November arrives and with it a wave of promotions, countdowns, and promises of unbeatable discounts. Black Friday has become a global consumption phenomenon, and the pressure to participate reaches every sector, including coffee shops and roasters. But at Consciencia Cafe, we choose not to participate. This is not a whim: it is a position that reflects our core values about coffee, labor, and respect for the entire production chain.
The Problem With Aggressive Discounts on Coffee
To understand why Black Friday does not make sense in the specialty coffee world, you need to understand how a quality coffee is priced.
The Real Cost of a Cup
When you drink a specialty coffee at a cafe, the price you pay reflects a long and complex chain of labor. It begins at the farm, where the producer invests months of care in cultivation, selective harvesting, and post-harvest processing. Then comes the roasting, which requires equipment, energy, technical expertise, and rigorous quality control. There is the logistics of transport and storage. And finally, at the coffee shop, there is the preparation by a trained barista, using calibrated equipment and filtered water, in a space maintained with rent, energy, and staff.
Each of these stages has a real cost. When a coffee shop offers aggressive discounts, someone in the chain absorbs the difference. Historically, the one who suffers most is the person at the base: the farmer.
The Vicious Cycle of Discounting
Discounts of 50 percent or more, common during Black Friday, create an expectation in the consumer that the discounted price is the “real” price of the product. If a coffee that normally costs a certain amount is sold for half, the consumer begins to question whether it was ever truly worth the original price. This reasoning erodes the perceived value not just of a specific product but of the entire category.
In specialty coffee, this is particularly damaging. The price difference between a commercial coffee and a specialty coffee reflects real differences in quality, traceability, and fair remuneration. When we equalize prices through discounts, we erase those distinctions and teach consumers to make decisions based solely on the lowest price.
Transparent Pricing: Our Alternative
Instead of offering seasonal discounts, we practice a policy of transparent pricing year-round. This means our prices are set based on real costs and fair margins, and we are willing to explain how we arrive at each value.
How We Set Our Prices
Pricing at Consciencia Cafe considers the following factors:
- Green bean cost: we buy coffees scoring above 80 on the SCA scale, from identified producers, at prices that adequately compensate their work
- Roasting: energy costs, roaster depreciation, the roast master’s time, and natural process losses (coffee loses between 12 and 20 percent of its weight during roasting)
- Logistics: transportation, storage under proper temperature and humidity conditions, and packaging with degassing valves
- Shop operations: rent, utilities, equipment maintenance, filtered water, disposables, and all the costs of keeping the space running
- Team: salaries, benefits, and ongoing training for our baristas
- Margin: a percentage that allows reinvestment in the business, equipment improvements, and financial sustainability of the operation
When you understand these components, you realize that the price of a specialty coffee is not arbitrary. It is the result of a value chain where each link receives its fair share.
Valuing the Producer: Fair Price, Better Coffee
The relationship between price and quality in coffee is not merely an ethical question — it is a practical one. When the producer receives a fair price for their work, they have the resources to invest in better cultivation practices, more rigorous selective harvesting, and more careful post-harvest processing. This results in superior quality beans, which in turn produce more complex and flavorful beverages in the cup.
The Positive Cascade Effect
When a producer is fairly compensated, they can:
- Invest in botanical varieties with superior sensory quality
- Perform manual selective harvesting, picking only fruit at the ideal ripeness
- Dedicate more time and resources to post-harvest processing, whether washed, natural, or honey
- Maintain permanent, well-paid labor rather than relying on precarious seasonal workers
- Adopt sustainable soil management and water conservation practices
This virtuous cycle is the opposite of what happens when the chain is squeezed by discounts. When the producer receives less, they cut costs, and quality drops. When quality drops, the consumer loses. Everyone loses.
Direct Trade and Long-Term Relationships
At Consciencia Cafe, we prioritize long-term relationships with producers. Knowing the origin of the coffee, understanding the production conditions, and paying a price that reflects the real value of the work is not just a commercial practice. It is a stance we believe is essential for the sustainability of specialty coffee as a whole.
Here at the Triple Border, where Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay meet, we are uniquely positioned to understand the importance of fair trade across borders. The coffee culture of South America runs deep, and every cup we serve carries that heritage.
What Happens When Consumers Are Educated by Discounts
Black Friday, as advantageous as it may seem for consumers in the short term, creates distortions of perception that harm everyone in the long run.
The “Promotional Price” Expectation
When a consumer buys coffee at 50 percent off, their brain registers that as the reference price. From then on, the normal price is perceived as “expensive.” This creates a cycle where the consumer waits for the next promotion to buy, the retailer needs to offer increasingly aggressive discounts to attract sales, and the entire chain is progressively squeezed.
The Commoditization of Specialty Coffee
Specialty coffee differentiates itself precisely by not being a commodity. Each lot has an origin, a story, a sensory profile, and a score. When we treat specialty coffee with the same discount logic applied to industrialized products, we are commoditizing something that by definition is not a commodity.
We believe consumers deserve to understand what they are buying. We do not want to sell coffee at the lowest possible price. We want to sell coffee at a fair price and ensure that every person who drinks our coffee knows that their cup represents honest work at every stage.
Conscious Consumption as an Alternative
Instead of a race for discounts, we propose a different approach: conscious consumption. This means making informed choices, understanding the impact of each purchase on the production chain and the environment.
What You Can Do
- Ask about the origin of the coffee you consume: where it comes from, who produced it, how it was processed
- Value the barista’s work: the person preparing your coffee has invested time and money in training to deliver the best possible cup
- Prefer quality over quantity: one excellent cup satisfies more than three mediocre ones
- Understand that a low price is not always a good deal: a bad coffee is expensive at any price because it does not deliver the experience you deserve
- Support businesses that practice transparency: when a coffee shop or roaster explains their prices, they are demonstrating respect for you and for the chain
A Position That Goes Beyond Coffee
When we say we do not do Black Friday, we are not simply saying no to a commercial date. We are affirming a set of values that guides everything we do: transparency, respect for the production chain, consumer education, and sustainability of the business and the relationships it involves.
The coffee you drink at Consciencia Cafe costs what it costs because it is worth what it is worth. Every cent has a destination and a purpose. And that is true in November, in March, in July, or any other month of the year.
Whether you are a local resident or a traveler exploring the wonders of Iguazu Falls and the vibrant Triple Border region, our commitment remains the same: to offer the best coffee possible, prepared with excellence, in a welcoming space, at a price that does justice to everyone involved.
Visit Consciencia Cafe and experience the taste of fairly priced coffee, where every cup carries respect for the producer, the barista, and you.