Coffee People ft. Etelle Higonnet, Coffee Watch RECAP!
The Coffee People recap of our recent episode featuring Etelle Higonnet of the non-profit industry watchdog Coffee Watch.
Full video posted below, or watch and/or listen to Coffee People on:
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Guests: Etelle Higonnet, Founder of Coffee Watch
Based: Copenhagen, Denmark + The World
What they drink: Oat Milk Lattes
Find Coffee Watch Online: www.coffeewatch.org
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PODCAST TAKEAWAYS:
It's our first Recap show. In the future, this may be audio-only. We're still experimenting with the process.
Our recent podcast guest Etelle Higonnet is the founder of Coffee Watch, an industry watchdog organization dedicated to, quote, "the proposition that we should make the world a better place with each cup of coffee." end quote.
After spending an hour with her and some time digging into the reports and content shared on coffeewatch.org about the coffee industry causing deforestation, worker exploitation, and climate impacts, I don't know how she manages to continue to laugh so freely and share an optimistic viewpoint that these challenges can be turned around.
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So to recap the episode as a reminder or if you didn't have a chance to listen all the way through.
- Etelle spent a dozen years working with Human Rights organizations like Amnesty International and UNICEF after graduating from Yale Law School. Eventually, the weight of that work caught up to her mentally, physically, and emotionally. It inspired a transition to working more on environmental and climate challenges with organizations like Greenpeace and Mighty Earth.
- Having a baby, a son, cemented her resolve to fight with everything she has to make the world a better place for him and his future.
- Supply chains are hard to follow, even if you are part of them.
- Coffee got problems! Some are more obvious than others. Etelle's effort with Coffee Watch is to shine a bright, unyielding light on those problems, offer up what they've found, and push for change.
- In the first year of the organization, Etelle learned that not everyone in coffee has been excited, or even willing, to hear what Coffee Watch has to say.
- NGO definition: NGO is an acronym for Non-Governmental Organization. NGOs are often, although not exclusively, non-profits that are funded, at least partially, by governments, but operate, at least partially, independently of said government.
- Deforestation definition: It is pretty much what it sounds like. It is the clear-cutting of forests by humans for a land use that isn't planting more forests. Only 31% of the Earth is covered by forest. The introduction of farming and agriculture has drastically reduced the land area covered by forests; in fact, it is the main driver of deforestation worldwide.
- I wish it were easier to break down the numbers, and there are so many numbers to indicate where we are in this phase of climate change and how farming of products like coffee causes some of that impact.
- Per Etelle, only a small percentage, like 2 to 2.5% of philanthropic giving, goes towards climate challenges, and even less specifically towards agriculture challenges (like coffee).
- Federal cuts to the programs that were operating under the USAID banner shine a light on how sometimes NGO's aren't ineffective because they waste money. They are ineffective because they don't have enough money to pay or attract the people with the right skills to do the jobs.
- USAID is another acronym. This one is for: United States Agency for International Development. USAID was dismantled in 2025 by the current Presidential administration during the first wave of DOGE barreling through the government. USAID was claimed to be ineffective in how it had been spending money. A claim which has been widely rebuked by investigative journalists and studies examining the effectiveness—an always challenging task with plenty of gray areas—of the programs supported by USAID funding.
- Coffee Watch is based in Denmark, the country Etelle calls home. A 2025 study published on Cafely, indicates that Denmark has a thriving coffee culture. They are sixth in coffee consumption per capita. Quite a bit higher than the U.S. which comes in at 24 on the list. The average Denmark'er drinks two cups of coffee per day, which is impressive considering they are the number one most the most expensive place to drink coffee paying an average of $5.40 per cup.
- Climate migration is a hard statistic to quantify. The line between people moving due to climate change isn't always clear. For example, my wife and I recently moved to the Pacific Northwest. One of the variables we were considering when narrowing down our choices was places where there would be enough water and where the weather may not become as extreme in our lifetime. We're not climate refugees, but it is definitely a factor in our decision-making.
- Don't fall into the trap of DOOMSCROLLING! Engage. Learn about the bad stuff, but only so you can work towards changing and fixing it. Do what you can to make things better. It doesn't have to be perfect. Buying better coffee, ethical coffee, shade-grown coffee is a start. Sharing it with others and encouraging them to buy better coffee, too, is the next step. There is an ethical coffee-buying guide on the Coffee Watch website.
- Etelle Higonnetonce charmed a pair of hitman in Gabon, a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa. It's about halfway up the coast of Africa, just below the elbow.
I'll close out this recap by asking: What is your reason for wanting a better future? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Etelle's is for her son and his future. Mine is for some weird intrinsic desire to leave things better than I found them so that the lovely people in my life that will outlive me, have a nice place to play...and also dogs. I assume my pup, Quito Whiskey Lemon Thundernuts, is immortal. I want to do what I can to make a better future for him and his future siblings, which includes drinking better coffee.
Coffee People is sponsored by our friends at Roastar. Their design templates making customization a more sustainable package for your coffee, tea, or snack food a breeze. Tell them Coffee People sent you!
Click through to listen to our classic interview with heart transplant recipient Matthew Hankes on YouTube.
