The Co-Operative and the Corporation: Competing Visions of the Future of Fair Trade

This paper provides an analysis of the fair trade network in the North through a comparative assessment of two distinctly different fair trade certified roasters: Planet Bean, a worker-owned co-operative in Guelph, Ontario; and Starbucks Coffee Company, the world’s largest specialty roaster. The two...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of business ethics
Main Author: Fridell, Gavin (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V 2009
In: Journal of business ethics
Year: 2009, Volume: 86, Issue: 1, Pages: 81-95
Further subjects:B Corporate social responsibility
B coffee industry
B social economy
B co-operative movement
B Fair Trade Coffee
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Summary:This paper provides an analysis of the fair trade network in the North through a comparative assessment of two distinctly different fair trade certified roasters: Planet Bean, a worker-owned co-operative in Guelph, Ontario; and Starbucks Coffee Company, the world’s largest specialty roaster. The two organizations are assessed on the basis of their distinct visions of the fair trade mission and their understandings of “consumer sovereignty”. It is concluded that the objectives of Planet Bean are more compatible with the moral mission of fair trade, even while the network has become increasingly dependent on the market-reach of corporations like Starbucks, raising difficult prospects for the future of fair trade.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10551-008-9759-3