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Tensions Between Firm Size and Sustainability Goals: Fair Trade Coffee in the United States

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  • Philip H. Howard

    (Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies, Michigan State University, 480 Wilson RD, Rm. 316, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA)

  • Daniel Jaffee

    (Department of Sociology, Washington State University, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue, Vancouver, WA 98686, USA)

Abstract

Sustainability marketing trends have typically been led by smaller, more mission-driven firms, but are increasingly attracting larger, more profit-driven firms. Studying the strategies of firms that are moving away from these two poles ( i.e ., mission-driven but larger firms, and profit-driven firms that are more committed to sustainability) may help us to better understand the potential to resolve tensions between firm size and sustainability goals. We used this approach to analyze a case study of the U.S. fair trade coffee industry, employing the methods of data visualization and media content analysis. We identified three firms that account for the highest proportion of U.S. fair trade coffee purchases (Equal Exchange, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Starbucks) and analyzed their strategies, including reactions to recent changes in U.S. fair trade standards. We found an inverse relationship between firm size and demonstrated commitment to sustainability ideals, and the two larger firms were much less likely to acknowledge conflicts between size and sustainability in their public discourse. We conclude that similar efforts to increase sustainability marketing for other products and services should be more skeptical of approaches that rely on primarily on the participation of large, profit-driven firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip H. Howard & Daniel Jaffee, 2013. "Tensions Between Firm Size and Sustainability Goals: Fair Trade Coffee in the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:5:y:2013:i:1:p:72-89:d:22558
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Lirios Alos-Simo & Antonio J. Verdu-Jover & Jose M. Gomez-Gras, 2020. "Knowledge Transfer in Sustainable Contexts: A Comparative Analysis of Periods of Financial Recession and Expansion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-24, June.
    3. Lindsay Naylor, 2018. "Fair trade coffee exchanges and community economies," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(5), pages 1027-1046, August.
    4. Linda Bergset, 2015. "The Rationality and Irrationality of Financing Green Start-Ups," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-26, November.
    5. Bennett, Elizabeth A., 2017. "Who Governs Socially-Oriented Voluntary Sustainability Standards? Not the Producers of Certified Products," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 53-69.
    6. Daniel Jaffee & Philip H. Howard, 2016. "Who’s the fairest of them all? The fractured landscape of U.S. fair trade certification," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 33(4), pages 813-826, December.
    7. Simon L. Bager & Eric F. Lambin, 2020. "Sustainability strategies by companies in the global coffee sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3555-3570, December.
    8. Bonisoli, Lorenzo & Piedra-Muñoz, Laura & Galdeano-Gómez, Emilio & Pérez Mesa, Juan Carlos, 2019. "Benchmarking agri-food sustainability certifications: evidences from applying SAFA in the Ecuadorian banana agri-system," MPRA Paper 119956, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Sitong (Michelle) Chen & Gabriel Eweje, 2022. "Managing tensions in sustainable development in Chinese and New Zealand business partnerships: Integrative approaches," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2568-2587, July.
    10. Alberto Melane-Lavado & Agustín Álvarez-Herranz, 2018. "Different Ways to Access Knowledge for Sustainability-Oriented Innovation. The Effect of Foreign Direct Investment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-30, November.
    11. Meike Rombach & David L. Dean & Nicole J. Olynk Widmar & Vera Bitsch, 2021. "The Ethically Conscious Flower Consumer: Understanding Fair Trade Cut Flower Purchase Behavior in Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-16, November.
    12. Rosa Schleenbecker & Ulrich Hamm, 2015. "Information Needs for a Purchase of Fairtrade Coffee," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-19, May.

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