Case Study: Portland Roasting

In partnership with Oregon universities, Sustainable Business Oregon’s Case Study Cache contains recent university research cases on a range of sustainable business topics. These cases present real-world examples of challenges and opportunities for the business community, and aim to provide a hub to connect and share innovative tools and best practices.

Portland Roasting – Farm Friendly Direct | Executive Summary

“Coffee is now about not only finding great coffee but showcasing who you’re buying from. It’s about sustainability. What’s driving the industry is people think of coffee as a commodity that’s picked by hand. There’s a lot of work involved in it. There are people behind this coffee bean and that’s the cutting edge stuff right now.” – Mark Stell, Managing Partner, Portland Roasting Company

Since the opening of Portland Roasting Company in 1996, the company had developed trade relationships with individual coffee growers, paid premium prices, and invested additional funds in local projects that directly benefited the lives of coffee farmers and their communities. Being the first company to create a sustainability-based direct trade program, Stell and his team started Farm Friendly Direct (FFD) in 2001. The FFD program pays above-market prices for premium coffees, and then pays an additional premium to finance projects that help farmers to improve their communities and the environment. PRC’s core business involves sourcing, roasting and distributing high-quality coffees to wholesale customers including retail coffee shops, restaurants, businesses, food merchants and institutions. PRC coffees are sourced from more than 20 different countries.

PRC’s efforts in sustainability earned them the prestigious Sustainability Award by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) in 2005. However, consumer awareness of the FFD program was relatively low compared with Fair Trade, Organic, Rainforest Alliance, Bird Friendly, Common Code for the Coffee Community (also known as 4C), and Utz Certified labels. FFD lacked the credibility that certification provided as there were no established criteria for FFD projects and the impacts were not verified by an independent third-party. Despite the low awareness, PRC was able to convince Fred Meyers that Farm Friendly Direct coffee was superior to conventional third-party certifications and competitor’s direct trade programs. Partnering with Fred Meyers had allowed PRC to provide consumer education about PRC's coffees, achieve growth goals, and promote the virtues of the Farm Friendly Direct and the company’s long-term commitment to sustainability.

This case study delves into PRC’s marketing and production differentiation, distribution, their sustainability initiatives, how the FFD program is unique to the coffee industry, and offers a comparison of coffee certifications. It also outlines the US specialty coffee movement, new developments in the US coffee industry, coffee production and trade, and farmers’ perspective.

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