...Mountain Coffee Roasters: A Good Cup of Java In the beautiful mountains of Vermont, you will find the home of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR). In 1981, Robert Stiller, the company founder, while vacationing at a ski resort in Waitsfield, VT found a cup of coffee so good that he bought the company. At the time, Green Mountain was a small, specialty coffee store, and nobody would have imagined that GMCR would become one of the world's leading specialty coffee makers. Today GMCR is recognized for its award-winning coffees, innovative brewing technology, and socially responsible business practices. Reaching this point, however, was not easy and forced GMCR to master their marketing strategies in order to survive the competition. In a time and age when 'environmentally responsible' has become the latest buzzword in social and environmental responsibility is not a trendy marketing move. It is a key concept that has been part of the company's core commitment and values from the time when it was housed in a tiny storefront cafe. In fact, Green Mountain has been named one of the Top 100 Most Socially Conscious Corporations by Business, Inc. for two years running. The company's production plant has been certified organic since 1997, and they remain committed to offering high quality, completely organically grown coffee as a major part of their offerings. In addition to their commitment to organically grown coffee, GMCR supports sustainable coffee production...
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...Globalizations June 2008, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 259 –274 Are Sustainable Coffee Certifications Enough to Secure Farmer Livelihoods? The Millenium Development Goals and Nicaragua’s Fair Trade Cooperatives ´ ´ CHRISTOPHER M. BACONÃ , V. ERNESTO MENDEZÃÃ , MARIA ´ EUGENIA FLORES GOMEZÃÃÃ , DOUGLAS STUARTÃÃÃÃ , & SANDRO ´ ´ RAUL DIAZ FLORESÃÃÃÃÃ Ã University of California, Santa Cruz, USA University of Vermont, USA ÃÃÃ ´ Asociacion de Mujeres Contra La Violencia, Oyanka, Jalapa, Nicaragua ÃÃÃÃ Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Nicaragua, Nicaragua ÃÃÃÃÃ ´ ´ CII-ASDENIC, Edificio Casa Estelı, Estelı, Nicaragua ÃÃ ABSTRACT In December 2001, green coffee commodity prices hit a 30-year low. This deepened the livelihood crisis for millions of coffee farmers and rural communities. The specialty coffee industry responded by scaling up several sustainable coffee certification programs, including Fair Trade. This study uses household- and community-level research conducted in Nicaragua from 2000 to 2006 to assess the response to the post-1999 coffee crisis. A participatory action research team surveyed 177 households selling into conventional and Fair Trade markets in 2006. In an effort to dialogue with specialty coffee industry and mainstream development agencies, results are framed within the context of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Findings suggest that households connected to Fair Trade cooperatives experienced several positive impacts in education...
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...evidence from the literature with regard to the actual impact of the system. The results show that the standards set by Fairtrade are actually fair for their farmers, however a lack of transparency and traceability hinders their proper implementation. Furthermore, Fairtrade standards appear to have even negative effects on farmers that are not part of their organisation caused by rough price competitions as well as on the society as a whole since it hinders an autonomous development of the poor nations. Key Words: Fair Trade, Standards, Developing countries, Livelihood 1 1. Introduction The rising globalization has brought a lot of opportunities to developing countries since their agricultural products can now easily be purchased from all over the world. Due to poor economic, social and political conditions, their producers are however often underpaid and treated badly, while major corporations make the most profit out of it. While moral concerns about the origin of products are arising more and more within the last centuries in the western world, the willingness to pay extra for good worker treatment is of high interest for international trade. With the aim to support the poorest, Fairtrade international has been established in the 1980ies. Their idea is to offer producers a better deal and improved terms of trade by building partnerships between producers in developing countries and consumers in developed countries. The developing...
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...Describe the convergence of sustainability and CSR and elaborate on its implications. Facilitation/presentation This week’s tutorial is centred on the ‘fair trade’ aspects of coffee industry and its CSR implications. Facilitating/presenting team is required to conduct research on real life examples of the coffee industry in relation to the social and environmental issues and present some of the findings in order to further the understanding of CSR in the beginning (these can be Youtube videos, newspaper articles, media releases, company websites etc.). Following the presentation, the team should use the case study below (and the following questions) to steer sub-group discussions. Once each of the sub-groups have completed their discussion, the facilitators/presenters will share their collated information with the whole class. The team is welcome to use their own case study in consultation with the tutor. | |CSR Case study (Based on Kolk, 2012 and Arce, 2009) | |[pic] | | | |Coffee is a major international commodity and because of this, coffee production has the potential for...
