On an 80-hectare farm in Barra do Choça, in southwest Bahia, rural producer Idimar Barreto Paes Filho, 64, produces between 400 and 600 bags of Arabica coffee a year, following sustainable production rules, for which he receives a bonus. This extra payment for complying with several sustainability parameters – care with the land, water management, and decent work conditions are some of them – needs to go up, demand producers and representatives of the coffee growers' associations in Bahia, and Minas Gerais.
The bonus for sustainable production is currently between R$10, what Starbucks, one of the world's largest coffee shops, pays, and R$45 per every 60-kilogram bag of coffee, they say. The values follow the world average, but Brazilian producers argue that local costs are traditionally higher and have risen by up to 50% in two years.
"A bonus of R$ 10 does not pay off. I am a producer of specialty coffees, and this has a cost, it takes time and a lot of work to get to the level of quality that these companies demand", says the producer from Bahia.
Starbucks, for example, sells 250 grams of roasted coffee beans in its coffee shops for R$35, or R$140 per kg. According to producers, one kilo of coffee makes 133 cups of coffee, each using 7.5 grams of coffee.
In a statement, Starbucks did not comment on the bonuses given to producers.
Translated by Cassy Dias