The aim of this study is to understand the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model by determining how the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model affects the livelihoods of the small scale producers in developing countries. The Fair Trade Coffee Business Model is driven by the mission to improve the well-being of the small scale producers located in developing countries through the lens of the Triple Bottom Line (economic, social and environment). What is the significance of fair trade coffee to the economies of developing countries that produce coffee? The economies are considerably impacted by coffee production as coffee ranks as the second foremost exported commodity from developing countries (European Coffee Federation, 2006). Ensuring the small scale producers receive a fair price for the coffee they grow is only one of the initiatives of the model. Other key initiatives include pre-harvest financing, increased healthcare services, working together for a higher quality coffee, fairer business conduct, improvements in education, and technical assistance. The findings of this study provide some insights into the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model’s effect on the livelihoods of the small scale producers in developing countries through the lens of the Triple Bottom Line. The Fair Trade Coffee Business Model has increased the quality of the coffee bean produced by the small scale producers along with developing long term business relationships throughout the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model supply chain. In sum, the small scale producers reported that the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model has a positive effect on their livelihood and well-being. More specifically, they also indicated that the motivations for them to participate in the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model are receiving a better price for coffee, democratic decision making and farm training. An additional finding affirms that the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model is a sound contributor to the socio-economic stability of the small scale producers, offering a sustainable income-generating alternative market strategy.

The objective of this study is to explore possible factors affecting college students¡¦ preference for fair trade coffee. The investigated factors included four of the values listed in Sheth, Newman and Gross's (1991a) theory of consumption values, as well as price, convenience (of buying fair trade coffee), and demographic variables. The values were functional value, social value, emotional value, and epistemic value. This study further divided emotional value into caring value and mood value; the formal reflected caring about farmers, child labor and the environment/ecology, and the latter focused on the possibility of having a good mood from consuming fair trade coffee. A convenience sample of 198 college students studying in Kaohsiung who often drank coffee were interviewed. Results from regression analysis suggest that college students would be more intended to buy fair trade coffee if they believed it had high caring value or high mood value. Furthermore, respondents spending less than 200 NTD per month on coffee were less intended to buy fair trade coffee than those spending between 200 NTD and 499 NTD per month on coffee were. Finally, functional value, social value, epistemic value, prices, and convenience¡Xall assessed by respondents' perceptions¡Xdid not have significant impact on the respondents¡¦ preference for fair trade coffee. Based on these findings, several recommendations were made to the government, schools, and organizations interested in promoting fair trade coffee.

The aim of this study is to understand the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model by determining how the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model affects the livelihoods of the small scale producers in developing countries. The Fair Trade Coffee Business Model is driven by the mission to improve the well-being of the small scale producers located in developing countries through the lens of the Triple Bottom Line (economic, social and environment). What is the significance of fair trade coffee to the economies of developing countries that produce coffee? The economies are considerably impacted by coffee production as coffee ranks as the second foremost exported commodity from developing countries (European Coffee Federation, 2006). Ensuring the small scale producers receive a fair price for the coffee they grow is only one of the initiatives of the model. Other key initiatives include pre-harvest financing, increased healthcare services, working together for a higher quality coffee, fairer business conduct, improvements in education, and technical assistance. The findings of this study provide some insights into the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model’s effect on the livelihoods of the small scale producers in developing countries through the lens of the Triple Bottom Line. The Fair Trade Coffee Business Model has increased the quality of the coffee bean produced by the small scale producers along with developing long term business relationships throughout the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model supply chain. In sum, the small scale producers reported that the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model has a positive effect on their livelihood and well-being. More specifically, they also indicated that the motivations for them to participate in the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model are receiving a better price for coffee, democratic decision making and farm training. An additional finding affirms that the Fair Trade Coffee Business Model is a sound contributor to the socio-economic stability of the small scale producers, offering a sustainable income-generating alternative market strategy.

Low consumer loyalty threatens the sustainability of the fair trade (FT) coffee market and corporate social responsibility investment. To provide business owners with strategies and decision-making processes to market FT coffee products successfully in the United States, this phenomenological study explored the lived experiences, perceptions, and insights of 20 FT coffee marketing managers. Planned behavior theory served as the conceptual framework. Face-to-face or Skype interviews were conducted with each of the 20 purposefully sampled FT coffee marketing managers. The data from these interviews were analyzed using Moustakas' modified van Kaam method and qualitative analytic software to collect, group, reduce, validate, and organize the interview data into themes. Nine themes emerged from the analyses. The theme analysis revealed the importance of including consumer education as a part of a marketing strategy to improve consumer understanding of the FT label and to catalyze demand. Based upon the topics participants emphasized during the interviews, another principal theme was the importance of establishing a direct relationship with a farm. Furthermore, 2 of the 20 participants provided unique insights on achieving consumer trust and the importance consumers attribute to consistent taste. Educating consumers on the effects and implications of the FT label is instrumental in increasing profits from FT coffee. The findings could catalyze beneficial social change by enabling business owners to educate consumers through marketing communications, which increase their market share of FT coffee and thereby enhance the lives of third-world farmers.

This MA Report explains the impact coffee cooperatives are having on the Ethiopian coffee industry. It analyses how the current multi-billion dollar global coffee industry began in what remains one of the world’s poorest countries, where arabica coffee was discovered sometime before the sixth century. It explains the emergence of coffee cooperatives historically, as well as their present role offering an alternative to the country’s previous reliance on the assistance of Western nongovernmental organizations with their possible negative impact, including arguments they enforced a dependency on Ethiopia that impeded the country’s development. In discussing coffee buyers and coffee consumption, the report focuses on America, although the same points made apply to the vast majority of Western countries. The report investigates whether cooperatives offer a business model sufficient to achieve self-sustainability for Ethiopian coffee farmers, and discusses how the interaction between and among cooperatives, unions, the Ethiopian government, and specialty coffee buyers in America is enabling Ethiopian coffee to increase its leverage on the international coffee market, generating essential income for the struggling Ethiopian economy. The report focuses on the following areas: the connection between poverty and linkage to markets; how coffee travels from smallholding farmers in Ethiopia to be sold in American cities like Austin, Texas; the emergence of certification systems like Fair Trade to protect farmers and ensure they receive a fair price for their produce, as well as the chain of commerce that Fair Trade is part of; the quality and characteristics of Ethiopian coffee; and whether cooperatives and unions can remain true to the original goals of serving their farmer members—not turning into purely profit-orientated businesses. While this report focuses on Ethiopia, it dissects and debates economic trends that usually affect developing nations producing coffee. It explores the logistics and ethics of prices paid in the West for coffee from developing countries like Ethiopia. The report ultimately aims to enlighten readers so they’re able to make an ethical purchase of a good quality coffee, while aware of the myriad factors and trends affecting the international coffee market. / text