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...1. Is it important for coffee marketers such as Starbucks, Kraft, and Nestle to create “ethical supply chains” Why? In today’s global marketplace it is imperative for organizations to transform their brands and create an ethical supply chain. No longer do “old style” metrics depict the actual value of a brand. The world’s consumers have increasingly become aware of the true costs involved in the production and distribution of an item. Currently, there is a dire need to realize the historically ignored social, environmental, and personal impact throughout the supply chain. Ethical supply chain management in the coffee industry has been addressed through the implementation of the Fair Trade program. This program ensures that coffee bean growers in impoverished countries receive a reasonable wage for their harvest (www.globalexchange.org). In the past, market fluctuation, bean surpluses, and currency disparity severely affected growers’ income worldwide. With such an enormous global demand for coffee, it is sound business practice to compensate these workers fairly and encourage sustainable farming practices. This will decrease the environmental damage caused by the production of beans, leading to a more secure crop supply – positively impacting the coffee market at large. 2. A recent study by the UK’s Institute of Grocery Distribution determined that the majority of consumers do not buy fair trade products. The report noted, “self-interest is at the center of food choice for...
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...Case 3-2 Case8-2 Marketing An Industrial Product In Latin America Case 14-2 – Marketing an Industrial Product in Latin America 1) The Sales Manager, in this case, had already predetermined the outcome of his stay and the time frame this would occur in without taking the country and its cultural norms into the equation. Cultural norms ‘are sometimes referred to as the way things are done around here’ (Human Resource Institute, 2006) and despite getting a way to conduct himself as well as guidance to follow the lead of the commercial attaché, the sales manager, was more concerned about the sale than about the relationship he needed to forge with the purchasing manager. The Purchasing Manager, used to being heavily involved in the daily process of meeting suppliers and sales people, seems the person who would take them through the process of discovering if they were purely there for a quick sale, or if there were looking at forging a relationship with him and his company. Understanding the irritability factor from his secretary of the sales manager when at his office, sensing his uneasiness at understanding the time constraints on the purchasing manager with the myriad of calls and details he had to go through during the meeting would have already set him off to stereotype the sales manager to being very ‘American’ wanting things his way and not interested in the cultural significance the purchasing manager himself brought to the table with his books on poetry....
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...organizations can work together, illustrated with examples from the Fair Trade movement. Corinne Damlamian “Senior Honors Thesis” “Submitted to the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program at the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for Honors” Thesis Advisor: Professor David Ludden May 2006 ~ Acknowledgements ~ I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to my thesis advisor, Professor Ludden of the History Department for his guidance and advice this semester. Thank you also to Dr. Danielle Warren of the Wharton School Legal Studies Department, for taking the time in her busy end-of-semester schedule to read my paper and give me much appreciated feedback. Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to my friends and family for their encouragement and support. Special thanks to my parents, especially to my mother for being the person who first sparked my interest in sustainable development which has driven me to write this paper. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction PART I: Corporate-NGO partnerships in general A- The emerging trend of corporate-NGO partnerships B- Benefits of corporate-NGO partnerships C- Difficulties of partnerships and requirements for successful implementation PART II: Corporate-NGO partnerships in the ethical trade movement A- Lessons drawn from the Body Shop’s Community Trade Program B- Case study of a successful partnership in Sustainable Coffee: Starbucks and...
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...Overcoming the Coffee Crisis Coffee is one of the most widely traded, produced, and consumed commodities in the world today, while globally, 2.5 billion cups of coffee are consumed daily (Ponte 2002, 1099) The drink itself is thoroughly enjoyed by many people, however the process of obtaining this desired commodity is economically and socially costly for many small or individual coffee farms. Many farmers and farm workers struggle to provide for themselves and their families due to the low prices paid by exporters, importers, and middlemen for their raw coffee beans. Some countries, however, have begun to implement regulations and guidelines in order to divert the uneven economical effects on the livelihoods of small farm owners and workers. We will discover that fair trade is the most vital system for small farm owners and workers who are looking to prosper in the coffee industry. Additionally, we will explore the façade that fair trade imposes to mainstream society and how the reality of fair trade is being obstructed by said façade. From raw coffee beans to the liquid cup of coffee we know and love, let’s now set out on a voyage to uncover the strains that are evoked on the people involved in the production process of this highly sought after commodity and ways in which the industry is evolving to facilitate small farm employees needs for sustainable livelihoods. Fair trade can provide peripheral economies with a sustainable coffee industry. Our journey begins in the southern...
