Rushashi makes is buying cherries from the community (both members and non members) at a competitive price and offers a premium for the high quality. Through stable contracts and direct trade with This Side up, they have been able to earn a fair remuneration for their efforts. Rushashi is looking to set up a social room for that can aid in increasing access to health and nutrition and a sense of belonging for young mothers who are looking to still be financially stable during pregnancies.
ORIGIN TRIP 2025
Intango (pronounced as Inango) started working with This Side Up from 2017. It is a washing station on the edge of lake Kivu in Rwanda. Once part of a cooperative that won the 2014 Rwanda Cup of Excellence, it became run down as the cooperative dissolved. Run by Gilbert Gatali and his high school best friend Gervais, Intango strives to focus on putting the needs of the farmers at the center of all kinds of innovation. They are focused on building technologically savvy applications that will let farmers receive their payments including bonuses without any hassle. All the changes they are creating are in line with helping the farmers improve their quality and move towards a better livelihood.
Farmers showing Lennart and Maarten the Cherry payment summary signed by them during harvest
Recently the farmers from the cooperative who have never been to the capital Kigali wanted to go and see who bought their coffees and visit them. The farmers were always welcoming visitors and for the first time they wanted to be visitors and learn who consumes their coffee in the big city. Intango arranged for this visit. Intango works many vulnerable groups like those with disabilities and help them find employment opportunities within the coffee production so they can also earn their income.
Intango works closely with farmers in training them about the importance of sending their children to school and the value that primary education adds to a child’s life. Intango is focused on working towards processing techniques and also set up a dedicated cupping facilities to experiment on developing various flavor profiles in close cooperation with the farmers. A recurring contract like Radboud can help the farmers immensly in not only earning a steady income but also motivate them to invest in their futures. This kind of a direct relationship fosters allows them to move towards an economic stability if offered over prolonged time periods. The Radboud blend has a total of 30% Rwandan coffees.
“Impact can sometimes just be a feeling. The most important thing is to keep in mind those who will be impacted when we want to create a change. ”
Our partner Gilbert Gatali picking out the defects from cherries collected last season
ORIGIN TRIP 2025
ASNIKOM members milling the freshly harvested coffee in Rende Nao.
Flores is one of the poorest regions in Indonesia. Farmers need recurring contracts to stay motivated for producing coffee. This Side Up’s annual cooperation helps in this regard significantly. High prices paid by This Side Up is crucial for the farmers of the ASNIKOM cooperative to start investing long term in rejuvenating their coffee trees. Adri from Ontosoroh Coffee, the exporter and processor of the coffees, explained that the collaboration with Radboud creates a consistent demand that can be a great incentive for the farmers in Flores to start developing long term plans for a stable livelihood. It is the baseline to start making active quality improvements as well as increasing the yield per hectare. Recently, ASNIKOM in cooperation with This Side Up coffees and Rikolto have started building drying domes to curb quality issues in the future, partly financed by the sales of the coffees to Radboud. Climate change plays a very vital role in affecting the lives and livelihoods of coffee farmers in Flores as well as Indonesia. Coffee in Flores contributes to 65-70% of the main income. Through recurring contracts, farmers can actively leverage their position in making sound investments to improve production capacities and essentially their quality of life. It encourages them to continue producing coffee for the foreseeable future. Regenerative agriculture will help them get good yields in future but for that they would have to lose 10-15% of their trees now which is an adverse effect on the income. But with such a long term contract, balancing between improving and producing can be sharpened constructively. “Demand drives income which in turn is an incentive to keep up with the demands” says Adri.
“We’ve been working with Flores since 2015 and they are now in the position to have that scalable capacity become independent, and stand in their own feet. ”
This an educated guess of the average income farmers earn yearly through coffee. 65% of the total income is from coffee for farmers in Flores. Even though they haven’t been just able to consistently earn the minimum wage by just selling coffee, through the current cherry prices and value added processing, they are growing closer to the minimum wage. This data is also compared against income calculated with cherry prices set by London Exchange, where robusta normally is traded.
In order to help the farmers of ASNIKOM to earn more money, in 2021 and 2022 This Side Up started a project of supporting coffee farmers by intercropping coffee with crops like avocado, black pepper and durian. This benefits are diverse; the organic matter in the soils increases, there is more biodiversity by the creation of a more forest-like system, and farmers have an extra revenue stream of these products. The seedlings of these new crops were partially paid out of the Rijkswaterstaat contribution to the sales of the coffees. More about the project can be read here.
