FNC ADVOCATES FOR HIGHER COFFEE PRICES – 18.03.2016
Written on March 18, 2016 by KPA News AdminRoberto Vélez, CEO of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), has called for higher coffee prices and stabilization of incomes for coffee growers. “How can we expect to have a future generation of coffee growers if the current one can hardly make a living,” he asked, speaking at the 4th World Coffee Conference in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia in early March. “It’s impossible,” he said. “And without coffee growers and coffee, there will be no global industry. The sustainability table has three legs. All of them have to be of equal length if we want the table to be stable.”
Mr Vélez noted that Colombia is now implementing mechanisms that aim to raise productivity and profitability. This, in turn, will contribute to stabilizing the income of coffee growers. “As producers, we have nothing against a profitable global industry characterized by positive margins and utilities. However, the entire chain has to be profitable, starting with the coffee growers,” he said. “We want coffee to be an attractive business for everyone.”
The FNC said Mr Vélez’s proposal as “well received.” During the conference, he met with five African coffee grower organizations to analyse mechanisms that could potentially lead to economic sustainability for coffee growers. “Key buyers, such as the Japanese roaster company Key Coffee, have recognized that low international coffee prices are deleterious for the industry as a whole because they impact quality and undermine long-term sustainability,” said the FNC.
