This article analyzes the recent growth of Fair Trade and the mainstreaming of this previously alternative arena. Focusing on coffee, I identify a continuum of buyers ranging from "mission-driven" enterprises that uphold alternative ideas and practices based on social, ecological, and place-based commitments, to "quality-driven" firms that selectively foster Fair Trade conventions to ensure reliable supplies of excellent coffee, to "market-driven" corporations that largely pursue commercial/industrial conventions rooted in price competition and product regulation. Using a commodity network approach, my analysis illuminates the impacts of diverse buyer relations on producer groups and how relations are in some cases shifting from partnership to traceability.

This paper examines Starbucks' corporate strategy of sustainable efforts in Ethiopia, particularly in the sustainable sourcing Arabica coffee. The paper discusses the value chain of coffee, issues surrounding the coffee supply chain and the need for sustainable coffee production. In addition it also discusses Starbucks' position and influence on the coffee trade, and the measures that Starbucks is taking to ensure sustainability efforts throughout the coffee supply chain.

Reichman’s interesting article explains how each link in the coffee supply chain experiences alienation in a global capitalist economy. For him, coffee is a symbol for consumers who have a very small amount of power to pay to do something different in an unjust system. But Reichman goes beyond just consumers – he explores the outrage of a Honduran community at their immigrant neighbor who runs a small and largely unprofitable coffee operation to sell his coffee in the US. This man, Tony, is also frustrated and angry, at the corporations that dominate the market and take business away from him. This chain of resentment and alienation shows the faults of the capitalist coffee market – allowing Reichman to conclude that there is popular support for a new regulatory system to replace the ICA. This article will appeal to readers interested in the economics of coffee, the ICA, and fair trade.

This short scientific article explains the processes used by the research team to utilize the natural oils found in spent coffee grounds to create biofuel. The team claims that this process can be done in a way that is efficient and cost productive, adding 340 million gallons to the world’s supply of biodiesel fuel. After the production of fuel, the spent coffee grounds contain their original amount of carbon and nitrogen, and can be composted, added back to gardens, or used as fuel pellets to get even more efficient use out of the product. Readers interested in biodiesel production, recycling coffee waste, and the economics of green energy will find this paper helpful.

This working paper analyses the sustainability standards requested for the Utz certification and applies them to Tanzania smallholder farmers. The study was conducted in 2008 when the country was undergoing a considerable crisis connected with low market prices and decrease in agricultural earnings from coffee. In Tanzania, coffee had been for many years the main source of agricultural GDP in the country. However, due to the low productivity and low export value, the sector needed to be revamped. As a result, Utz certification very common in both Kenya and Uganda were taken into account as an opportunity to tackle low coffee prices, to have better access to market and to more potential buyers. This study collects different perspectives from Tanzanian smallholder farmers and cooperatives undertaking the process of certification and compares the results with both Kenyan and Ugandan scenario. The authors express farmers’ benefits and challenges and include important recommendations directed at the different certifications' bodies. This paper is of particular interest for researchers looking at certifications’ integration in new producing countries and for coffee professionals assessing the upsides and downsides of certifications for smallholder farmers.

A cup of coffee or tea in our hand means manifold consumption of water at the production location. The objective of this study is to assess the global water footprint of the Dutch society in relation to its coffee and tea consumption. The calculation is carried out based on the crop water requirements in the major coffee and tea exporting countries and the water requirements in the subsequent processing steps. In total, the world population requires about 140 billion cubic metres of water per year in order to be able to drink coffee and tea. The standard cup of coffee and tea in the Netherlands costs about 140 l and 34 l of water respectively. For the overall water need in coffee production, it makes hardly any difference whether the dry or wet production process is applied, because the water used in the wet production process is a very small fraction (0.34%) of the water used to grow the coffee plant. However, the impact of this relatively small amount of water is often significant. First, it is blue water (abstracted from surface and ground water), which is sometimes scarcely available. Second, the wastewater generated in the wet production process is often heavily polluted.

