Geography ETDs
Publication Date
Spring 4-15-2018
Abstract
A diversity of public and private initiatives strive to address the human-environment challenges confronting the global coffee industry, including certifications like Fairtrade, direct trade sourcing models, and efforts led by NGOs. Research examines the outcomes of major certification programs and the private initiatives of corporations like Starbucks. Much less is known about the business practices of the small specialty coffee businesses that increasingly advertise sustainable business practices. Yet, their collective business practices likely influence the industry-wide efforts to achieve a sustainable supply chain. This research examines how small specialty coffee roasting and importing companies represent their socially responsible business practices through discourses of partnership, responsibility, and sustainability. Through critical analyses, I elucidate the limitations of voluntary, market-based solutions to the industry's human-environment challenges and consider alternative avenues to achieve supply-chain sustainability, including greater institutional oversight and the possible inclusion of small companies in multi-stakeholder initiatives.
Degree Name
Geography
Department Name
Geography
Level of Degree
Masters
First Committee Member (Chair)
Ronda Brulotte
Second Committee Member
Manuel Montoya
Third Committee Member
Chris Duvall
Document Type
Thesis
Language
English
Keywords
coffee, sustainability, corporate social responsibility, institutional analysis
Recommended Citation
Motsinger, Jane H.. "Virtuous discourse in the specialty coffee sector: How social responsibility practices fragment pursuits for a supply chain." (2018). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/geog_etds/36
Included in
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons, Environmental Sciences Commons, Human Geography Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons
