The Sustainable Coffee Activist Network

David Iozzi

Undergraduate Research: Bennett

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One of seven FT certification labels used by the 17 certifiers

The Sustainable Coffee Activist Network

If, on your next trip to your favorite coffee shop, a leaflet-dispersing sustainable coffee

activist happens shove a slip of paper into your hand, take some time and look up the Internet

address printed near the bottom. It will plunge you into a dense network of activist organizations

all dumping buckets of information and messages into your computer. The web of links and

partnerships woven by these organizations appears, at first glance, to have a completely random

structure. However, after a little examination, it becomes reasonably comprehensible and begins

to unravel. To untangle the network, it is best to adopt the Fairtrade Labeling Organizations

International (FLO) as a starting point and then follow the flow of information as it surges out

through the web.

FLO and the Coffee Trail

The Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International is an umbrella organization in charge

of coordinating the efforts of the seventeen Fair Trade certifiers, or National Initiatives. Each of

these certifiers operates exclusively within one country and is responsible for certifying,

marketing, and promoting Fair Trade coffee within that country. Before the coffee enters an

importing nation, however, FLO remains in charge and maintains contracts with coop members,

coops, exporters, and importers dealing in Fair Trade coffee. Then, after the

coffee is imported, one of the seventeen Fair Trade certifiers takes over. Fair

Trade roasters, distributors, and retailers maintain contracts with one of these

National Initiatives and may display the Initiative�s label on their products to

verify that they are Fair Trade certified (see Fig. 1).

FLO, created in 1997, provides the Fair Trade certification process

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with uniformity and greatly increased efficiency. Since FLO oversees the growing, processing,

and importing of Fair Trade coffee, each National Initiative does not have to certify those steps

individually and can thereby avoid unnecessarily duplicating the efforts of the other National

Initiatives. The National Initiatives step onto the scene only when duplication is no longer a

concern and, even after they enter the picture, FLO still governs their certification criteria. As a

result, a Fair Trade label holds the same meaning in Switzerland as in the United States and Fair

Trade coffee producers do not have to adhere to multiple sets of standards.

Fig. 1: FLO and the Coffee Trail

* Key located at end of document

COOPS

FT IMPORTERSFLO

FT ROASTER/DISTRIBUTORS

NATIONAL INITIATIVES CONSUMERS

PLANTATION WORKERS

LARGE LANDOWNERS

EXPORTERS

PROCESSORS

IMPORTERS

FT RETAILERS

RETAILERS

ROASTER/DISTRIBUTORS

LOCAL MIDDLEMEN

SMALL FARMERS

COOP MEMBERS

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National Initiatives and Fair Trade Retailers

In addition to certifying coffee, the National Initiatives are responsible for supporting

Fair Trade retailers by increasing consumer demand for Fair Trade products. However, the

National Initiatives are not without help. The sustainable coffee network has developed largely

around this end and, consequently, scores of actors are simultaneously working to increase the

demand for sustainable coffee. Of these actors, the group most closely linked to the National

Initiatives is the collection Fair Trade coffee companies with whom the Initiatives have contracts.

Many of the merchants selling Fair Trade coffee do so out of a sense of moral obligation and are

therefore deeply involved in spreading the movement�s message. In a late May lecture, Deborah

James remarked that, �there are some great people in the coffee industry.� These companies

headed by the people Deborah alluded to sell only sustainable coffee and are thus set apart from

companies such as Starbucks and Seattle�s Best Coffee. These companies, in contrast, sell a

limited amount of sustainable coffee and are not likely to propagate the movement�s message

even though they have contracts with TransFair USA.

Many of the companies that TransFair USA, the National Initiative in the

United States, has contracts with, such as Peace Coffee and Equal Exchange among

others, actively work to increase consumer demand for Fair Trade coffee (see Fig 2).

These companies dedicate large sections of their websites to spreading the

movement�s message and educating web-surfers about sustainable coffee. For

example, Equal Exchange, a Massachusetts based coffee retailer, hosts a website that supplies

detailed definitions of Fair Trade, shade-grown, and organic coffees, accompanied by

descriptions of their benefits. In addition, the site provides a �get-involved� section with multiple

links for those interested in further pursuing the issue.

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Similarly, about a dozen other of TransFair USA�s partner companies offer comparable

sites and together they throw a considerable amount of information at coffee drinkers. The story

is much the same abroad with each National Initiative following a parallel strategy. For example,

Café Direct, Equal Exchange UK, and Tradecraft, have the same type of relationship with the

Fairtrade Foundation of Great Britain and the United Kingdom�s coffee drinking population.