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of wastewater produced from coffee processing plant on nearby water bodies and human health.A study was conducted around the coffee processing plant in Zimma zone (Ethiopia) to assess the physico-chemical characteristics of ef?uentgenerated from this plant. Analysis of the water samples taken from the surrounding water bodies had also been done. It was found, from the presentinvestigation, that the wastewater from coffee processing plant was heavily polluted with organic matter as it showed high concentration of COD(upstream 25,600 mg/l and downstream 15,780 mg/l), BOD (upstream 14,200 mg/l and downstream 10,800 mg/l), phosphate (upstream 7.3 mg/l and downstream 4.6 mg/l), nitrate (upstream 23 mg/l and downstream 10.5 mg/l) and suspended solids (upstream 5870 mg/l and downstream 2080 mg/l)and these concentrations were much higher than the permissible limits prescribed by WHO. It was also found, from this study, that the people residing in the vicinity of this plant were consuming this polluted water and as a result suffered from many diseases like skin irritation, stomach problem, nausea and breathing problem.

Certification and labeling initiatives that seek to enhance environmental and social sustainability are growing rapidly. This article analyzes the expansion of these private regulatory efforts in the coffee sector. We compare the five major third-party certifications – the Organic, Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, Utz Kapeh, and Shade/Bird Friendly initiatives – outlining and contrasting their governance structures, environmental and social standards, and market positions. We argue that certifications that seek to raise ecological and social expectations are likely to be increasingly challenged by those that seek to simply uphold current standards. The vulnerability of these initiatives to market pressures highlights the need for private regulation to work in tandem with public regulation in enhancing social and environmental sustainability.

This Master thesis investigates how values can drive value when creating sustainable business. Concepts like Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development (SD) has in the last years become more and more accepted and therefore practiced in the business world. Due to alarms of the climate change, decreased biological diversity and alarming reports of child labour in the export industry, today’s society claims for more sustainable actions among global enterprises. Evidently, some organisations have a more proactive sustainable approach and therefore managed to use sustainable actions to grow and strengthen their market positions e.g. IKEA and Starbucks. Service research related to the above research area at CTF (Service Research Center) at Karlstad University pointed out that corporate values such as social responsibility and environmental responsibility (among others) can be used to create customer value, brand equity and help strategic decision-making for future growth. This thesis investigates in the specific context of Löfbergs Lila what can be learned if the above mentioned strategy is used in a medium-sized company with strong values. Which processes are required to create sustainable business and how far has Löfbergs Lila come according to selected concepts and theoretical framework in business research?
The purpose of the thesis is to investigate, in an explorative way, how values can drive value for sustainable business, both empirically through the Löfbergs in the coffee context as well as theoretically. The whole thesis can be seen as a mix of a descriptive case study and an interpretative case study where understanding of the thesis will be created in the interaction between the theoretical and empirical parts. The study has been developed using a combination of inductive and abductive methods whereby the interaction between the conceptual/theoretical framework and Löfbergs Lila, in the coffee context, have constructed a new meaning.
The explorative study of Löfbergs Lila (or AB AnderLöfberg) presents an understanding of how values have affected the strategy and operation of this organization and is still doing so to this very day. Every company can work with sustainability, but strong corporate values incorporated into the business model are an advantage. There is a fundamental basis for more “sustainable growth” when these values drive “true” environmental and social progress, including accountability. This thesis claims that true core values are deep-rooted in the company and drive value for Löfbergs’ customers in the name of sustainable business. The theoretically- and conceptually-driven findings, built on five (re)-constructed thick descriptions from Löfbergs Lila in the coffee context, end up in five general concepts for values- based sustainable business.

1. Service Logic
2. Values-based service
3. Values-based service quality for sustainable business
4. Managing Value chain responsibility
5. Creating the service experience

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This research articles explains the birth of the coffee farmers cooperatives unions in Ethiopia as an alternative opportunity for producer to reach the global market. The author introduces the Ethiopian coffee historical context starting in 1991, when farmers began to being affected by considerable fluctuations in price. Then, he lingers over 1998 where the Government outlined the new regulation for cooperatives management which included specific financial management indications. Finally, he focuses on the creation of the first farmers cooperatives unions explaining the functioning, benefits and limitations for coops member and coffee producers to be involved in this system, focusing specifically on the Yirgacheffe Cooperative Union. His results indicate that even if coffee producers are receiving higher margins when selling through the unions, a poor management system is effective the sustainability of the cooperatives activities. This article is of particular interest for professional interested in the Ethiopian cooperative dynamics and their political context.

