2024 Coffee Accountability & Annual Report

2024 COFFEE ACCOUNTABILITY & ANNUAL REPORT

This accountability report serves as a benchmark for improvement and to educate staff, wholesale clients, and guests.

Commonplace Coffee began publishing a coffee accountability report in 2020 and has expanded over the past few years to include additional organizational information. This practice helps us to pursue our mission and values, learn from past decisions, and plan for the future as we work to source coffee equitably, improve our operations, and support our staff. We aim to source our coffee in a way that supports our supply chain’s long-term sustainability, roast coffee in a way that honors the growers, and brew coffee in a way that provides the best guest experience.

We are passionate about creating community for our staff, the neighborhoods we serve, our wholesale clients, partners, and the coffee industry at large.

COFFEE ACCOUNTABILITY

To pursue our mission and values as authentically as possible, we believe it is essential to hold ourselves accountable to the influence we have on the coffee supply chain. As a small coffee roaster, our impact on the coffee industry as a whole may be slight, but our buying decisions can significantly impact the farms and logistical partners with whom we work.

In 2024, we continued to expand upon our significant investments in valued producers, origins, and logistical partners doing tremendous work in specialty coffee and helping to build a sustainable future for the industry. This included:

Strengthening our relationships across Asia and purchasing more coffee from Asian producers than ever before! From Vietnam to India, we are working diligently to expand our reach.
Carrying out our first full year of more specialized coffee releases, such as our “Roaster’s Choice” and “Ultra Special” offerings. We are also planning some exciting offerings that we’ll bring to fruition in 2025. (As a little teaser, stay tuned for competition coffee, auction lots, and an expanded decaf menu!)

A photo showing bags of Commonplace Coffee beans strewn on top of straw, with sunflowers scattered around them.

We broadened our scope in 2024 with more adventurous, limited offerings, and we are in a great position to achieve the goals we've set for 2025. Many of the goals we set are informed by input and suggestions from staff, who will always shape Commonplace's buying decisions. Feedback and conversation around our coffee program continue to leave a profound impact our decision making across the board, and we hope to further strengthen the feedback loop in 2025. Keep reading to learn more about our experiences and changes over the past year!

THE CURRENT MARKET

While lower coffee prices may seem like a positive for consumers and coffee companies, undervaluing coffee through pricing perpetuates the cycle of under investing in the people and work that it takes to produce specialty coffee. For most coffees, there are hundreds of hands involved in the process it takes to go from harvesting coffee trees at origin to enjoying the cup you brew at home. Unfortunately, many people throughout the supply chain do not receive adequate pay for the conditions and complexity of their work.

Commonplace Coffee strives to make responsible buying decisions that have a positive impact on the entire supply chain. Our approach for sourcing equitable and sustainable coffee centers around:

Prioritizing forward contracts (these contracts establish the purchase or selling of an asset at a specified price on a future date).
Partnering with importers and exporters who practice price negotiations based on producer cost of production and quality.
Building long-term relationships with farms, producers, and supply-chain partners.

2024 COFFEE PURCHASING NUMBERS

A chart displaying Commonplace's Average Weighted FOB in 2024 ($3.09) compared to the C-Market Average ($2.35). Commonplace, on average, paid above the C-Market average for our coffee purchases in all 4 quarters of 2024.

32 Contracts
44 Lots Purchased
159,128 Pounds Contracted
$491,128.3 - this number approximates how much money remained in the country of origin's economy. (Purchasing power through FOB & CAD)

The graphic above illustrates Commonplace’s values of fairly compensating producers by paying based on quality and long-term buying relationships. The first image shares a few central insights surrounding our 2024 coffee purchasing practices. Across 35 contracts, Commonplace purchased 44 lots of coffee amounting to a contracted total of 159,128 pounds of coffee. Through these purchases, approximately $491,128 remained in the country of origin's economy.

The chart image visualizes important contextual information about our purchasing practices related to average industry pricing metrics. A few important terms to know when looking at this graph:

C-Market: The monthly average of coffee prices traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 2024. To simplify the complexity of commodity trading, the price is independent of quality and based on supply, demand, and speculation. The C-Market significantly affects farmers, who typically sell their coffee at the current C-Market rate.
Free on Board (FOB): FOB is a shipping term that describes when the transfer of risk and payment occurs during international coffee purchases. FOB is calculated when the exporter delivers green coffee to the cargo ship at the port of origin. FOB pricing is a common benchmark for transparent pricing, as it is typically the easiest price to collect and approximates how much money stays in the country of origin. This figure is typically what an exporter is paid, which includes farmers’ payments (also known as “farm gate”), milling, in-country transportation, customs, fees, overhead, packaging, export margins, export taxes, etc.