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...Case study analysis on JUST US! CAFES SUBMITTED TO: - SUBMITTED BY:- Dr. D.D Swain Ajay Pratap Singh Professor (Marketing) PGDM 2012-2014 INTRODUCTION Just Us! (JU) Café is the leading Fair Trade (FT) coffee cooperative, wholesaler and retailer in Nova Scotia, Canada, and United States. JU vision is “to be a leading Fair Trade business that builds on quality, professionalism and innovation for the benefit of all their stakeholders”. JU core differentiation is selling FT and organic model which is social and environmental responsibility, premium quality. As FT market is growing, JU is looking for expanding its current business or developing a new product line to maintain current market share. Meantime, they facing challenges from having compete with several big brands (ie such as Starbuck, Mcdonald, Kraft who also introduce the FT certified coffees, or Rainforest Alliances certified coffees) and small coffee shops to retain its brand recognition of its customers who request an unique and appealing products. Following are the results from this paper: 1. Market for coffee and tea is in growing, which encourage Just Us! to invest more to expand their market share, compare to sugar and cocoa. 2. Our target segment is mostly those young and educated, say college...
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...Case Study: Starbucks and Conservational International Tutorial 104 Yifan Wang 20408850 1. Discuss the rationale for, as well as the benefits and risk of the collaboration between Starbucks and Conservation International (CI) from each party's perspective. The collaboration between Starbucks and Conservation International is actually win-win strategy. They both would like to develop a partnership to leverage their expertise. The rationale for the collaboration is that they need to find common ground. There is space for both of them to improve each other. Starbucks: Benefits: * Sourcing stable and high-quality products from farmers, * Enhanced social reputation in terms of its contributions to environment and society, * Become more competitive with the support of NGOs Risk: * Farmer lack information about market’s expectation, * Guarantee loans to farmers * Lack of support from the whole industry CI: Benefits: * realizing CI’s mission to preserve the environment and biodiversity in the buffer zone * Farmers get financial supporting and gain more earnings, * Great experience with Starbucks, and enhanced social reputation Risk: * Shift attention from field-based projects to advocacy policy and scientific research, * Farmers are lack of business and commercialization skills and the geographic isolation of the coffee communities, 2. Contrast the relationship between Starbucks and CI with that of Starbucks and...
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...Mystic Monk Coffee Case Study Assignment Questions 1. Has Father Daniel Mary established a future direction for the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming? What is his vision for the monastery? What is his vision for Mystic Monk Coffee? What is the mission of the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming? 1) The future direction of the monastery was to develop a strategic vision to achieve the purchase of a land to further expand the operations of the monastery. That is, the monastery would use the funding from donations and the coffee-roasting operations. However, operations of the coffee business would need to be further expand and improve in order to obtain the funding that would allow the monastery to achieve its vision and mission. 2) The biggest vision of Father Daniel Mary for the monastery included expanding it by acquiring the Irma Lake ranch for its current listed price of $8.9 million. This would enable to build a retreat center, a Gothic church, a convent for Carmelite nuns, hermitage and transform the small brotherhood of 13 monks to 30. 3) The vision of the Mystic Monk Coffee was to make the vision for the monastery a reality, by “turning the coffee into the land”; its profits will be towards purchasing the required land to expand the monastery; the main vision. 4) The mission of the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming was to be able to earn money to sustain themselves and be able to buy the Irma Lake ranch and further expand from 13 monks to 30 and build a gothic church, retreat...
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...Case Study รศ.ดร.นิตยา วงศ์ธาดา คณะบริหารธุรกิจ สถาบันบัณฑิตพัฒนบริหารศาสตร์ จบปริญญาเอก สาขา Marketing จาก University of Tennessee, สหรัฐอเมริกา ผ่านประสบการณ์สอนด้านการตลาดทั้งระดับ ปริญญาตรี และโท ที่ George Mason University, สหรัฐอเมริกา, อาจารย์ใน Department of World Business ที่ American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) สหรัฐอเมริกา นอกจากนี้ ยังได้เก็บเกี่ยวประสบการณ์ด้านงานวิจัย ร่วมทำวิจัยกับอาจารย์ทั้งในและต่างประเทศ เช่น งานวิจัยเรื่องโอกาสและ อุปสรรคของผู้ส่งออกไทย SME แก่ Asia Productivity Center ของประเทศญี่ปุ่น และยังเข้ารับการฝึกอบรมจาก โปรเฟสเซอร์ ไมเคิล อี พอร์เตอร์ มหาวิทยาลัย Harvard เพื่อเป็นอาจารย์สอนในวิชา Microeconomics of Competitiveness (MOC) ที่นิด้า และยังมีผลงานด้านการเขียนกรณีศึกษาเรื่องการพัฒนาเศรษฐกิจของไทย ที่มีผลกระทบต่อการพัฒนาความสามารถในการแข่งขันคลัสเตอร์ของไทยในตลาดโลก 1 Starbucks Coffee CSR ในหลากมิติ ความรับผิดชอบต่อสังคมของบริษัท (Corporate Social Responsibility : CSR) เป็นสิ่งที่มีการกล่าวถึงกันมากในวงการธุรกิจของสหรัฐ ยุโรป และเริ่มแผ่ ขยายมาในภูมิภาคอื่นของโลก รวมถึงไทย ว่าเป็นแนวทางการทำธุรกิจที่เหมาะสมในโลกที่เต็มไปด้วยปัญหาสังคม และวิปริตทางธรรมชาติเกิดบ่อยขึ้นจากการทำลาย สิ่งแวดล้อม บริษัทที่แสวงหากำไรก็น่าจะมีส่วนร่วมรับผิดชอบในเรื่องนี้ Case Study 41 ในอดีตนั้นบริษัทมีจุดมุ่งหมายหลักคือ การ ทำกำไรให้กิจการและผู้ถือหุ้น การช่วยเหลือ สังคมของธุรกิจเป็นเพียงแค่ผิวเผินและหวัง ผลทางการประชาสัมพันธ์มากกว่า แต่เมื่อ ผู้บริโภค และ NGOs สามารถติดตามการ ทำธุรกิจของบริษัทโดยผ่านสื่อต่างๆ...
