Food Supply Chain Management: Economic, Social and Environmental Perspectives by Madeleine Pullman & Zhaohui Wu

Author:Madeleine Pullman & Zhaohui Wu [Pullman, Madeleine]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2012-05-22T04:00:00+00:00

Source: Portland Roasting Company.

PRC and Farm Friendly Direct

Stell and his team firmly believed in the FFD program they started in 2001 at the La Hilda Estate in Costa Rica. The program had evolved to include direct trade arrangements with farmers in Tanzania, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Sumatra (Indonesia), India, Papua New Guinea, Guatemala and Ethiopia. Stell strongly believed that because of FFD, consumers received higher quality coffee and farmers improved their communities and the natural environment. The program embodied his commitment to community and sustainability.

As the quality of coffee improved under direct trade, certain farmers were approached by other buyers, often offering higher prices. Stell and PRC never tied growers into exclusive sourcing contracts, believing that a variety of buyers benefited the growers in the long term. Farmers had the choice of selling to the highest bidder, but tended to stay loyal to PRC, trusting that the company was making a long-term commitment and would pay stable prices over the long term.

Stell would typically sample different coffees from a broker until he found one that had the quality he desired. He would patiently work to find the original source of that coffee and then seek a direct trade relationship. Each FFD project was designed and implemented through a collaborative process between PRC employees, farmers and their communities, addressing some of the growers’ most pressing needs. Projects were evaluated by how closely they aligned with the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, the potential for improving farmers’ lives, overall costs and visibility. Once a project was undertaken, PRC remained engaged to ensure that farmers and communities had access to the assistance and materials they needed to complete each project.

Most FFD projects were short-term in nature and typically completed within one to two years. At that point, a new project was developed and implemented. FFD projects included building a school, paying teachers’ wages, constructing a water treatment facility, installing water pumps, implementing a soil and leaf analysis program, supporting a local foundation to fund community needs and planting trees.

There were challenges to the FFD model. It took time to trace high-quality beans back to their farmers, and to build direct trade relationships. Farmers were often skeptical of foreign companies, and tended to be more comfortable transacting their business through local channels and cooperatives. Stell’s teams were also able to travel to each farm at most once a year to meet with farmers and monitor projects. Also, certain projects required expertise outside of PRC’s core business. In some cases, PRC chose to collaborate with NGOs to assist with project implementation, but this option was not always available or feasible.

Stakeholders began asking Stell for specifics on how much PRC invested in FFD projects. There were no internally mandated policies or formulas for determining how much money would be allocated to fund projects. Likewise, PRC had no formal guidelines for selecting or structuring projects, nor any metrics for measuring the success or effectiveness of a project. Kathleen Finn, a communications and marketing representative at PRC, believed

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