World Coffee Research has created ‘The Checkoff Program’ as a way for coffee roasters to establish and direct a per/lb premium on their coffee purchases towards WCR. Recognising the huge potential for making direct, collaborative contributions to agricultural research and development, we took this initiative a step further and created our own ‘Global Matching Program’ whereby we matched our roasters contributions from 2017-2019, up to $10,000 per year. This project reached its initial completion date at the end of 2019, but Falcon remains actively engaged in the ‘Checkoff Program’, transacting tens of thousands of dollars in industry investment each year.
The WCR states that “research is an essential basis for improving the ‘goodness’ of coffee: how good it tastes, how good it is for the planet’, and how good it is for the people who grow it”.
THE PLAN
We believe that long-term investing and commitment to research and development mitigates risks while building resilience across supply chains, which is why we continue to encourage participation in or Global Matching Program.
Roasters decide on a contribution of cents per/lb of green coffee, from half a cent up to 10 or 20 cents per lb. The contribution is calibrated to volume and built into the cost of the green coffee. When customers come to pay their invoices, Falcon sets aside the WCR Checkoff contribution and matching donation as applicable.
THE RESULTS
Since 2017, Falcon customers have invested over $150,000 in WCR. Falcon has additionally invested $25,000 through their Global Matching Program.
