Sailing coffee to Germany: A sustainable trade model?

DW (English)

The Cafe Chavalo cooperative promotes fair, sustainable coffee trade. The beans are grown on organic farms in Nicaragua, then sailed to Europe. From there, bike couriers deliver the coffee to cafes.

Transcript

00:01This is no ordinary coffee.

00:04In part, thanks to this ship here.

00:07Using nothing but the power of the wind,

00:09it sailed a cargo of coffee beans from Nicaragua to Germany.

00:13A months-long voyage.

00:15Free of emissions and socially responsible too.

00:19This is the man behind the idea, Jens Klein.

00:23That's how small projects lead to big changes.

00:26I took a critical look at consumer practices early on

00:30and saw that many things we consume at relatively low prices

00:33often come at the expense of others.

00:36In 2014, Jens Klein founded the Café Chavalo cooperative.

00:41He quit his job as an editor for a newspaper and travelled to Nicaragua.

00:49Here, he found coffee plantations organised as cooperatives.

00:56That was the journalist in me,

00:59wanting to find out if what sounded so good

01:02would have real effects on the ground.

01:04What I saw convinced me to try doing things differently

01:07than previous intermediaries.

01:09That's how I got the idea to found Café Chavalo.

01:14That idea led to real changes.

01:17Now, about 250 families take part in Jens Klein's cooperative.

01:21They earn a fixed price per pound,

01:24not one that's tied to the widely fluctuating world market price as before,

01:28which failed to provide them with a reliable source of revenue.

01:31Once a year, Klein visits the families whose lives have changed,

01:35thanks to his idea.

01:40Now we're earning more,

01:41and our coffee is still organic and organically processed all along the way.

01:45That's deeply satisfying for all the smaller organic coffee producers.

01:51Now we get fair and very good pay.

01:54They're the best prices we've ever received.

01:57Once a year, every spring,

02:01the coffee beans and other freight are loaded onto the German Avantour sailing cargo ship.

02:07It takes about four months for it to cross the Atlantic to the port in Hamburg.

02:16Klein does this to keep labour and expenses as low as possible.

02:22The coffee arrives in Hamburg where it's unloaded by volunteers.

02:27That's always a happening.

02:29Then there are always cyclists who transport the coffee on from Hamburg.

02:33That's an especially big help.

02:35We couldn't manage that for the entire shipment.

02:39The remaining coffee goes to the roasters in Leipzig by truck,

02:43where Jens Klein and his five employees roast the beans.

02:46Orders come in from individuals, companies and cafes.

02:51Bicycle couriers take it to local customers.

02:56The Baba Handmade Cafe is only a couple of kilometers away.

03:00The proprietor, Paula, is already expecting the new coffee shipment.

03:05She places great value on using the right beans, ones grown with respect.

03:10To us, it's very, very important for it to be fair for everyone.

03:16We only want to offer our patrons something that's fair for really everyone.

03:21And that goes for the organic coffee, too.

03:26And, we have to say, the coffee tastes very, very good.

03:31The sailing coffee costs a steep 18 euros per 500 grams.

03:37But figured by the cup of espresso or cappuccino, the extra cost only comes to a few cents.

03:42But can the price win over the patrons?

03:44I wouldn't have noticed the higher price. Coffee costs more in other places, too.

03:49I'll come here as long as I know the quality is good.

03:53I'm positively surprised. It tastes great. I think we'll come here more often.

04:00Does Jens Klein's project show a possible solution for sustainable worldwide trade in coffee?

04:06Or is it just an ideology?

04:09None of us is such a dreamer that we'd imagine an old Gaffrick schooner with 70 tons capacity

04:16could revolutionize global transport. That's not the idea.

04:20But we're making a statement that there must be another way.

04:23Coffee will cost more. We'll have to adjust. It can't go on this way for decades.

04:29But Jens Klein and his team plan to go on.

04:32They might not become rich, but they will have done their share for the coffee growers of Nicaragua and for the environment.

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