C-Market (in blue) is the price coffee was traded at on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021. To simplify the complexity of commodity trading, the price is independent of quality and based on supply/demand and speculation. It significantly affects farmers who typically sell their coffee based off of the C-Market price, which can vary dramatically from day to day. The average price for the entire year was $1.69 per pound, FOB price, with $1.21 being the lowest and $2.50 being the highest. This range exemplifies how dramatically the price changed throughout the year. FOB price was $2.39 per pound.
Commonplace Coffee (in red) is an average estimated FOB price. FOB pricing was collected by Commonplace in 2021 from all importers, except for one. That importer could only provide a bulk average FOB price. For those coffees, we utilized a low estimate for FOB pricing. Overall, our average weighted FOB price was $2.39 per pound.
Fair Trade Minimum (not pictured) is $1.40 per pound, FOB price, for certified organizations and farmers. When the C-Market is at $1.40 per pound or above, like much of 2021, the Fair Trade Minimum would increase and include the coffee’s differential price.