Preview

Fair Trade Coffee: Ethics, Religion, and Sustainable Production

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
885 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Fair Trade Coffee: Ethics, Religion, and Sustainable Production
ANSWER TO QUESTION 1: Is it important for coffee marketers such as Starbucks, Krafts and Nestle to create “ethical supply chains”? Why? Ethical supply chain means that companies undertakes the responsibility of managing and monitoring social/economical and environmental performances and issues in their supply chains especially at the lower end i.e. the primary producers ( coffee farmers).
Yes, it is important for coffee marketer to create ethical supply chains. Starbucks, Kraft, Nestle and are amongst the world best coffee brands.
Starbucks is yet another popular and well known global brand that has stemmed primarily from the global consumer culture that is characteristic of the twenty-first century. They are the largest coffeehouse company worldwide.
Kraft Foods Inc. is the third largest in the world after Nestle. Kraft boasts a wide range of worldwide and regionally marketed brands of coffee, of which the most popular include - Maxwell House, which is its leading coffee brand in the USA.
Nestle on the other hand, is most celebrated brand Nescafe is commonly used to refer to any instant coffee through brand generalization.
The fact above shows the power and favourable positions of these sorts of firms. It is important that these key players undertake this responsibility, because of the major role they play in the coffee industry they account for what happen to more than half of the commodity share. What and how they do will have a great impact and influence on the production of the commodity. More example we can see where they can relatively chose which suppliers they want to use and their capability to charge the customers with the premium prices. So as a major player in this industry they should use ethical trade practice in managing the social and environmental perspective of their supply chains as well as contribute to benefiting developing countries.
In addition, most of the non-western coffee farmers are not as knowledgeable as their western

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Coffee growers

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The strategies that are proposed in this clip for changing this situation are for coffee growers to adapt to the fair-trade market. Under the fair-trade market coffee growers will have the chance to a decent market price that will help increase their production.…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    * Herve R, (2004). The past, present and future of Starbucks corporation. Available: http://www.calarosbay.com/files/StarbucksCaseStudy.pdf. Last accessed 30 September 2011.…

    • 4211 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Coffee Crisis

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Coffee is the second most traded commodity on the world market. Its production and sale supports millions of families worldwide, but especially in developing countries.…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Strategic Initiative Paper

    • 1626 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Starbucks has a long-standing effort in ethical conduct and global responsibility. One of the major efforts is sourcing ethically grown coffee. For example, Starbucks’ Annual Report for the 2009 states that “the Company’s focus is on ethically sourcing high-quality coffee, reducing its environmental impacts, and contributing positively to communities. Starbucks Global Responsibility strategy and commitments are integral to the Company’s business strategy.” (Starbucks Corporation, 2009, Annual Report).…

    • 1626 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    “To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time ("Starbucks", 2012).” Starbucks mission is to not only provide the highest quality of coffee but also make a positive impact on the world. Ethisphere Institute over the last six years has selected the World’s Most Ethical Companies and Starbucks has made the list every year. What are the key components that make Starbucks one of the most ethical companies in the world? Starbucks has developed the Standard of Business Conduct guide for their financial environment, as well as the behavior of their employees. Starbucks uses strict regulations and a variety of audits to ensure their accountability. Starbucks financial performance over the past few years proves an ethically responsible company can be extremely profitable.…

    • 1351 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Coffee Crisis

    • 1618 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Osorio, N. (2002). ICO.org Documents/Global Crisis. International Coffee Organization. Retrieved May 4, 2012, from dev.ico.org/documents/globalcrisise.pdf…

