A travelogue of selected coffee beans – and thoughts on how other beans – or most other beans – fare.

It is one of the industry's best-kept secrets. Better protected than blends, address data, condition agreements and distribution channels. I keep trying to understand why this is the case. But I can't. Transparency International would have a lifetime's work for legions of employees.

But let's start at the beginning. As after every issue of Crema, I received a call from the editorial team asking for a new article. ‘Could you write an article that traces the journey of the coffee bean from the plantation to the cup?’ Sure, I can do that. No problem. However, every article needs a common thread – an idea around which the topic can be developed. And I found one. A coffee whose journey I can personally follow at every stage, about which I know everything and which I can use to explain the coffee trade process – with the aim of gaining a better understanding of coffee and fair prices – for the farmer, the roaster and the trader. Ultimately, this helps the consumer, because cheap coffee is bad coffee. Poor because it tastes bad and because it can't taste good, because it is so cheap at the expense of the producers.

As I write these lines, I am sitting on the terrace looking out into my garden. Contrary to expectations, I am not drinking coffee, but organic apple juice due to the high temperature of 25°C. Everything is clear when I look at this packaging. I can see the variety of apple, the fact that it is unfiltered – i.e. naturally cloudy – apple juice, and the manufacturer is also indicated. The fruit farm where I bought this juice. I also know how much the same apples cost when I buy them as apples rather than juice. So it is possible to calculate how much the producer earns from pressing – there is transparency – and I have no problem with that. I don't have a pathological desire to think about how much I could save if I bought a press myself and got started. Why should I? The juice tastes best this way – without having to make it myself. Besides, it's like Loriot when you calculate how many thousand litres it takes to recoup the cost of a fully automatic juicer. I also don't have the impression that the manufacturer is disproportionately enriching itself by earning money from pressing apples.

Most coffee companies probably have this fear. Fear that they could be accused or reproached for earning disproportionately much from coffee.

So why do all companies involved in the coffee trade think that every customer would immediately feel cheated if transparency prevailed in this market? This idea seems all the more absurd when you consider the current price of coffee: a kilo of coffee costs less than €8. How can this still work – and who is still profiting from it and how? Lidl offers Dallmayr coffee in 1 kg bags for £6.58 and Idee Kaffee Classic for £5.98 (promotional period 26 April 2010 to 30 April 2010). It would be possible to name any other discounter or other retail structure and larger roaster here – but that is not the point. It's not about individual names or companies, but about a phenomenon that defines an entire industry.

How on earth can and should this continue to function? It's clear in this context that everyone involved in coffee is afraid of earning more than the farmer and then looking bad – but that's not necessarily true. Other countries, of course, have completely different basic costs of living and infrastructure.

Nevertheless, green coffee traders always fear that roasters think they are making too much money from them. Roasters then think the same thing when they look at the catering industry or their resellers in the retail sector. And there, they think the same thing about the guest or the end consumer. This is where the great spiral of silence surrounding coffee comes full circle. It is a peculiar chain of strange and confused misconceptions. These misconceptions are particularly misguided because all parties involved forget that this is not a matter of arbitrariness, but rather a very special service or a very special and limited product. Not every green coffee trader is able to offer every type of green coffee, and not every roaster can refine every coffee to perfection. It is not only a question of the quantities available and the technical conditions, but also of specific know-how. Both are important and must be coordinated with each other and with the coffee in terms of quality and quantity.

It is and has always been far from my intention to attack individual companies in the coffee value chain – even in this case, it is not about individual names or companies – but rather about a central problem that affects the entire industry. The prices are out of proportion – neither the roaster nor the retailer can make any money from this. The same applies to the farmer and, worse still, to the pickers on these plantations. And whether we like it or not, we cannot blame the industry for this – it is our own fault. It is up to us as customers, guests or end consumers in general. Ultimately, the industry only offers products that are accepted by customers. As long as we don't care about the quality or the conditions under which we buy, coffee will continue to be sold at these prices. And it won't matter whether this makes sense or not, or whether it is at the expense of others. Sustainability usually begins where the customer demands it and is then willing to pay more for it. The critical point usually lies in this last part. Because not everyone is willing to apply the standards they set for others to themselves. Only a few start with themselves. This applies to companies and customers alike, because it is of course much easier and more convenient to always point the finger at the other side first.