The Netherlands is one of the pioneering countries for fair trade coffee. In 1973 the Alternative Trade Organization (ATO) SOS Wereldhandel (now called Fair Trade Organisatie) imported one of the first fair trade coffees from Guatemala and in 1988 the first Max Havelaar label was launched.
Organic coffees were first introduced to the Netherlands in 1985. The large specialty coffee
roaster Simon Levelt was one of the pioneers in this field. Organic coffees are now widely offered in supermarkets, organic food stores and in specialty coffee and tea stores.
Although organic coffee is growing while fair trade is in a stagnant or even declining phase, fair trade coffee still has much larger volume.
The Dutch fair trade market, most of which is sold under the Max Havelaar brand, in 2001 measured 3,726 metric tons of green coffee.
The Max Havelaar market reached its peak in 1998, both in terms of volume and market share.
Although sales volume has since declined by 8 percent in the face of an overall market decline, its market share remained almost the same. In 2001 the downward trend in volume stopped and it may increase with recent promising supermarket placements.
Even a modest increase will improve its market share since the overall coffee market is not expected to grow. In 2003 the Max Havelaar label, along with major participating roasters, plans to launch a new and uniform style of
Source: European Coffee Federation, 2002.
Figure 14.2 Total Dutch per capita consumption (Kg green)
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promotion and packaging so that these will be more coherent and recognizable irrespective of the supplier. With this the label hopes to reap the fruits of its strong image that is in some cases comparable to leading brands.
The Dutch organic coffee market is estimated at 828 tons of green coffee in 2001, which corresponds to 0.6 percent of the total coffee market (figure 14.3). About half of this is also fair trade certified, i.e. double certified. These estimates are based on an aggregate of reported sales volumes and trader’s estimates.
Over 90 percent of all sustainable coffee is mainstream quality blended coffee, and thus
competes directly in this largest market segment.
The remainder is gourmet coffee and to a very small extent soluble. The share of gourmet coffees in double certified coffees, however, is as high as 42 percent, and in all organic coffees it is 28 percent. In absolute volumes, on the other hand, fair trade gourmet coffees sell in higher volumes (270 tons) than organic coffees (214 tons).
Whereas organic traders generally reported growth or strong growth over 2001, most suppliers of fair trade coffees reported a flat market performance. Double certified coffees performed well for half of the respondents, but the other half reported flat sales (figure 14.4).
Figure 14.3 Sustainable coffees by type in 2001 (Metric tons green)
Figure 14.4 Dutch sustainable coffee growth in 2001
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Certification
Organic coffee is 100 percent certified according to EU regulations and for fair trade there are currently no significant alternative labeling schemes to FLO labeled coffee sold with the Max Havelaar label.
A high-profile alternative positioned as a sustainable coffee is an initiative called Utz Kapeh, a foundation originally developed by the Ahold Group. Ahold is one of the world’s top food retailers and the Ahold Coffee Company is one of the largest Dutch roasters. Utz Kapeh defines itself as an integrated sustainable coffee purchasing program, incorporating basic social and environmental elements based on the EUREP-GAP guidelines.
It differs with most organic or fair trade or eco-friendly programs in that its standards are lower and that a much smaller premium is paid to growers for these coffees. While the lack of a substantial premium to producers has raised criticism and some consider this to undermine the efforts of the other certified coffees, the impact both on the market and in the field may
be substantial, since it is estimated that it certified approximately 30,000 tons in 2002.
About half of all Dutch organic coffees also have fair trade registration. SKAL is the most important organic certification agency in the Netherlands. The EKO label owned by SKAL is for many consumers the hallmark for organic products. Most roasters choose to use this label, and therefore most coffees will have to be certified or recertified by SKAL. In addition to SKAL, two other labels were mentioned: the French Agriculture Biologique (AB) label and the German Naturland label.
Most respondents (75 percent) do not consider certifications to be confusing for them, although several mentioned that it can often be a bureaucratic nightmare (figure 14.5). More than half (58 percent) do consider that certifications and labels are confusing to consumers. The respondents who find the certifications confusing consider that there is a large number of terms and labels like organic, ecological, biological, fair trade, sustainable, responsible, which partly overlap and may cause confusion. So even if people know the labels, they may not know exactly what they stand for.
Figure 14.5 Are certifications considered to be confusing?
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Premiums
The median values of the low and high quotes for the organic premiums were in between US$0.15 and $0.35 per lb. The overall median value was 24 cents per lb. Several buyers indicate that gourmet organic coffees may receive organic premiums of as much as 70 cents per lb, or may be traded at fixed prices, regardless of the world market situation.