    • 1618 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Walmart vs Starbcuks

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The purpose of this assignment is to analyze the sustainability strategy and Triple Bottom line of Starbucks and Walmart. As a consumer it was very interesting to learn more about two major corporations which I have invested in over the years. By analyzing their mission, values and core competencies I was able to assess which corporation has a more holistic approach toward implementing the Triple Bottom line. At the end it came down to ethics and based on this premise I am proud to say I am a loyal Starbucks consumer. The following analysis will compare Wal-Mart’s and Starbucks business ethics in regards to people, profit and planet. It will support my argument of Starbucks becoming a lovemark not by slashing prices but by focusing on the consumer experience. As Kevin Roberts states in his book The future beyond brands - lovemarks “If you were to say, name a brand that has managed to get big fast, make quality products, treat its people very well and respectfully, and understand the differences in economies and tastes in other parts of the world while continuing to grow, it will be Starbucks” (2004, p.120).…

    • 415 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ethical standards play an intricate role in safe guarding companies’ assets. To ensure that all employees understand what the company expects of them, Starbucks establishes procedures for the employees to follow. One of Starbucks’ procedures is to use “ethical trading and responsible growing practices” (Ethical Sourcing, 2011, para. 1). This procedure ensures that Starbucks’ product is the best on the market. Starbucks has also established Coffee and Farmed Equity (CAFE) Practices. The CAFE Practices are a set of measurable standards focused in four areas: Product Quality, Economic Accountability, Social Responsibility, and Environmental Leadership (Starbucks Corporation, 2011). The CAFE Practices are in place to ensure that all parties involved are conducting business ethically. Product Quality is essential to ensure repeat business. Economic Accountability is set in place to ensure that the company purchases products ethically. Starbucks has a third-party to evaluate Social Responsibility and Environmental Leadership (Starbucks Corporation, 2011). These two areas evaluated by a third-party, guarantees Starbucks…

    • 1633 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For six consecutive years in a row, Starbucks ranks as one of the most ethical companies in the world (“2012 World’s Most Ethical Companies”, 2012). This distinction went to organizations committed to ethical practices, portrayed through their governance indicating good financial…

    • 1545 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Coffee Crisis

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The coffee crisis is worldwide. It is affecting farmers in Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia. While the Arabica farmers in Costa Rica may be getting 40 cents per pound for their coffee cherries, the Robusta coffee farmers in Viet Nam are only receiving 15 cents a pound for theirs. Even the low cost producers are not benefiting from the current situation. This condition is created because the market place does not view coffee as a true commodity. It places premiums and discounts on both coffee types and coffee grades. While both markets may move up and down in tandem, the arbitrage, or spread between one Arabica and Robusta, does not give one farmer an economic competitive advantage over another. This fact tends to get glossed over in most economic…

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Neville, M. G. (2008). Positive deviance on the ethical continuum: Green Mountain Coffee as a case study in conscientious capitalism. Business and Society Review, 113, 555-576.…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Just as stated its business in 1995. It is considered to be the pioneer in the Fair Trade coffee roaster. The main focus was to place the people of the planet before profit. It was a new dimension to the business world with a message that the business could be done in a different way. They wanted to form a connection between the small scale organic coffee farmers and the consumers. Later they want to expand their business to tea, chocolate and sugar etc.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    This paper will review the efforts at Starbucks to become a sustainable corporate partner with its shareholders, employees and customers. Most importantly, it will examine how Starbucks has become a leader in corporate social responsibility and sustainability worldwide.…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    As part of my analysis of Toyota’s underlying concept of ethics for supply chain management, the following is five essential values implemented by Toyota:…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Slavery Case

    • 1181 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Corporate issues are ethical questions raised about a particular organization such as the morality of the activities, policies, practices, or organizational structure of an individual company taken as a whole. The middlemen grind and process cocoa beans they acquire from the Ivory Coast and sell the product to manufacturers that are mostly major chocolate companies. Having interactions with the cocoa farmers and being involved in buying and selling morally tainted cocoa beans makes the middlemen aware of the slavery labor problem. The chocolate manufacturers identified in the case study are very well known worldwide. For these corporations, their main goal is to maximize profits. For them, other motives, moral standards and humanitarian concerns become subservient to the duty of each manager to maximize revenue; it becomes the force that drives their managers’ ethical decision making processes. Their support of the unlawful acts of the Ivory Coast farmers and distributors through their purchase of the…

    • 1181 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics