FAQ

General Information about FarmersCorner.org

What is the difference between doing business the current way and using FarmersCorner.org?
FarmersCorner.org is an eCommerce platform that combines technology and marketing to provide the coffee market with the needed tools to streamline the coffee import/export process to the benefit of every player in the coffee market, especially farmers.

FarmersCorner.org dramatically changes the coffee export and import process by providing a single platform to carry out coffee related business. FarmersCorner.org does core function is to market the platform and to provide an online space for different players in the coffee industry to transact business. FarmersCorner.org, therefore, is not a licensed dealer nor a licensed marketer of coffee but simply an online platform. Consider FarmersCorner.org as an online social platform dedicated for coffee.

Below you can see the main legacy model of exporting/importing coffee in relation to Europe.

The above model has been in use for many decades and though it is tried and proven to work, many coffee farmers and importers feel too tied to the old model and would like to have a more dynamic, automated, and online model that democratises the entire coffee industry enabling small players to enjoy the benefits brought along by technology.

Below is FarmersCorner.org's current business model. Not only does the model cover import/export tasks, the model allows small farmers, freight/logistics, and roasters/baristas in source countries to play an integral role in streamlining the entire process and in turn this enables increased trade and consumption of coffee.



With FarmersCorner.org, the licensed farmer (worldwide farmers) is able to directly enter the highly competitive trading platform with little barrier to entry. The buyer is also able to source coffee at great prices worlwide from different sellers from a single platform.

FarmersCorner.org provides a valid and easy to implement Environment, Social, and Governance model that provides true long-term and sustainable model for all players in the coffee industry.

What is the difference between a Buyer Customer (less than 1 tonne) and a Seller Customer (or Buyer more than 1 tonne)?
A Seller Customer is a company/organisation or a sole-proprietor (like a Barista) that wants to transact business on FarmersCorner.org

A Seller Customer is the only entity able to list products and services on FarmersCorner.org and is the only entity able to be paid for services and products delivered through FarmersCorner.org

Organisations such as import agents from countries foreign/local to the source of product must register as Sellers if they want to transact business. There is no loophole.

A Buyer Customer on the other hand is an individual who wants to purchase products less than 1 tonne a year or services from Sellers listed on FarmersCorner.org

FarmersCorner.org will not have a registration fee or charges for Buyers.

What are FarmersCorner.org's fees/charges
FarmersCorner.org will not have hidden fees.
There is no registration fee to be paid by all Sellers or Buyers regardless of what time they joined.
However, there is a 2% transaction fee on all transaction. If the buyer pays using bank transfer, FarmersCorner.org charges the seller 2% of the transaction fee plus standard bank/card transfer fees/charges.
If the customer pays using card (debit/credit), FarmersCorner.org charges Stripe.com's transaction fee plus 2% of the total gross transaction cost to the seller.
It is therefore cheaper to use the bank transfer method in some cases but more efficient to use cards. It all depends with the buyer.
Once the transaction is deemed completed by the seller (e.g. seller has met FOB or FOT obligations and transported goods) to point of delivery, FarmersCorner.org will release the money to the seller's registered account.
That's it! No other costs.

What is FarmersCorner.org's Bank Account?
IBAN : SE5250000000053081015227
BIC-Code : ESSESESS
Bankgiro : 429-8782


N.B. For buyers, please make sure you get a transfer reference number from the transaction checkout to make sure that your payment is easy to reference to the purchase.

What is FarmersCorner.org's main currency
FarmersCorner.org will only transact and display prices in Kenyan Shillings.
All listed prices will be in Kenyan Shillings.
Conversions will be carried out by the payment method's issuing bank or other bank/merchant processing service.
All transactions will be remitted to the buyer/receiver in Kenyan Shillings' equivalent. The farmer, marketer, other exporters, insurance agents, freight companies, and insurance agent should first convert the value of their products and services to Kenyan Shillings and list their price based on the value. It is also prudent to add a minimal conversion fee to the list price. The seller may also open a Kenyan Shilling account in their respective banks so that exchange rate fees are avoided.

What is FarmersCorner.org's minimum Farm Gate price?
FarmersCorner.org will always set the minimum coffee price per kilo on the site to prevent undercutting, regardless of the prevailing market conditions. This farm gate price is price of coffee after it is converted to parchment.
Currently, the farm gate minimum coffee price is 700 Kenyan Shillings per kilo.

