The CoffeeCompact initiative and its platform integrate NGOs, Coffee Federations, and local entities to help improve farmers' participation and compliance with environmental, social, and market demands. It also allows SME marketers in the North's coffee sector to connect directly with suppliers, support sustainability efforts on-site, and comply with reporting demands. This bilateral engagement aims to create a direct and symbiotic relationship.
Currently, the pilot project is looking for European coffee sector partners to engage with coffee producers in Caldas, Colombia. If the pilot is successful, it will be ready to scale to other regions and countries.
Learning from the ecosystem experts – connecting with coffee farmers
Together with our partner VivoCuenca, a water fund that organizes, manages, and deploys resources to protect the ecosystem services provided at the Caldas department in Colombia. VivoCuenca implements green infrastructure projects that protect and enhance ecosystem services regarding water quality and climate change mitigation, engages communities to strengthen their commitment to ecosystem service sustainability, and ensures financial sustainability.
Solving multiple trading problems on both sides of the Atlantic
Coffee producers in Colombia are facing several challenges that are negatively impacting their profitability. These challenges include marketing difficulties and reliance on intermediaries. Even when they commit to producing high-quality and ecologically sustainable coffee, their efforts do not always translate into better income. Additionally, they experience limited direct access to global markets, which compounds their challenges. Despite producing top-notch coffee, they have to comply with the EU Supply Chain Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which adds complexity and requires compliance and documentation from producers and vendors.
As a result, producers face barriers to marketing independently, which hampers their ability to invest in green and sustainable practices that can support their families. To address these challenges and support ecological strategies in agriculture to combat climate change, the CoffeeCompact initiative will support coffee growers. This will ensure the future of coffee production and trade while simultaneously facilitating a reciprocal exchange. In this exchange, SME marketers in the coffee sector of the North will share their trade practices and market criteria to help Colombian coffee producers.
Jointly protecting the ecosystem and the future of coffee production
VivoCuenca and Lucid will work directly with over 120 coffee producers, with a focus on engaging women and young people. The project aims to promote gender equality and social inclusion to support innovative rural development. The initiative also includes local environmental efforts to encourage biodiversity in productive landscapes. Activities such as planting native trees and implementing good agricultural practices will be used to improve knowledge and promote positive behavioral changes.
The CoffeeCompact platform – fostering transition, enabling impact
By combining green innovation and digitalization with a focus on gender equity, social inclusion, and environmental protection, the platform aims to promote integral, innovative, and sustainable rural development.
The SaaS market place will feature a monitoring system that will allow members to document, track, and show their progress on various fronts, including ecological factors like fertilization, reforestation, water management, and biodiversity, as well as social factors like the inclusion of women and young adults and the well-being of the communities. Additionally, the platform will enable members to keep track of key economic data such as farming area, number of employees, and income.
How will we do that?
Our extensive experience in developing multi-stakeholder platforms enables us to follow our proven methodologies. The inception phase with our core partners in Latin America and Europe is based on trust and is critical for all co-creation activities. Currently, we are working with Caldas coffee producers, other local actors in the sector, and small- and middle-sized sustainable coffee processors and traders to introduce and discuss the initiative, and to define the requirements and criteria for the design of the digital platform.
As an organizational framework, CoffeeCompact will be collaborative and designed to ensure financing and participation. It will provide a resilient membership model, and allow for national and global funding by third parties.
Once core actors are unified, we will follow a human-centered design approach to create the digital platform with partners and communities in Colombia and Europe. The adoption of software solutions is critical to the success of the project. Therefore, onboarding will occur during events in Colombia and Europe, ensuring broad understanding and participation.
If you are a coffee sector SME in Europe and want to participate or invest in CoffeeCompact, please contact us. We are ready to take the next step with you.