"En Bolivia, en la producción, certificación y comercialización del café participa toda la familia; sin embargo, resulta difícil establecer con base a qué criterios se realiza la división del trabajo entre los diferentes miembros de la familia y cuáles serían los factores que impiden o viabilizan la participación de la mujer. La presente investigación utilizando metodología cualitativa identifica, analiza, y describe los criterios que la familia utiliza en la organización del trabajo; también, identifica aquellos aspectos, momentos y circunstancias en las cuales la mujer tiene o no injerencia en la toma de decisiones en el proceso de producción, comercialización y certificación del café. Además, aporta elementos de juicio que contribuyen a mejorar la participación de la mujer en la toma de decisiones. Se espera que el trabajo sea útil y sirva de insumo a las organizaciones y a instituciones que financian proyectos. Para su desarrollo el estudio se insertó en las acciones económico-productivas y organizativas de las organizaciones locales que pertenecen a la Federación de Caficultores Exportadores de Bolivia (FECAFEB). Se trabajo con familias de tres organizaciones (UniónProagro, Villa Oriente y AIPEP). Los resultados indican que la producción agrícola en Caranavi es diversificada, que la situación social de las colonias esta cambiando, se resalta la participación de hombres en trabajos de parte de la mujer, la sobre valoración de la mujer en el manejo de la lectura y escritura y que las familias están atravesando el ciclo más importante en su vida pues cuentan con hijos de todas las edades y pueden distribuir el trabajo entre todos sus miembros. Respecto a la división del trabajo intervienen variables como: la fuerza física, características del mismo trabajo, agilidad/destreza, conocimiento/experiencia, horario de trabajo y, si existe otro trabajo pendiente; a partir de estas variables las familias distribuyen las actividades considerando su sexo y su edad. Respecto a la toma de decisiones se observa que los hombres y las mujeres toman más o menos decisión desde su propio espacio, las mujeres desde el ámbito doméstico y productivo y los hombres desde el ámbito público organizativo.
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This research article explores the rationale of the Indian coffee sector against the implementation of the Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C) in the country. As an introduction, the authors include a comprehensive explanation of the reasons and historical context behind the launch of this sustainability initiative internationally and they also present an overview of the economic and cultural scenario of the coffee sector in India. The contextual factors present an Indian coffee sector highly dependent on smallholder farmers, whose cultivations are often in area of historical environmental conservation. According to the Indian Government, the introduction of this initiative, instead of supporting environmental and economic sustainability for farmers, would undermine their independence. Additionally, according to the Government, coffee production in India is already particularly mindful of the forest's conservation. By introducing new environmental guidelines, farmers could need to introduce costly management practices that might even undermine the current environmental conservation levels. This article is particularly interesting for coffee professionals looking for additional information on voluntary sustainability standards and the Indian coffee sector.

In the last two decades, the world price of coffee has fallen significantly. The crisis has suffered millions of small coffee farmers in developing countries. However, in contrast to Latin America and Africa, studies on the impact of recent coffee crisis on the farmers tend to neglect Indonesia, one of the important coffee producing countries in Asia. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of recent coffee crisis on the Pasemah coffee farmers. The Pasemah highland, in Lahat District, located at the Coffee Triangle or Southern Coffee Belt, which stretches across the three provinces in Sumatera, namely South Sumatera, Lampung, and Bengkulu. This highland is one of the important coffee producing areas in Indonesia and has a long history of the coffee cultivation. This study indicates that the recent coffee crisis also have a serious impact on the coffee farmers’ daily life in the Pasemah highland. The crisis depressed farmers’ level of living. The farmers used various strategies to survive their life. They changed their consumption pattern, such as substituting Dji Sam Soe—an expensive cigarette—with Gandum—a very cheap one. The story of prosperous coffee farmers has ended since the end of 1980s. Rather than ‘tunggu dusun’ (waiting the village), some of the Pasemah coffee farmers chose to stop operating their coffee farms and looked for other informal jobs, or went to Jabotabek to be urban informal workers. Other farmers preferred to make crop diversification on their farms. However, producing coffee is still an important agricultural activity for most farmers in Pasemah.

The ‘Common Code for the Coffee Community’ (4C) was developed as a multi-stakeholder initiative designed to embed sustainability principles in the mainstream coffee industry. It elicited widespread condemnation from producer countries during its initial ‘testing phase’. Focusing on Indian opposition, this article comes to the conclusion that, unless key issues as defined by producer-country interests are addressed, any initiatives to advance the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the industry are likely to be seen as vehicles within a neo-imperialist agenda seeking to establish consumer-country control over the product supply chain.