Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Poverty is man-made, and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings
- Nelson Mandela
What do you believe?
Fourth Wave believes that by using technology, design, and innovative systems, we can transform the coffee industry into a force for positive change.
One where consumers have the power, and the means to provide financial assistance to coffee farmers in poverty; just by buying a cup of coffee. Where our partners find a perfect balance between benevolence, and financial sustainability. And where an entire industry can achieve carbon positivity, not just neutrality.
Funding model
Step 1
Partner with cafe
Step 2
Cafe contributes $0.05 to Fourth Wave every time they sell a coffee
Step 3
Fourth Wave invests contributions into coffee farming communities
Fourth Wave is in the process of building a network of coffee farming communities to provide benevolent relief to. Using local, and international partners, we will provide micro-loans, to be used to increase crop size, land mass, yield, and profitability.
To achieve our environmental goals, Fourth Wave will track the amount of carbon that is sequestered by coffee trees the farmers we help own. We can then sell carbon credits on their behalf, providing an additional source of income.
Currently, every coffee you drink has a carbon footprint of 100-300g. Part of Fourth Wave partner cafe's contribution will go towards offsetting their footprint, meaning their customers can feel good knowing their daily brew is carbon neutral.
Why would a cafe become a Fourth Wave partner?
For an average sized cafe, say 30kg/week, their annual contribution would be around $3,500.
- Fourth Wave is a recipient of Google's AdWords grant, worth $120,000 USD a year in advertising.
- We have partnered with leading companies in the coffee industry to provide cash incentives to cafes who sign up for their services.
- We will provide partnering cafes with a suite of effective marketing material to help grow their business.
- As a registered not-for-profit, all contributions made by cafes are fully tax deductible.
Once tax has been deducted and cash incentives provided, the reality is that the average cafe will only need to acquire 1-2 new customers to offset their contribution costs. In a consumer landscape with ever growing emphasis on making environmentally, and socially conscious buying decisions, we believe that this is a no brainer.
Net result? In all likelihood, not only will partner cafes provide the capital to change the lives of millions of coffee farmers, they will actually increase the profitability of their own businesses.
Head to our website to see more.
also
Check out a mock-up of our concept app designed to allow consumers to collect ‘coffee coins’ each time they buy a coffee, and use these to direct funds to farmers/farming communities of their choosing.
Credits:
Created with images by Kyle Johnson - "untitled image" • Leroy_Skalstad - "people portrait child poverty male black and" • youleks - "coffee beans sack burlap colombia bag coffee" • Helloquence - "untitled image" • Young_n - "coffee wood yellow bean growing plantation sunset" • Quangpraha - "da lat vietnam planting" • Clay Banks - "untitled image"