How Much Do Coffee Farmers Get Paid? The Real Numbers for 2026

You pay around £3 for a flat white, or about £10 for a bag of beans. But how much of that reaches the person who grew the coffee? Here are the real numbers, where the rest goes and what you can check before you buy.

How Much Do Coffee Farmers Get Paid? The Short Answer

Coffee farmers usually get between 7% and 15% of the retail value of a cup. Often it is far less.

That range comes from researchers at the University of Melbourne, writing in August 2026. In the UK, a Channel 4 Dispatches report put the farmer's share at about 1p of a £2.50 café coffee.

That 1p figure is old and open to debate. But the point stands. The person who grows the coffee earns a tiny slice of what you pay.

In money terms, most farmers are paid per kilo of coffee cherry or green bean. Prices vary hugely by country, by quality and by year. So there is no single wage. The sections below show real figures.

Where Your Coffee Money Goes: From Farm to Cup

Coffee passes through many hands before it reaches you. Each step adds cost, and each step takes a share.

1. The farmer grows and picks the coffee cherries. Many sell the fresh cherry to a mill or a co-operative.
2. The mill or co-op processes the cherry into green beans, then dries and grades them.
3. The exporter sells the green coffee abroad. This is the "free on board" or FOB price.
4. The importer and roaster ship, store, roast, pack and sell the coffee.
5. The café or shop adds rent, staff, milk, cups and energy.

In a café, the coffee itself is only a small part of your bill. Rent, wages and milk take most of it. That is one reason the farmer's share looks so small.

Our rough maths for one mug at home

Roasting takes out water, so beans lose roughly 15% to 20% of their weight. A 15g mug of coffee starts as about 18g of green beans.

At the October 2026 market price, that green coffee is worth about 12 US cents. That is the export value. The farmer's own share is smaller still.

This is our own estimate, not an official figure. But it shows why a few extra pence per mug can make a real difference at the farm.

What Happened to Coffee Prices in 2025 and 2026?

Most coffee is priced off the New York arabica market, often called the "C price". It is quoted in US cents per pound of green coffee.

In February 2025 the C price hit an all time high of about 441 cents per pound. Poor harvests and weather in big growing countries pushed it up.

It has fallen since. By February 2026 it dropped to about 280 cents. On 22 October 2026 it sat near 305 cents, down about 25% on a year earlier.

Why high prices do not always help farmers

A record price sounds like good news for growers. Sometimes it is. But the swings are the problem.

A farmer plants for years ahead, and a coffee tree takes several years to crop well. When prices can move 35% in a year, planning is very hard. Costs like fertiliser and labour often rise and stay high, even when prices fall.

Many smallholders also sell through middlemen. They may not see the full benefit of a high price at all.

Watch: why record prices cut both ways

This video explains why record coffee prices can help and hurt farmers at the same time. It is a useful look behind the headlines.

Farm Gate Prices: 3 Real Examples From 2025 and 2026

The "farm gate" price is what the farmer actually receives. It is the number that matters most, and it is the hardest to find.

1. Kenya: up to about US$1.22 per kilo of cherry

In Kirinyaga County, co-operatives paid farmers between KES 104 and KES 157 per kilo of cherry in 2025/26. That is about US$0.80 to US$1.22.

The average was about KES 139. Local reports called these record payouts for the region.

2. Ethiopia: cherry prices tripled

In Ethiopia, cherry prices rose from about 80 birr to 240 birr per kilo in the 2025/26 harvest. That is roughly US$1.50 per kilo.

Fairtrade's living income reference price for Ethiopian garden coffee is 95 birr per kilo. So this harvest paid well above it. The question is whether prices hold.

3. Colombia: a sharp drop in 2026

Colombian growers sell by the "carga", a 125kg load of dried coffee. In June 2026 the internal price fell to about 2,005,000 pesos per carga.

That was the lowest level since September 2024. In November 2024 it had topped 2,650,000 pesos. A fall of around a quarter hits family budgets hard.

Why so many farmers still struggle

There are around 12.5 million coffee farms in the world, and about 95% are under five hectares. These small farms grow most of the world's coffee.

Research by Enveritas found that 44% of smallholder coffee farmers lived in poverty, and 22% in extreme poverty. Those figures are from 2019, before the recent price spike. But they show how thin the margins are.

For more on fair pay, see our explainer on living income coffee sourcing.