In 2024, Commonplace (on average) purchased each pound of our coffee above the C-Market. This increased cost is due to our intentional and ongoing investment in producers, farmers, importers, and other supply chain partners who prioritize equitable and sustainable sourcing practices.

COFFEES SOURCED IN 2024

A map of the world with pins indicating which countries/regions Commonplace sourced our coffee from in 2024.

SINGLE ORIGIN:
Aponte, Colombia
Akagera Ikizere, Rwanda
Humure Abishyizehamwe, Rwanda
Dung K’no Duc Trong, Vietnam
Popayan, Colombia
Hulikere Estate, India
Nesru Aba Nura, Ethiopia
Mensur Abahika, Ethiopia
Teojomulco, Mexico
Yuki Minami, Brazil
Ratnagiri Estate RW7, India
Ratnagiri Estate Thermal Shock, India
Muzo Ikizere, Rwanda
Un Regalo de Dios, Nicaragua
La Bendición Honey, Nicaragua
La Bendición Natural, Nicaragua
Ninga Hill, Burundi
Kunjin, Papua New Guinea

BLENDERS:
Martir, Colombia
Divino Niño, Colombia
San Gabriel, Colombia
San Ignacio, Peru
Comicovel, Honduras
Roberto Aragon, Honduras
Ceiba, Guatemala
Acacia, Ethiopia
San Vicente, Honduras
Mogiana Gold, Brazil
ELLA Todos Santos, Guatemala
Adobo Aba Mecha, Ethiopia
Sylvia Achebet, Uganda
Hulikere Estate Robusta, India
Kerehaklu Estate Robusta, India
Jorge Rojas, Colombia

2024 STAFF TRAINING PROGRAM

A photo of Commonplace barista/training equipment.

In 2024, we continued our Training and Calibration Program. Our primary goal for this program is to provide all new retail staff with a strong base of knowledge in a dedicated space at our Headquarters that they can then build on in the cafe setting. In 2024, we expanded the program for the first time to include non-retail staff and trained 42 retail staff. We are thankful for the participation and feedback from our staff, as we have continued fine tuning the process. Other core goals for the program include:

Inspiring connectivity between our retail staff and the teams at our headquarters, including production, roasting, marketing, service, wholesale and operations.
Setting clear expectations of Commonplace’s hospitality standards through sharing our mission, vision, and values.
Focusing on standards of execution to raise the quality of service at all retail locations.

2024 CHARITABLE GIVING BLENDS

Commonplace Coffee seeks to foster community by supporting local and national charities through the sale of collaborative donation coffees. Our goal is to always have a donation blend in our lineup. In addition to the monetary value of our donation, these partnerships allow us to bring greater awareness to these organizations.

Throughout 2024, we were thrilled to offer 5 different charitable giving blends. These releases resulted in a total of $10,022 donated in support of our terrific charitable partners. Additionally, through a variety of other company-wide charitable giving initiatives throughout the year, Commonplace was able to donate an additional $17,217 directly to a range of local charitable partners.

Read more about each of our 2024 charitable giving blends in the carousel below.

Total Donation: $1,646
In continuation of our work with the
Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (PPC),
we created a blend that highlighted
Allegheny Commons Park, located on
Pittsburgh’s North Shore and walking
distance from our Mexican War
Streets cafe. The PPC unveiled a new
promenade and lighting in the park
that we were honored to highlight.
Adjectives that inspired this blend were
“restorative, idyllic, vibrant.”

Total Donation: $1,553
Cultivar Blend marked a first for
Commonplace Coffee – a staff
developed blend that also included
a donation component. This blend
was developed by Service Technician
Justin Hayhurst and benefited Grow
Pittsburgh, whose mission is to develop
and support food-growing initiatives
and programs across the region as
a key way to improve the social,
economic, environmental, health, and
educational realities of people in our
community.

Total Donation: $1,633
Our 2023-2024 year-long charitable
giving blend benefited Pittsburgh
Action Against Rape (PAAR). PAAR
was founded in 1972 as the first victim
service agency in Allegheny County,
and one of the first rape crisis centers
in the nation. Proceeds from this blend
benefit PAAR’s mission of providing
comprehensive services to victims
of sexual violence and their families,
serving children and adults of all gender
identities, ages, and socioeconomic
backgrounds.

