Why We Pay Farmers 25% Above Market Price (And What It Actually Means)

"Direct trade" gets used a lot in specialty coffee. It sounds good on a bag. But what does it actually mean for the person who grew the coffee?

At Raíces, it means something specific: we pay our farmers 25% above market price. Not as a slogan — as a number, decided on purpose, every harvest.

Here's why that number matters more than it might seem.

Market Price Wasn't Built for Quality

The market price for coffee is set by global commodity trading — the same system whether the coffee is exceptional or barely passable. It doesn't ask how it was grown, how carefully it was picked, or how much skill went into the process. It just asks: how much coffee, at what grade.

That system rewards volume. It doesn't reward the extra day of drying that makes a honey process taste right, or the decision to only pick fully ripe cherries instead of stripping the branch.

Paying 25% above that price is a way of saying: we're not buying a commodity. We're buying the result of decisions that took more time, more care, and more risk.

What the Premium Actually Changes

For a farmer, a consistent premium changes planning, not just income. It means being able to invest in the farm instead of just surviving the season — repairing infrastructure, improving processing, replanting aging trees, paying workers fairly during harvest.

It also changes what's possible in the cup. When a farmer isn't squeezed to maximize volume at the expense of quality, they can afford to slow down: sort more carefully, process more precisely, wait for the right moment instead of the fastest one.

That's not charity. That's cause and effect. Better economics make better coffee possible.

Why This Isn't Just Our Story to Tell

We didn't invent this idea. Fair and direct trade has existed in specialty coffee for years. What we can tell you is what it looks like on our end: real numbers, paid to real farmers we know by name — Nelson, Yojana, Luis, Juan Carlos — for coffee we can trace back to a specific farm, at a specific altitude, every single time.

When you choose Raíces, the extra you pay isn't disappearing into a supply chain. It's going somewhere specific — back to the people whose work made it worth drinking in the first place.