How can farmers gain from FarmersCorner.org? Coffee farmers worldwide can start gaining, through FarmersCorner, right after harvest before transferring their harvest to cooperatives, brokers, or for sale. Farmers who transact their harvest through farmers corner create a record in FarmersCorner.org that they have a certain capacity. This information is shared with investors such as investment banks, Venture Capitalists, philanthropists, and other investors who in turn use this information to determine which geographical area is best to invest in.
This means farmers who make KES 110 to KES 500 a kilo can receive investments such as processing equipment, roasting equipment, and packaging machines as well as input for logistical support that enable the farmer to make KES 6500 to KES 10000 for the same kilo of coffee!
The farmer therefore is encouraged to register as a Seller on FarmersCorner.org at the earliest possible time so as to be familiar with the system and to ensure that the farmer has built up a rapport that is useful for investors.
FarmersCorner.org supports movement of crop from harvest using the Direct From Farm link and this ensures that the farmer is able to actively participate in the KES 400 trillion a year coffee industry.
FarmersCorner.org does not make empty promises. FarmersCorner.org intends to work with farmers as a team so as together we can improve on the livelihood of farmers. If farmers want to earn more from their produce, farmers must stop being ignorant of the coffee market place and make deals with market players to ensure that they export processed, roasted, and packaged coffee that is ready for the end consumer. This means building capacity for farmers to interact with their various cooperatives and make sure farmers do not lose ownership of their produce until sale to the end consumer. FarmersCorner.org will work with all stake holders (farmers included) to make sure that farmers receive the best deal available in the prevailing market.

From which countries does FarmersCorner.org source coffee from

FarmersCorner.org and laws of Kenya and EU Laws FarmersCorner.org's development and finance operations are partly maintained in the European Union and Kenya hence FarmersCorner.org has to follow laws and regulations of the land so as to avoid legal problems, this includes adhering to sanctions and bank procedures.

EU Sanctions List

Baristas/Roasters listed on FarmersCorner.org
Baristas and Roasters listed on FarmersCorner.org are either professionally licensed or have a proven track record. Baristas and Roasters will register as Organisation Customers and they will be listed based on the main flavours of coffee that they blend or coffee varieties that they have personal experience with.

How do Baristas/Roasters listed on FarmersCorner.org earn money?
There are very many channels of earning money as a Listed Barista on FarmersCorner.org

First there is the ability to sell knowledge as books listed on FarmersCorner.org's website. Baristas and Roasters can sell their knowledge to private individuals, small scale businesses, or large scale producers/manufacturers. Coffee Baristas and Roasters determine the quality of coffee worldwide and FarmersCorner.org recognises their very important input into the coffee value-chain.

Coffee Baristas and Roasters listed on FarmersCorner.org can also advertise their own brands, or even brands of coffee they have sampled for large, medium, or small organisations hence creating a revenue stream from sampled brands that partner with them as well as revenue streams from the Barista's or Roaster's own brands.

Coffee Baristas and Roasters will also get exposure in the niche cofee barista/roaster market and be able to sell their services on FarmersCorner.org to private people, small scale businesses, or even large scale producers/manufacturers in order to provide their services in a high-demand market.

Another possible avenue of revenue for Listed Coffee Baristas and Roasters is sale of machinery for private use, small scale businesses, or even large scale businesses. Listed Coffee Baristas and Roasters can give advice on which machines to use for a specific blend or specific flavour and in turn generate revenues from the manufacturer of the machines.

The machines selected by Listed Baristas and Roasters may be listed on FarmersCorner.org but it should be clear that when FarmersCorner.org earns money from adverts or possible sale of the machinery, FarmersCorner.org will only charge 2% of machine's listed sale price in advance for listing the product. This means that the Listed Coffee Barista and Roasters who links to or advertises the machinery will not get paid from/by FarmersCorner.org for the linked product placements.

FarmersCorner.org also reserves the right to get into purchase agreement deals, or any business arrangements, with machinery manufacturers and dealers that benefit only FarmersCorner.org and the manufacturer or dealers, hence it is prudent for the FarmersCorner.org Listed Baristas and Roasters to be recognised by the manufacturer as dealers and then make advertising and marketing deals with FarmersCorner.org directly as dealers.

Page updated 08-September-2022