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The Cooperative Cafe Offers Supply Chain Solutions
The Pachamama cafe inside our Co-op might look like what’s common at conventional grocery stores, but we’ve been saying for years that there’s nothing conventional about us! This new revolutionary Cooperative Cafe is a partnership between two co-ops, Pachamama being a farmer-owned co-op. This is the first time there has been an all-in-one, fully cooperative supply chain! In the Cooperative Cafe, every cent that you pay for your coffee gets deposited into the farmers’ bank account. They are the owners, and they decide how it gets distributed.
“This is the first time there has been an all-in-one, fully cooperative supply chain! In the Cooperative Cafe, every cent that you pay for your coffee gets deposited into the farmers’ bank account.”
The money you pay for your latte at a Starbucks goes first to the shareholders and then everyone else. The coffee farmers get a small chunk of change, at most 10%, after everyone else has been paid. Pachamama has flipped the supply chain upside down! We’re proud of our partnership with Pachamama because of this unique difference.
The idea of our two co-ops working together in this way was sparked when our general manager, Sean Eakins interviewed CEO of Pachamama, Thaleon Tremain for one of our first podcast episodes at the end of 2020. This was at a time when the world was feeling the effects of supply chain issues and both of our co-ops had realized how important building direct relationships with growers and producers had benefited everyone involved, especially during those times of insecurity.
For years we’ve been educating people to look for and choose Fair Trade products. The certification does a great job to protect farmers and allow them to receive a set price for their coffee, which means a lot in comparison to commodity coffee. We’re at a point in time now where many farmers feel that Fair Trade isn’t enough. Pachamama doesn’t certify their coffee as Fair Trade, but all of the members are certified and they are paid above Fair Trade prices.
Many of the Pachamama farmers were founders of the Fair Trade movement and they’ve kept moving forward to empower farmers. Pachamama’s whole structure is designed to benefit their farmers. Five coffee producing countries–Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru and Ethiopia each have one seat on the cooperative board of directors. All five votes on the board are held by those five members. To this day, 100% of the equity in Pachamama Coffee Cooperative is owned by its farmer members.
Thaleon has realized that the way to make the biggest impact is to connect the two most important people in the supply chain: the farmers and the consumers. That’s what has happened with the cafes in Davis, Placerville and Sacramento. Pachamama cafes offer a place for farmers and consumers to work together, independent of the global commodity market. The farmers have the final say in every decision, and these decisions have the best interests of all the people involved in mind. Consumers get consistently high quality coffee, farmers get paid fairly for their work, the land is stewarded by people who intend to care for it for generations, and our local economy benefits by being employed by this mutually beneficial system
“To this day, 100% of the equity in Pachamama Coffee Cooperative is owned by its farmer members.”
We’re so excited to be a part of this seemingly common, but really revolutionary opening of the Cooperative Cafe. It couldn’t be a more appropriate expression of the sixth co-op principle, “Cooperation among Co-ops”, and it’s right on the heels of Co-op Month! The grand opening of Pachamama in our store will be November 4th. Join us in welcoming them and know that your purchase is more than just a delicious cup of coffee, it is an integral part of supply chain solutions!
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