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This Side Up in association with Rikolto (a Belgian NGO) as well Ontosoroh (our exporting partners) invested in developing 8 drying domes for the villages that supply their coffee to the ASNIKOM cooperative. Since drying was the biggest problem last year due to the rogue rainfalls directly impacting the quality of coffee, this investment allowed them to continue producing specialty robusta. The issues with the current dome is that there were not enough supporting beams to hold the plastic, and the airflow need to be improved (it's at times very humid inside). This year they also went to the neighbouring village in Bajawa to further understand how they create sturdier drying domes. For this harvest, they have been revamping and building a more stable structure making this investment resilient.
Juan Pablo alongside the other Argote farmers who are all supplying to This Side Up
Argote specialty coffee run by Juan Pablo currently has 22 farmers associated to them. Each of them own between 1-3 hectares of land on an average. Farmers sell parchment to Juan Pablo who later then mills, sorts and exports it on their behalf. All the farmers get paid the same fixed price/kg for a specific processing method. Farmers who have a direct relationships with roasters have the agency to exercise their bargaining power mutually.
Juan Pablo runs an agroforestry hub which teaches farmers to produce and use bio-fertilizers that is appropriate for their respective farms. Juan dares farmers to produce their coffees organically by doing so himself. He facilitates agroforestry workshops by bringing experts to Genova and with them the know-hows to his community. Farmers sell their coffee without much hesitation to Juan Pablo because they get a high price than local market and through This Side Up have found a stable, returning market each year.
A few farmers like Marcel are now experimenting with growing native, resilient varieties which could be a good alternative in combatting climate change. Other farmers are interested to experiment with processing, fermentation methods which could add more value to their coffee and help them get a higher income. Collaboratively with Juan Pablo, the farmers are investing in education themselves regarding the market, it’s demands and expectations. In the coming year, Juan Pablo hopes to facilitate another workshop on fermentation with an expert, invite the entire community to benefit from it. Through these kind of stable contracts, farmers have the guarantee of sales and are able to invest long term in their farms.
“ Impact is to be able to change the minds of exporters, farmers and everyone else in the value chain by showing them the economic stability that can be achieved through producing coffee. The quest to keep improving and producing better quality coffee is a mindset that needs to be internalised and practiced.””
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Juan invited Jairo Restrepo Rivera, Colombian regenerative guru to do an agroforestry workshop for 40 farmers in the community earlier this year on regenerative farming and practical ways to get started. Currently a few of them are implementing these teachings directly on their land. This workshop was partially funded from the regenerative premium from This Side Up.
Capricornio Coffees is an exporter that works closely with farmers in Brazil by offering them agronomical support to help them develop the best quality every season. This creates the upward cycle of better quality which influences the market to pay better prices and foster quality investments back on the farm. Through their “Four Seasons” program, they offer technical assistance which also includes behavioral changes of the farmers. It is a first step to help farmers move from producing commodity to specialty coffee. This program supports the farmers during harvesting and post harvesting activities, but as the name says: it supports in all the four seasons.
Moving from commodity to better paying and “pride enticing” specialty coffee, farmers gain headspace to care about the well being of the earth and community whilst producing their coffees. They move out of a “survival state”. Capricornio also works in a number of social projects locally to empower certain groups that are often vulnerable to climate change. Women in Coffee (WIC) is one such project that is also supported by This Side Up. Women from 69 small farms in Brazil are empowered by Capricornio through knowledge, know-hows and market connections to produce high quality coffees which could be recurringly commercialized. This Side Up has been working with WIC to also help them find direct roaster relationships so they can be provided with recurring contracts. Zwart’s Coffee, the roaster of the Radboud blend, is one of such partners.
Capricornio’s key focus area also lies in regenerative agriculture. They have been developing regenerative solutions towards combatting against pests like borer which is a common issue regarding plant health. The Brazilian coffees in the Radboud blend also consist of coffees from the women cooperative thus offering them a chance to be part of a recurring contract when the said volume is available. The Radboud blend typically consists of about 30% Brazilian arabicas.
“ We realized we can’t force producers into doing anything, so we inspire them, we show them. Together we can make a new reality. ”
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Together with This Side Up, Capricornio is investing in planting biodiverse systems, forests, restoring riverbeds and thus reducing the need for artificial pesticides and inputs. With the help of the regenerative premium from This Side Up, researching and implementing cover crop mixes in a novel system that Capricornio calls “Integrated Pest Management”.