The 2026 edition of the Coffee Barometer, an independent biennial report on the state of sustainability in the global coffee sector, has been released. The study concludes that despite two decades of sustainability programs and recent record-high market prices, the industry's fundamental structure remains unchanged. According to the report, structural imbalances continue to concentrate value downstream, preventing the majority of the world's 12.5 million coffee-producing families from achieving a living income.
The report, authored for organizations including Conservation International and Solidaridad, illustrates the stark value disparity with specific examples. In one analysis cited, a kilogram of ground coffee sold for €8.06 on a German shelf returns just €0.41, or about 4%, to the producer. The study argues that the coffee sector is structurally subsidized by unpaid family labor, which, if valued at local minimum wage, would push production costs above the selling price. Furthermore, the report notes that the share of final retail value remaining in producing countries has plummeted from approximately 30% in the early 1990s to around 10% today, even as production volumes have nearly doubled.
A key theme in the 2026 edition is the concept of “greenhushing,” where companies are reducing public sustainability reporting to avoid scrutiny. The report observes a trend of replacing independent, third-party certifications with proprietary, second-party verification systems. This corresponds with a decline in the global share of coffee produced under Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS), which peaked at 47% in 2021 and fell to 37% by 2024. The analysis also highlights that the top four publicly traded coffee companies distributed between $18 and $24 billion to shareholders in 2024 alone, illustrating where financial priorities in the sector are often directed.