The empire has always been why coffee was proliferated and mass-produced. Coffee professionals just seemed more interested in talking about it when it was abstract.
Honestly, I think one of the main reasons people in coffee don’t speak up — especially owners or folks in leadership — is because they’re scared it’ll hurt the business. Like, we want to support causes and speak out on injustice, but there’s always this lingering fear: What if customers walk away? What if wholesale accounts drop us? What if we get labeled “difficult” by the industry?
Coffee is already a low-margin, high-risk business. Most people running cafes or roasteries are just trying to survive month to month. So I think there’s this pressure to play it safe — to post latte art instead of Palestine, or to celebrate new gear instead of calling out injustice. Not because people don’t care, but because they worry about the consequences.
At the same time, that silence has a cost too. It sends a message — intentional or not — that these issues aren’t worth naming. And that’s hard to sit with when we constantly say things like “coffee is about people” or “we care about producers.” If we only care when it’s convenient or profitable, that’s not really care — that’s branding.
I don’t think everyone needs to have a perfect political statement at the ready. But if we’re building community, we need space to have these conversations, even if they’re messy. And maybe we also need to talk more honestly about the risks — and the responsibility — of being in a position where your platform could make a difference.
I think you nailed it, Rich. You sum it up well — which risks does the operator/barista/you name it feel they can take, and which causes are so important it's worth it? I think an easy example, just off the cuff, is a beloved barista or staff member gets violently deported in the middle of the cafe. What does the shop's owners and staff do? Suddenly these issues become very personal and visible, right? I think proactivity is key. You nailed it on branding > caring, as well.
Thanks, I really appreciate that. And I think you’re totally right — when something happens close to home, like a staff member getting detained or deported, suddenly the stakes become painfully real. I know for me personally, if that ever happened to someone on our team, I’d absolutely do everything I could — including paying for legal support. No hesitation. That’s just part of showing up for people when they need it most.
But it also makes me think — why do we wait until it’s that close? Why is it easier to act when it’s personal, but harder when it’s “just” a headline? That’s where I feel like proactivity really matters. If we say we care about community, it can’t just be when it’s convenient. And I get it — small business is tough, and there are risks. But maybe if more of us were open about those risks and still chose to act, it’d feel less isolating. Less scary.
And like you said, the difference between branding and actually caring is what this whole thing boils down to.
You nailed it again! This post (which has already annoyed some people, haha) is meant to get at that proactivity. I trust loads of people I know to do the right thing when the cards are down. My larger point is that those cards are down! It's time!!
there’s a naive and persistent belief in the industry that morally sound practices will lead to higher quality, e.g. small, non-corporate coffee farms care more about the product and not the profit; sustainable practices will result in tastier coffee; the homogenization of corporatization is at odds with the idiosyncrasy of coffee’s terroir expression; higher compensation in supply chains and FOB costs will lead to better paid farmers and thus better tasting coffee.
this idea is reflected in the California farm-to-table ethos, too: organic, small farm produce is thought to be both ethically better and more tasty than the corporate farm alternatives.
while that doesn’t cover everything you’re talking about (and while i think this belief is often true!) i think it’s an implicit belief in specialty coffee that we as a community can work to make more explicit. companies like SEY are okay at this, being ultra-transparent about FOB costs, etc, but it feels like an afterthought in their slick marketing approach.
I agree. I think you're super correct that in coffee, like in locavore dining, the idea is that the current baseline is good enough, even though we all read the papers and understand that it clearly isn't. Fair Trade would've fixed that some 30 years ago if that were the case, right? Or direct purchasing, or organic approaches, etc etc. Transparency is definitely one of the right thrusts to get moving more forcefully!
Honestly, I think one of the main reasons people in coffee don’t speak up — especially owners or folks in leadership — is because they’re scared it’ll hurt the business. Like, we want to support causes and speak out on injustice, but there’s always this lingering fear: What if customers walk away? What if wholesale accounts drop us? What if we get labeled “difficult” by the industry?
Coffee is already a low-margin, high-risk business. Most people running cafes or roasteries are just trying to survive month to month. So I think there’s this pressure to play it safe — to post latte art instead of Palestine, or to celebrate new gear instead of calling out injustice. Not because people don’t care, but because they worry about the consequences.
At the same time, that silence has a cost too. It sends a message — intentional or not — that these issues aren’t worth naming. And that’s hard to sit with when we constantly say things like “coffee is about people” or “we care about producers.” If we only care when it’s convenient or profitable, that’s not really care — that’s branding.
I don’t think everyone needs to have a perfect political statement at the ready. But if we’re building community, we need space to have these conversations, even if they’re messy. And maybe we also need to talk more honestly about the risks — and the responsibility — of being in a position where your platform could make a difference.
I think you nailed it, Rich. You sum it up well — which risks does the operator/barista/you name it feel they can take, and which causes are so important it's worth it? I think an easy example, just off the cuff, is a beloved barista or staff member gets violently deported in the middle of the cafe. What does the shop's owners and staff do? Suddenly these issues become very personal and visible, right? I think proactivity is key. You nailed it on branding > caring, as well.
Thanks, I really appreciate that. And I think you’re totally right — when something happens close to home, like a staff member getting detained or deported, suddenly the stakes become painfully real. I know for me personally, if that ever happened to someone on our team, I’d absolutely do everything I could — including paying for legal support. No hesitation. That’s just part of showing up for people when they need it most.
But it also makes me think — why do we wait until it’s that close? Why is it easier to act when it’s personal, but harder when it’s “just” a headline? That’s where I feel like proactivity really matters. If we say we care about community, it can’t just be when it’s convenient. And I get it — small business is tough, and there are risks. But maybe if more of us were open about those risks and still chose to act, it’d feel less isolating. Less scary.
And like you said, the difference between branding and actually caring is what this whole thing boils down to.
You nailed it again! This post (which has already annoyed some people, haha) is meant to get at that proactivity. I trust loads of people I know to do the right thing when the cards are down. My larger point is that those cards are down! It's time!!
there’s a naive and persistent belief in the industry that morally sound practices will lead to higher quality, e.g. small, non-corporate coffee farms care more about the product and not the profit; sustainable practices will result in tastier coffee; the homogenization of corporatization is at odds with the idiosyncrasy of coffee’s terroir expression; higher compensation in supply chains and FOB costs will lead to better paid farmers and thus better tasting coffee.
this idea is reflected in the California farm-to-table ethos, too: organic, small farm produce is thought to be both ethically better and more tasty than the corporate farm alternatives.
while that doesn’t cover everything you’re talking about (and while i think this belief is often true!) i think it’s an implicit belief in specialty coffee that we as a community can work to make more explicit. companies like SEY are okay at this, being ultra-transparent about FOB costs, etc, but it feels like an afterthought in their slick marketing approach.
I agree. I think you're super correct that in coffee, like in locavore dining, the idea is that the current baseline is good enough, even though we all read the papers and understand that it clearly isn't. Fair Trade would've fixed that some 30 years ago if that were the case, right? Or direct purchasing, or organic approaches, etc etc. Transparency is definitely one of the right thrusts to get moving more forcefully!