Keurig and Coffee Science Foundation Backing Farmer Income Research

File photo.

[Editor’s note: This story has been updated. A previous version contained a quote from Keurig Dr Pepper representative Allie Stauss, as written in a press release from the Specialty Coffee Association. The updated version includes a similar quote, attributed to KDP’s Whitney Kakos.]

The Coffee Science Foundation (CSF) and one of the largest beverage companies in the world, Keurig Dr Pepper, are supporting a research project designed to better understand coffee farmer income. 

“Together, we will support an extensive literature review, which will endeavor to understand the impact of interventions on farmers’ incomes and whether such interventions can improve the livelihoods of the millions of resource-poor around the world,” The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) wrote in an announcement today.

Texas-based Keurig Dr Pepper, whose primary shareholders include international coffee and beverage giants JAB Holding Company and Mondelez International, is underwriting the research.

SCA news release image.

“Partnering with the Specialty Coffee Association creates a unique opportunity to illuminate learnings about the most effective ways to improve coffee farmer prosperity,” Whitney Kakos, the director of supply chain sustainability at Keurig Dr Pepper said in the SCA’s announcement. “In commissioning this study, the SCA is providing data-backed insights that enable stakeholders in the coffee industry like KDP to optimize the impact of their investments on farmer livelihoods.”

Keurig Dr Pepper posted total sales of more than $14 billion in 2022. By comparison, the country of Brazil, which produces approximately one third of the world’s green coffee, recorded total export revenue of approximately $8.1 billion in the 2021/22 market year, according to statistics from the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council Cecafé.

Daily Coffee News photo by Nick Brown.

According to the Coffee Science Foundation, a sibling nonprofit to the SCA that is currently engaged in numerous high-profile coffee research projects, the new research into farmer prosperity will be led by teams from the University of Naples Parthenope (Italy) and the London School of Economics (UK).

“Most coffee farmers are smallholders and about half of them live below the international poverty line,” Davide Del Prete of the University of Naples Parthenope said in today’s announcement. “These farmers face unique challenges in improving production and productivity. Several interventions and programs have been implemented in the sector but, to date, there is a lack of a systematic review of their effects. With our research, we aim to provide a comprehensive assessment of these interventions and highlight their success in improving coffee farmer productivity and income.”

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