CHANGE BEGINS AT HOME
Amsterdam. It’s where This Side Up originated, where the whole team met each other, where we cup our coffees - in short, it’s our hometown.
When the municipality of Amsterdam put out a tender for their coffee supply, we simply had to participate. Across 179 buildings throughout the city, it’s where where all local government officials drink their coffee, where we pick up our passports, read books at the library, register our babies and marriages…
Amsterdam put out an ambitious tender. The city council and even the mayor got involved. The bar was high: they wanted to pay the real price that coffee costs. No labels, but traceability. No window dressing, but real impact. They wanted local entrepreneurs from within the city - and last but not least: not cheap, but good. Good for people and planet.
It’s not often we’re challenged in our sustainability claims. It’s not often we have to show our real selves in a truer way than we ever have, to really showcase what we stand for and who we are. But this is what Amsterdam does to you. It's bold, brings out discussions, and wants you to show yourself in your true colours. And change always begins at home!
In the official tender documents we read:
The ingredients for coffee meet at least the minimum standards listed below. Compliance with this can be demonstrated, among other things, by providing certification for a quality mark, or by substantiating that the products and services meet the requirements.
Coverage of costs for socially and environmentally friendly production – Products are purchased from producer organizations at least at a fixed minimum price (guaranteed price covering costs for socially and environmentally friendly production). If the world market price exceeds the minimum price (guaranteed price), the world market price is paid to the producer organization;
Investing in development – Producer organizations receive an additional fixed and non-negotiable premium, enabling them to invest in further development and deciding for themselves how it is spent;
Pre-financing – If desired, the producer organizations can receive a percentage of the sales price of their product prior to shipment, allowing them to make necessary investments.
The Municipality of Amsterdam attaches great value to a sustainable and fair product. Therefore, award criterion 2 explicitly requests an ambitious plan of action. As a minimum requirement, we demand a number of standards.
As This Side Up, we work for systematic change. But in order to change, we have to first recognize where we are: and that a capitalistic system with strong colonial remnants. Cheap commodities are king, and keeping both consumer and farmer “in the dark” about prices, is normal habit. Power is distributed away from the producer, and the market segment of “ethical products” remains limited. We work in a simple, though effective way: We treat coffee farmers as equal entrepreneurs, and ask in open conversations about their needs. We use quality as the differentiating factor, acknowledging that a higher quality pays a higher price and leads to farmer independence. We do this all “in the open” and showcase what the quality is, and what the needs are of both ends of the value chain, farmers and coffee consumers alike. We try to make the best match of coffee farmer and coffee drinker: because that is true sustainability, year after year after year. Together we are the value chain. BENCHMARK
We are not the first with good intentions to come to coffee farmers, and most farmers have also been betrayed by initiatives disguised as “good”, but that were detrimental in effect. It’s important to recognize that there is an inherent skepticism from a coffee farmer to a coffee buyer. Trust is something that needs to be built, year after year. An important metric therefore is how many years we’ve been working with our partners. It shows that we are there as partners, shoulder to shoulder. We want to listen to their realities, and they to ours.
Producing high-quality coffee requires effort, and that effort justifies a higher price. It gives farmers the space to become more autonomous and entrepreneurial, rather than being stuck in a commodity market where both they and their coffee are easily replaceable. This Side Up works with farmers from different economic backgrounds around the world. Buying specialty coffee of different qualities from all of them changes their world in different ways. Those in acute poverty can earn better income and those who are passionate can land a stable home for their coffees. For producers at origin, specialty coffee acts as a catalyst for economic growth.
PASTE ANSWER TEXT 4 HERE