Beyond the chain: Lead firm strategies and sustainability governance in the global coffee sector

Environmental governance is increasingly shaped by the corporate sustainability strategies of global lead firms coordinating complex value chains across multiple jurisdictions. Moreover, these strategies have begun exerting a powerful and increasing influence well beyond firms' direct supply chains. While these strategies and trends have important implications for contemporary global sustainability governance, including shaping rural development trajectories in commodity source regions, there has so far been little analysis of the range of mechanisms through which lead firms drive these developments. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the recent sustainability strategies of global lead firms in the coffee sector to better understand the mechanisms through which firm strategies are reshaping global environmental (and sustainability) governance – and to unpack their logics of action. A content analysis of publicly available corporate sustainability documents published by ten leading firms in the coffee sector was conducted. This was supported by interviews with industry leaders in Vietnam, the world's second largest coffee producer and exporter. Our analysis sheds light on the broadening out of mechanisms beyond voluntary standards towards interventions that operate ‘beyond the chain’ through processes of ‘extra-firm bargaining’. To better capture the implications of this evolution, we propose a three-fold typology of current corporate led sustainability governance mechanisms: through codes and standards; through project-based approaches; and through multistakeholder alliances and platforms. Our findings provide evidence for the heightened engagement by lead firms with commodity-producing landscapes and actors in ways that are fundamentally reshaping institutional environments, and the potential for sustainable outcomes, within commodity source regions.