Total Donation: $2,693
Our 2024-2025 year-long charitable
giving blend supports local independent
radio station 91.3 WYEP. Since 1974,
91.3 WYEP has been Pittsburgh’s
independent music source and a
treasured cultural resource. On the air,
online and in the community, WYEP
champions musical discovery by
supporting new and emerging artists.

2024 SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES

The following include the newest sustainability investments Commonplace Coffee made in 2024. These join a variety of past initiatives, including a composting program, straw-free to-go cups, a reusable cup discount, no up-charge oat milk, Teapigs tea, Biotrē 1 retail coffee bags, compostable hot cups, and a Loring S35 Kestrel Coffee Roaster.

COMPOSTABLE COLD CUPS

In May 2024, Commonplace Coffee introduced fully compostable World Centric No Tree to-go cups and lids at all cafe locations. World Centric donates 25% of their profits each year to communities at the intersection of extreme poverty and environmental degradation.

GAEASTAR HOT CUPS

In September 2024, Commonplace Coffee introduced GaeaStar clay cups at our Garfield, Mexican War Streets, and Rockwell Park cafes. This innovative vessel can be added to any to-go order for only $3.

This clay cup is an alternative to traditional compostable to-go cups, and it can be reused, repurposed, and returned to the earth. The cups are made of clay, water, and salt. Commonplace Coffee was the first company in the Northeast United States to offer GaeaStar cups.

COMPOSTING

In 2024, Commonplace diverted a total of 49,080 pounds of compost from landfills.

Our composting program currently takes place only at Pittsburgh cafe locations in partnership with Zero Waste Wrangler. Indiana cafe locations do not participate in a formalized composting program, but they donate approximately 10lbs of compost weekly to local community garden efforts.

STAFF BENEFITS

In 2024, we continued to expand the number and quality of benefits available to our incredible staff members. These developments included:

Working with a new insurance broker to provide additional one-on-one support to staff making healthcare selections
Company sponsored 401(k)
Parental Leave Policy
Employee Donation Matching Policy
Offering a special wellness subscription with Ascend, a terrific local rock climbing company

2024 PROJECTS OF NOTE

Relaunch of our bakery back into Pittsburgh cafes
Major renovation of coffee bar at Squirrel Hill cafe
Major renovation of exterior at Mexican War Streets cafe with support of grant funding
Added additional outdoor seating at Garfield with support of grant funding
Became first cafe in Northeast United States to offer GaeaStar clay cups
Launched our first ever staff-developed collaborative donation coffee
Hired Commonplace Coffee’s first ever CEO, Alisa Paul

WHO WE ARE

The graphs below are based on a self-reported staff survey with an overal response rate of 39%.

Staff Demographics

Based on 28 staff responses.
Male: 21.4%
Female: 50%
Genderqueer: 10.7%
Nonbinary Transfemme: 3.6%
Transgender: 7.1%
Agender: 3.6%
Prefer Not To Say: 3.6%

Based on 30 staff responses.
Barista/Staff: 66.7%
Manager/Leadership: 33.3%

Based on 28 staff responses.
White: 78.6%
Asian, White: 3.6%
Black or African American, White: 3.6%
Hispanic, Latino/a/x or Spanish Origin: 7.1%
Black or African American: 3.6%
Prefer Not to Say: 3.6%

Average Staff Tenure

Average tenure of all staff: 1.76 years
Average tenure of cafe staff: 1.95 years
Average tenure of HQ team: 1.72 years
Average tenure of bakery team: 1.23 years
Average tenure of leadership team: 2.75 years
Staff with tenure of 12 months or more: 48%
Staff with tenure of 3 years or more: 18%

Staff with 4+ Years of tenure

Service Technician
Green Buyer
Baker
Barista/Production Roaster
Shop Manager, Mexican War Streets
Kitchen Manager
Barista, Mexican War Streets
VP of Operations & Marketing
Retail Operations Manager
Shop Manager, Campus Edge
Founder

FINAL THOUGHTS

Over the past five years, what started as a coffee accountability report has expanded to include other important areas of our business, such as charitable giving, sustainability, training, employee benefits, employee demographics, and more. The goal of this report is to provide transparency and insight to our staff, partners, and guests. It also holds us accountable year-over-year to our goals and the mission of our organization – to foster and build community through coffee with craft and care.

Thank you for your trust and support as we continue to improve and work towards a better version of Commonplace Coffee.