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Case Study

Building a sustainable, profitable business: Fair trade coffee (B)

By Robert Hooijberg and Jan Van der Kaaij

9 pages

November 2003

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Reference: IMD-2-0104

This is the second of a three case series (IMD-2-0103 to IMD-2-0105). This case takes the reader through the actual creation and growth of the fair trade coffee business from 1985-2001. Here it shows that the case is based on the Max Havelaar company. The Mexican farmers form a cooperative to gain more control over the coffee value chain. In doing so they get both better prices for their work and an overall better quality of life. The distribution side of the business has some success, but not as much as was hoped for.

Keywords

Expansion, Branding, Fair Trade, Corporate Sustainability Management

Settings

World/global
1985 - 2001

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

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