For years, coffee’s giants have been cast as villains. Their dominance, critics argue, squeezes farmers, depresses quality, and cheapens a product whose cultural cachet has soared in the past two decades. Producer countries’ share of commercial retail coffee prices has barely budged in the last 20 years, even with prices declining. Meanwhile at the upper end of the specialty market, prices rose by more than 75% – to whose benefit? Big roasters often run on thin margins balanced by scal...