As to the fair trade premiums, all participating buyers follow at least the official FLO regulations on prices. With current market prices, this translates in a fair trade premium of around US$0.70 per lb for mild coffees.50
The majority of respondents finds the organic premium “reasonable”, but only 24 percent considers that the fair trade premium or minimum price is reasonable (figure 14.6). 73 percent find this premium unreasonable. The premium (minimum price) for the double certified product,
which like the fair trade premium is defined by FLO, is considered reasonable by only 36 percent of respondents, and unreasonable by a majority of 64 percent.
Over the next few years a small majority of respondents (55 percent) expects that the organic premium will continue while a small majority of respondents (58 percent) predict that fair trade premiums may not continue or that alternatives will arise if they continue to be so much higher than the current market price (figure 14.7).
Retail prices
The marked green bean differentials especially for fair trade coffees have not led to proportional differences in retail prices. At the end of 2002 fair trade–only certified coffees sold at a median retail price of EUR 8.42 per kg in October 2002, against conventional coffees selling at €6.80 per kg, a difference of 24 percent.51 The median retail
50 The FLO guaranteed minimum price is set at 126 US$ cents per lb for other milds and 106 cents for robustas (FOB origin). For fair trade coffee which is also certified organic an additional premium of 15 cents should be paid, which sets the minimum price respectively at 141 or 121 US$ cents per lb depending on the coffee type.
51 The Dutch Coffee Roasters Association VNKT quotes an average roast and ground coffee price of euro 5,88 per kg over 2001. The difference with our figure stems from the fact that the first is a weighted average. Their average coffee price is very close to the price of the Douwe Egberts Roodmerk (red blend), the leading retail coffee, which is currently sold at euro 5.76 per kg.
Figure 14.6 Are current premiums considered to be reasonable?
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price of all sustainable coffees is a little bit higher (€8.76), due to the double certified coffees selling at €9.67 (figure 14.8).
Most of the sustainable coffees in our sample and also on the market belong to the mainstream roast and ground segment.52 In the gourmet quality segment the median retail price of sustainable
coffees is substantially lower than that of conventional coffees: €12.24 against.€14.08 per kg. The difference is caused especially by fair trade-only gourmet coffees, which are sold relatively cheap.
But even the double certified coffees are offered at prices which are similar to conventional prices.
52 The table is based on a sample of 50 sustainable coffees and 38 conventional coffees offered in retail outlets in October 2002.
Figure 14.7 Will premiums continue at their current levels in the medium term?
Figure 14.8 Median retail prices of Dutch coffees by type (€/kg)
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53 Both coffees are of roodmerk (“red blend”) quality, which is the most popular blend in the Netherlands, containing both robusta and arabica coffees. Both coffees are also predominantly sold in the mainstream (supermarket) chan-nel.
Although the premiums for sustainable mainstream coffees are substantial, they are offered at substantially lower prices than the gourmet conventional coffees. This indicates that these coffees are indeed positioned as expensive (“quality”) mainstream coffees, rather than as gourmet coffees.
The instant coffees in our sample were offered at a median price of euro per kg 38.50, or well above the average instant price of 23.60 (VNKT 2002). Very little sustainable instant coffee is sold in the Netherlands, and our sample only consisted of 2 coffees.
Although the higher green bean prices do not lead to proportional increases in retail prices, the retail price differential stands at an almost historic high (figure 14.9). The graph shows the development of retail prices of two benchmark coffees in the Max Havelaar (fair trade) and the conventional segment, which have been followed since the launch of the Max Havelaar label in 1988.53 Since
its all-time low of 0.73 euro per kg in September 1994 the differential has tended to increase. At the current level of €1.63 (+33 percent) it has reached the highest level since 1991 when it was
€1.89 (+41 percent).
Significant supplying countries for sustainable coffees
Mexico is the most popular supplier of sustainable coffees, followed very closely by Peru and then Bolivia. Each of these countries is quoted to supply both fair trade and organic coffees. Other important suppliers include Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Nicaragua for their fair trade coffee, and Colombia, Tanzania, and Uganda which supplied fair trade and very little organic.
Although the trade is generally content with the increased supply base of sustainable coffees,
Figure 14.9 Retail prices and differential of Max Havelaar and conventional coffees
Source: The Netherlands Max Havelaar Foundation
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there is clearly an unfulfilled demand for
“brazils” (unwashed arabicas). Organic and fair trade versions of this coffee type are hardly available.54
Brazils will typically be used in blended coffees of mainstream quality, which is the largest segment of the sustainable coffee business, as it is of the conventional. Similar to the need for brazils, there is a need for robustas. Supply of robustas is especially limited if the need for specific quality characteristics is considered.
Traders require very specific robustas, depending on the purpose and blend they will use it for.
Uganda and India were mentioned as potential supplying countries.
Buyers complained about uneven quality from some of the milds origins, particularly Colombia, Honduras, and Nicaragua and efforts are already underway in all three countries to improve quality. Variable quality was also mentioned as a problem for more than one African origin.