Paper short abstract:

This contribution presents some of the linkages between specialty coffee and commodity coffee markets, showing why it is not possible to disentangle these two production processes and how high prices coffees are being paid by low prices coffees, labour exploitation and land expulsion in the South.

Paper long abstract:

Coffee. One of the most consumed beverages in the world, it has become part of the food culture of East and West, North and South. Although coffee has been receiving a lot of attention and been presented as a potent alternative of development for peoples and territories in the Global South, it´s global production network is made out of a an chain of inequalities which benefits mostly actors from the North. The present contribution presents results and analysis based on an extensive research on coffee´s global network. It aims to present some of the linkages between specialty coffee and commodity coffee markets, showing why it is not possible to disentangle these two production processes. In that sense, high prices coffees are ultimately being paid by low prices coffees, labour exploitation and land expulsion in the South.