Does Fairtrade Pay Farmers More? The 2026 Numbers

Fairtrade sets a minimum price that acts as a safety net. If the market drops below it, buyers must still pay the minimum.

In July 2026, Fairtrade International announced new prices for green coffee:

• Washed arabica: up from US$1.80 to US$2.00 per pound, from 1 December 2026
• Natural arabica: up from US$1.75 to US$1.95 per pound
• Fairtrade Premium: stays at US$0.20 per pound, paid on top for community projects
• Organic extra: stays at US$0.40 per pound

The market has stayed above US$2.00 since March 2024. So right now, the minimum is a floor rather than a boost. The Premium still adds real money for co-ops to spend on schools, health and farming.

Fairtrade is not the only route. Our guide to direct trade vs fair trade coffee compares the two. Our post on what ethical coffee really means explains the labels.

How Direct Trade and Specialty Prices Compare

Specialty roasters often pay well above the C price for better quality. Some publish exactly what they pay.

• Norwegian roaster Tim Wendelboe paid an average FOB price of US$6.37 per pound in 2024. The average C price that year was US$2.43.
• Danish roaster Coffee Collective paid one Brazilian farm US$3.45 per pound in 2024. It said that was 122% above the market price.
• At Cup of Excellence auctions, the very best lots can sell for over US$180 per pound.

Those are exceptions, not the norm. But they show that quality and long term relationships can lift farm income well above the market.

Even then, the FOB price is not all farm income. Milling, transport and export costs come out first. That is why some roasters now publish farm gate prices too. Our guide to coffee pricing transparency explains the terms.

5 Things You Can Check as a Coffee Buyer

You cannot audit a farm from your kitchen. But you can ask good questions of the brand you buy from.

1. Does the roaster name the farm, co-op or region? Vague claims like "ethically sourced" tell you very little.
2. Do they publish prices? A few roasters share FOB or farm gate prices. That is the gold standard.
3. Do they buy year after year? Long term buying lets farmers plan and invest.
4. Is there a clear certification or programme? Fairtrade, organic or a named sourcing scheme all leave a trail.
5. Where do the profits go? Check whether a brand gives back, and to whom.

Our article on how to tell if your coffee really gives back goes further on that last point.

What we do at Creation Coffee

We are a small roaster, so we are honest about our scale. Each of our coffees has its own story, and we share what we know.

• Our Brazil Eagle Carmelo comes from the Café Delas programme, sourced 100% from women farmers. A portion of the profit goes back into programmes for gender equality.
• Our Colombia Planadas comes from 1,325 small organic growers in 25 farmer groups.
• Our Guatemala Jabiru comes from small producers whose farms average about 1.5 hectares.

We also give 10% of our profits to Compassion UK, which works with children living in poverty. Read how your coffee supports Compassion UK.

For us this comes from faith. We believe the people who grow our coffee deserve to be treated fairly. Read more on our Christian coffee roaster UK page. Our full approach is on our ethical coffee UK sourcing page.

Common Questions About Coffee Farmer Pay

• How much of a cup of coffee goes to the farmer?

  University of Melbourne researchers put it at around 7% to 15% of the retail value, and often far less. In a café, most of your money pays for rent, staff, milk and cups.

• How much does a coffee farmer earn per kilo?

  It depends on the country and the year. In Kenya's Kirinyaga County, farmers got about US$0.80 to US$1.22 per kilo of cherry in 2025/26. In Ethiopia, cherry reached about US$1.50 per kilo.

• Does Fairtrade pay coffee farmers more?

  Fairtrade sets a minimum price and adds a Premium of US$0.20 per pound. From 1 December 2026 the washed arabica minimum rises to US$2.00 per pound. When the market is higher, buyers pay the market price.

• Why are coffee farmers poor when coffee is expensive?

  Most coffee comes from small farms under five hectares. Prices swing a lot, costs stay high and many farmers sell through middlemen. Research in 2019 found 44% of smallholders lived in poverty.

• Do high coffee prices help farmers?

  They can, but the swings make planning hard. The arabica price hit a record in 2025, then fell about 25% by October 2026. Rising costs can also eat into the gains.

• How can I buy coffee that pays farmers fairly?

  Choose roasters that name the farm or co-op, share the prices they pay and buy year after year. A clear certification or sourcing programme also helps you check the claims.