You are right on point. What's the ulterior motive of PE.
It's like B-corporation certification. Companies with assets (finances and people to do the administrative work) apply for B-corp and they accept almost anyone nowadays so it became completely meaningless. Why do they want B-corp in the first place? They want to create an image of being ethical and sustainable. greenwashing and social washing.
Companies entered specialty coffee and less dark roast and use PE to push small independent roasters and cafe's out of the market. They tell the investors (and maybe this was their initial aim) that they want to take on big established coffee roasters, but the reality is that the specialty sector where people are really willing to pay a higher price for quality isn't growing that much, so in reality they push out small business because they do dedicated advertising (yeah..let's put more cash in zuckerberg's pocket) and can operated without profit and even open new cafe's without profit...all whilst paying the farmers exactly what we all do, a premium (differential) for specialty grade.
Sorry to sound harsh, but consumers are enlarge ignorant. Also gen Z and the younger generation that should care about the planet. They fall en masse for the fake marketing of greenwashing and social washing.
In dutch I call this "Sjoemelkoffie" like what starbucks is doing with its Awitserland green coffee sourcing daugther bizz...making loads of profit there whilst not even physically moving coffee in Switserland. The intelectual property tric to roam of profits before they enter your home country where consumers pay taxes. For you and me it's perfectly clear that this is dishonest.
These dishonest companies are very active in the coffee subscription market in europe. How can you recongnize this sjoemelkoffie/dishonest coffee:
- UBO (ultimate beneficiary owner) of the company is not clear...it's for sure not coffee farmers
- A mirade of legal entities
- Prices are unrealistically low. A normal company cannot work like that
Those first two are relatively easy to check but even journalists will compile a list of ethical coffee businesses and include the sjoemelkoffie because they have such a compelling greenwashing social washing coffee washing story
Hey Ashley, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I've been thinking a lot about how these two stories are linked as well... Profitability is front and center, and while that is an important part of specialty coffee businesses it is not, and cannot, be the only thing or even the most important thing, I think.
True sustainability happens at the intersection of profit, planet, and people. None of those should suffer for the sake of another. It's kind of like what I tell my barista students -- a great barista can make quality beverages consistently and efficiently, and the goal is to balance all three of those at the same time.
I would love to see a PE firm that approaches a specialty coffee business from a perspective of true sustainability for future generations. Maybe I haven't done enough research, but I haven't really seen that beyond creating a more economically sustainable model. To me, that doesn't count unless it's also socially sustainable and environmentally sustainable.
I'm just riffin'. Hope this makes sense. Thanks for all you do! Love your work.
Hi Ashley,
You are right on point. What's the ulterior motive of PE.
It's like B-corporation certification. Companies with assets (finances and people to do the administrative work) apply for B-corp and they accept almost anyone nowadays so it became completely meaningless. Why do they want B-corp in the first place? They want to create an image of being ethical and sustainable. greenwashing and social washing.
Companies entered specialty coffee and less dark roast and use PE to push small independent roasters and cafe's out of the market. They tell the investors (and maybe this was their initial aim) that they want to take on big established coffee roasters, but the reality is that the specialty sector where people are really willing to pay a higher price for quality isn't growing that much, so in reality they push out small business because they do dedicated advertising (yeah..let's put more cash in zuckerberg's pocket) and can operated without profit and even open new cafe's without profit...all whilst paying the farmers exactly what we all do, a premium (differential) for specialty grade.
Sorry to sound harsh, but consumers are enlarge ignorant. Also gen Z and the younger generation that should care about the planet. They fall en masse for the fake marketing of greenwashing and social washing.
In dutch I call this "Sjoemelkoffie" like what starbucks is doing with its Awitserland green coffee sourcing daugther bizz...making loads of profit there whilst not even physically moving coffee in Switserland. The intelectual property tric to roam of profits before they enter your home country where consumers pay taxes. For you and me it's perfectly clear that this is dishonest.
These dishonest companies are very active in the coffee subscription market in europe. How can you recongnize this sjoemelkoffie/dishonest coffee:
- UBO (ultimate beneficiary owner) of the company is not clear...it's for sure not coffee farmers
- A mirade of legal entities
- Prices are unrealistically low. A normal company cannot work like that
Those first two are relatively easy to check but even journalists will compile a list of ethical coffee businesses and include the sjoemelkoffie because they have such a compelling greenwashing social washing coffee washing story
Hey Ashley, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I've been thinking a lot about how these two stories are linked as well... Profitability is front and center, and while that is an important part of specialty coffee businesses it is not, and cannot, be the only thing or even the most important thing, I think.
True sustainability happens at the intersection of profit, planet, and people. None of those should suffer for the sake of another. It's kind of like what I tell my barista students -- a great barista can make quality beverages consistently and efficiently, and the goal is to balance all three of those at the same time.
I would love to see a PE firm that approaches a specialty coffee business from a perspective of true sustainability for future generations. Maybe I haven't done enough research, but I haven't really seen that beyond creating a more economically sustainable model. To me, that doesn't count unless it's also socially sustainable and environmentally sustainable.
I'm just riffin'. Hope this makes sense. Thanks for all you do! Love your work.