Coffee is the can’t-do-without beverage of choice for millions of people around the world. It also equates to big business, and one program within Emory’s Social Enterprise @ Goizueta (SE@G) is focusing on improving the livelihood for farmers of this favored drink.
SE@G has been involved with communities and organizations in Nicaragua since taking its first group of MBA students there in 2010. Building on the strong working relationships the center has developed over the years, SE@G is creating business models to positively impact impoverished Nicaraguan communities.
“With our Farmers to 40 Coffee Project, we are encouraging economic development in Nicaragua by returning 40% of the retail sale price of our custom-roasted coffee to the farmers who grow the beans,” explains Goizueta Professor of Organization and Management Peter Roberts.
For Nicaraguan coffee farmers like Byron Corrales, Farmers to 40 ensures he is adequately compensated for producing the highest quality beans.
Roberts is also SE@G’s academic director. “The project will fully launch this fall, and we will share information soon on how to buy these excellent coffees that are grown by two of the farms and farmers we visit with students on our Nicaragua travel modules.”