3 ms·

I also don’t understand where this is going: > coffee growing countries only receive about 8% of the total coffee revenue If we look at the price of, for exam

I also don’t understand where this is going: > coffee growing countries only receive about 8% of the total coffee revenue If we look at the price of, for example, white flour from the supermarket, it should be immediately obvious that grain farmers are receiving some tiny fraction of the total net value of all baked-goods / pasta / pizza / etc sold annually. It’s not immediately obvious that this is bad or unfair.

michalu 7y ago
Yes it's misleading, I suspect purposefully. The cost of green unroasted coffee cannot be compared with "global coffee revenue" ... roasting makes coffee lose 30%, then you add packaging, shipping, labor to distribute ... finally the cost of coffee cup adds in service, rent and more ... you buy a kilo of green arabica for $4 after roasting and shipping you're on $8 ... so sell a cup in a cafe let's say you make 20-100x per kilo yet cafes are still the thinnest margin business and most go bankrupt. It's equivalent to saying the oil producing companies only get x% of global car sales. Simply, ridiculous statement.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- close04 7y ago
  > It's equivalent to saying the oil producing companies only get x% of global car sales. Cars are not really made of oil, gasoline is. And this was probably not the best of examples. In most oil companies extraction/exploration (raw material) and refining (processed product) actually split the profits pretty evenly, all things considered. Marketing (gas stations) gets pretty much the breadcrumbs and relies for profit more on selling Coke and sandwiches than actual gas. This is unlike most other cases where the raw materials are worth far less than the processed ones, and the bulk of the profit goes to the final manufacturer rather than the raw material exporter.
- dang 7y ago
  > I suspect purposefully Please don't do that here. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. Your comment would be just fine without that bit (and the final bit).
thoraway1010 7y ago
It's funny, if you watch a show about farmers in the US - when they talk about farm product prices you are like - huh, how is this product so CHEAP? Seriously - the great increase in wheat prices brings it to 8 cents per pound in the US. And my avocado whole wheat toast still costs $10-15 with taxes and tip.

michalu 7y ago

Yes it's misleading, I suspect purposefully. The cost of green unroasted coffee cannot be compared with "global coffee revenue" ... roasting makes coffee lose 30%, then you add packaging, shipping, labor to distribute ... finally the cost of coffee cup adds in service, rent and more ... you buy a kilo of green arabica for $4 after roasting and shipping you're on $8 ... so sell a cup in a cafe let's say you make 20-100x per kilo yet cafes are still the thinnest margin business and most go bankrupt. It's equivalent to saying the oil producing companies only get x% of global car sales. Simply, ridiculous statement.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
close04 7y ago
> It's equivalent to saying the oil producing companies only get x% of global car sales. Cars are not really made of oil, gasoline is. And this was probably not the best of examples. In most oil companies extraction/exploration (raw material) and refining (processed product) actually split the profits pretty evenly, all things considered. Marketing (gas stations) gets pretty much the breadcrumbs and relies for profit more on selling Coke and sandwiches than actual gas. This is unlike most other cases where the raw materials are worth far less than the processed ones, and the bulk of the profit goes to the final manufacturer rather than the raw material exporter.
dang 7y ago
> I suspect purposefully Please don't do that here. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. Your comment would be just fine without that bit (and the final bit).

thoraway1010 7y ago

It's funny, if you watch a show about farmers in the US - when they talk about farm product prices you are like - huh, how is this product so CHEAP? Seriously - the great increase in wheat prices brings it to 8 cents per pound in the US. And my avocado whole wheat toast still costs $10-15 with taxes and tip.