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...Content Content | 1 | Case I | 2 | Case II | 11 | Case III | 20 | References | 30 | Coursework | 31 | Case Study I The Globalization of Starbucks Thirty years ago, Starbucks was a single store in Seattle’s Pike Place Market selling premium-roasted coffee. Today it is a global roaster and retailer of coffee with some 17,000 stores, 40% of which are in 50 countries outside the United States. Starbucks set out on its current course in the 1980s when the company’s director of marketing, Howard Schultz, came back from a trip to Italy enchanted with the Italian coffeehouse experience. Schultz, who later became CEO, persuaded the company’s owners to experiment with the coffeehouse format – and the Starbucks experience was born. The strategy was to sell the company’s own premium-roasted coffee and freshly brewed espresso-style coffee beverages, along with a variety of pastries, coffee accessories, teas, and other products, in a tastefully designed coffeehouse setting. From the outset, the company focused on selling a “third place” experience, rather than just the coffee. The formula led to spectacular success in the US, where Starbucks went from obscurity to one of the best-known brands in the country with over 137,000 employees and $10.7 billion in annual revenues. Thanks to Starbucks, coffee stores became places for relaxation, chatting with friends, reading the newspaper, holding business meetings, or (more recently) browsing the Web. In 1995, with 700 stores...
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...organic, fair trade or organic and fair- trade coffee. Products with these labels emphasis the certifications like a medal presented by the social norm. Majority of consumer population assumes more certifications proves better quality of the product. This common assumption of the quality is true to certain degree, but it is more important to understand the labels than to look for them. "Fair trade" and the "organic" are often preferred in the market for the concern of the justice, and health; but how fair is fair trade? How healthy is organic? The concern of fair trade is limited to coffee farms, but often referred to coffee movement. Fair trade coffee system is built around members of small farms working with certifiers and companies to make sure that farmers are paid consistent price for their coffee regardless of the fluctuation of the market, Jaffee stated that the "difference [that] is most dramatic during crisis" (Jaffee 94). The biggest benefits for the fair-trade farmer is economic stability since fair trade system guarantees consistent minimum. As member of fair trade organization, farmers will receive their profit throughout the year instead of once on entire agriculture season, which forces individual farmers to manage their income and spread it out through the year. Stable income results...
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...Research – Coffee Confidential: Not for distribution or publication The Coffee Market – a Background Study Oxfam: International Commodity Research – Coffee Confidential: Not for distribution or publication Acknowledgements This background study was written by Oliver Brown, Celine Charveriat and Dominic Eagleton. The authors want to thank the following persons for their useful comments: Mehmet Arda, Maria Jose Barney, Bart Ensing, Penny Fowler, Brian Lewin, Lamon Rutten, Denis Seudieu, Robert Simmons, Marcelle Strazer, Kevin Watkins, Michael Wheeler and Pete Williams. i Oxfam: International Commodity Research – Coffee Confidential: Not for distribution or publication EXECUTIVE SUMMARY '[When prices are low] , we sacrifice a lot in the way of clothing, tools and food. We can’t afford meat, we had to buy other parts of the animal which were inferior. We can’t eat eggs, or drink milk...When the children get ill we don’t have the money to take them to the doctor… One always lives with uncertainty, always in debt; it's always borrow here, borrow there; we live dependent on credit... Of course, there is no peace living with such uncertainty. You don't know whether to take out a loan or not because you could lose the money you've invested.’ Vitelio Menza, small coffee producer in Colombia1 Providing livelihoods to farmers in developing countries is a crucial challenge for reducing world poverty. When fairly priced, export crops, such as coffee or cocoa...
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