The Impact of Direct Trade on Coffee Farmers’ Revenue
Serrano Zamora, Jorge (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202504227146
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202504227146
Tiivistelmä
This study conducts a financial analysis for the commissioned company, a Honduran coffee producer, as they analyze the opportunity to enter the Finnish coffee market. Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the world and Finland leads the market in per capita consumption. Green coffee, which is the coffee beans before toasting, is the focus of this study. Honduran coffee is known for exquisite flavour and top quality, but it has a high-level competition against Colombia and Brazil in the South American region. To have a better grasp of the Finnish coffee market, this study investigates the exportation requirements, cost structure, green coffee price and expected profit. By researching these topics, the study aims to aid the commissioned company in deciding if aiming for the Finnish market is the best step into the future of the company.
The study approaches a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, the qualitative data is collected from interviews to coffee experts and the quantitative data is collected from reliable sources that show green coffee price history and exportation costs and requirements. The interviews consisted of five Finnish roasteries varying between small, medium and large in the Helsinki area. All roasteries that open their doors to the research had a deep understanding of the coffee market and share their experiences on coffee purchasing from South American countries. The interviews were held on-site giving the researcher the chance to experience the roasting of coffee in Finland. The data for exportation requirements and organic coffee was gathered from the European Commission and various companies were contacted to ask about the exportation cost. Also, information about price was collected from public data available in the roasteries websites and online platforms from which the roasteries buy green coffee.
The results showed that the average roasteries does not engage in direct trade with coffee producers but always use a middleman to buy South American coffee. This helps the roasteries to have a more flexible relationship with producers being able to have a bigger variety of coffee. It also demonstrated the high importance of sustainability for the roasteries, there is a big need for the producers to have the Fairtrade and organic certifications. And demonstrated that there might be better options on how to enter the Finnish coffee market.
The study approaches a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, the qualitative data is collected from interviews to coffee experts and the quantitative data is collected from reliable sources that show green coffee price history and exportation costs and requirements. The interviews consisted of five Finnish roasteries varying between small, medium and large in the Helsinki area. All roasteries that open their doors to the research had a deep understanding of the coffee market and share their experiences on coffee purchasing from South American countries. The interviews were held on-site giving the researcher the chance to experience the roasting of coffee in Finland. The data for exportation requirements and organic coffee was gathered from the European Commission and various companies were contacted to ask about the exportation cost. Also, information about price was collected from public data available in the roasteries websites and online platforms from which the roasteries buy green coffee.
The results showed that the average roasteries does not engage in direct trade with coffee producers but always use a middleman to buy South American coffee. This helps the roasteries to have a more flexible relationship with producers being able to have a bigger variety of coffee. It also demonstrated the high importance of sustainability for the roasteries, there is a big need for the producers to have the Fairtrade and organic certifications. And demonstrated that there might be better options on how to enter the Finnish coffee market.