“Gutta Cavat lapidem” (The drop digs the stone), stated an ancient Latin proverb. The meaning is simple but profound: every little gesture, if repeated and shared, can lead to great results. Or, in other words: one step at a time allows you to get really far towards a desired destination.
And if I told you even with “one cup of coffee at a time” one can get important results and a better future? Yes, it is exactly like that. The choice of our daily coffee can make a huge difference, not only for ourselves, but also for the environment, the communities and for the people in need.
How? I will explain it shortly, first let’s take a step back.
Crisis and Challenges
In the era of globalization (since the end of the 1980s), profound changes have taken place in the global coffee sector, radically mutating the role of coffee in the economies of many producing countries.
These economies have been severely affected by the fall of prices in international markets, by the reduction in income from coffee exports and by the widespread corruption in public institutions. Still today, the volatility of international prices, climate change, the lack of manpower and the need for profit are all factors that press unceasingly on the coffee producers so to use new techniques and employ more technologies.
The objective? Minimize production costs and, at the same time, maximize returns while maintaining quality standards.
In the search for a solution
The decline in coffee prices must in fact be compensated by an increase of productivity, if we want that coffee cultivation is to remain a sustainable activity for small business and that larger and more specialized companies can survive in the future.
Increasing productivity levels requires the introduction of innovative technologies, improvements in agronomic practices and a greater control in the administrative and financial management of the plantation.
However, this does not mean that implemented technologies necessarily represent sustainable cultivation models in the long run. It must also be said that the technology transfer cannot be possible unless the farmers have direct access to credit and receive a constant support from their native countries. In short, this situation is anything but simple.
Investing in the future
What can be done to ensure sustainability of coffee plantations with a low environmental impact in the long term? In order to meet this challange, the transfer of technological, financial and administrative know-how is essential.
In several producing countries, various systems for the transfer of technologies and innovations have been implemented, these systems on one hand take into account the needs and necessities of the growers and on the other they aim to improve the efficiency of their crops and lead to increase the net profits.
It is a long road to achieve a satisfactory social impact. We need a continuous and constant commitment.
Danesi Caffè made its choice
Danesi Company chooses to select and buy green coffee that will employ in its blends from those groups of small farmers and those medium-size companies employing new technologies not to produce higher yields, but to grow a better quality product while respecting the environment where they work and live.
Danesi also chooses to support directly small farmers in order to promote their development, their capacity and self-sufficiency to grow sustainable coffee in the long term. In short, we commit ourselves to make our contribution.
And you, what do you choose?
So, does it really make sense to continue to rely on certain multinational companies or companies with few scruples, indifferent to any social issue, perhaps to save a few cents per coffee? Or is it better to choose (thankfully we are more and more!) who decided to invest with effort and passion in today, thus ensuring a better future? Danesi Caffè for a long time has been moving in this direction, so as to become one of the distinguishing traits of the Company.
I want to state loud and clear that there cannot be quality without responsability and vice versa. This is why we have decided to untie ourselves from downward price logics, which would damage primarily the farmers and the local producers. This is why we have never betrayed our “first commandment”: quality and respect, always.
One coffee at a time
It is clear: each person can contribute to a better future, favoring those producers who have chosen to follow the path of sustainability. If it will be so coffee beside being good will also have a very special aftertaste, that of ethics and respect.
Because even the simple choice of coffee to be poured into your cup can make the difference and contribute to a better future: for the environment, the people and the whole planet. Yes, “gutta cavat lapidem”: small gestures can lead to great results.
Ilaria Danesi