Fig. 2: National Initiatives and Fair Trade Retailers

* Key located at end of document

U.S. FT ROASTER/DISTRIBUTOR

NATIONAL INITIATIVES

U.S. CONSUMERS

U.S. FT RETAILERS U.S. RETAILERS

U.S. ROASTERS/DISTRIBUTORS

TF AUSTRIA MH FRANCE

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FR SWEDEN

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TRANSFAIR USA

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EQUAL EXCHANGE

PEACE COFFEE

CAFÉ CAMPESINO

DEAN�S BEANS

CLOUDFOREST INITIATIVES

10,000 VILLAGES

THANKSGIVING COFFEE

OTHER DOMESTIC MARKETS

SERRV

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Activist Organizations

Beyond the sustainable coffee companies, and not linked to the National Initiatives by

any contracts, are the sustainable coffee activist organizations. Unlike the coffee companies,

these organizations do not focus on selling products. Rather, they exist for the sole purpose of

pursuing one or more campaigns. While the mass of links between these groups has no clear

center, a number of important focal points are identifiable. In the United States, TransFair USA,

Global Exchange, and Oxfam America provide the most important organizational hubs.1

TransFair USA is by far the most frequently linked to organization in the movement and

the certifier�s web site even has a detailed description of how to link other sites to it. TransFair

itself maintains several links to major activist organizations highlighted by an exceptionally

strong tie to Global Exchange�a fellow Bay Area-based human rights group that boasts one of

the most visible sustainable coffee campaigns. The relationship between these two organizations

developed largely because their methods, mission, and location are very compatible. TransFair,

because it works extensively with companies, cannot engage in anti-corporate campaigns and

instead must maintain reasonably good relationships with coffee companies. They of course

attempt to convert companies to Fair Trade, but do so by way of educational campaigns detailing

the benefits of Fair Trade coffee.

However, since educational campaigns do not always sway companies, the working

partnership with Global Exchange becomes important. Global Exchange pursues multiple anti-

corporate campaigns dealing with a variety of issues at any given time and currently is involved

in campaigns against both Starbucks and Folgers. Since TransFair USA has a contract with

1 While the sustainable coffee network, and the information flow it facilitates, is transnational, the groups that form the network, with the exception of umbrella organizations usually do not operate in more than one importing country.

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Starbucks, it would be ill advised for them to aggressively pressure the coffee giant to carry more

Fair Trade coffee�thus, the pressure from Global exchange becomes beneficial.

Oxfam, another human rights NGO, operates in much the same way as Global Exchange.

Both Global Exchange and Oxfam provide resource packets supplying activists with leaflets,

instructions, and contact information. They also maintain list-serves and are in frequent contact

with their activist base. Both organizations, especially Global Exchange, link to multiple other

activist groups.

Fig. 3: Links Between Activist Organizations

* Key located at end of document

A particularly prominent cluster of activist organizations within the movement is the

closely-knit group of environmental and migratory bird groups linked to TransFair USA, Oxfam,

and Global Exchange (See Fig. 3). These organizations generally take a less hostile position

TRANSFAIR USA

TRANSFAIR CANADA

EQUITERRE

ATLANTA AUDUBON

STARC

OCA PESTICIDE NET

SEATTLE AUDUBON

RAINFOREST ALLIANCE

AMERICAN BIRDING ASSOC

SMITHSONIAN BIRD CENTER

CONSERVATION INT�L

OXFAM GLOBAL EXCHANGE

STUDENT CAMPAIGNS

ENLISTED ACTIVISTS

SONGBIRD FND

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when it comes to coffee companies, preferring to work with these companies rather than against

them. Conservation International even has a working relationship with Starbucks and shares a

joint website with the coffee retailer. Furthermore, because these organizations are primarily

concerned with migratory birds and other environmental issues, they are

beginning to develop shade coffee certification to compliment the Fair

Trade certification provided by FLO. The Smithsonian Migratory Bird

Center is at the forefront of this effort and provides a label for certified

shade-grown coffee (Shown at right).

Umbrella Organizations

Providing additional links between activist organizations, umbrella organizations make

up another important group of actors in the sustainable coffee movement and serve to create and

strengthen links between their member organizations (see Fig. 4). Umbrella organizations come

in two types. First, there are those like FLO who become deeply involved in the movement. The

sole purpose of FLO and all of its member organizations is to promote Fair Trade. Second, there

are those like IFAT, IFOAM, the Consumer�s Choice Council, and EFTA. These organizations

do not involve themselves directly in the sustainable coffee movement, but rather become

involved in broader movements such as sustainable agriculture or fairer producer-consumer

relationships in general. Some of these groups� member organizations may involve themselves

deeply in the sustainable coffee movement but many will not, The value of this second type of

umbrella organizations lies in the connections they form between members, allowing members to

support each other�s ideas and campaigns. The Consumer�s Choice Council�s web site, for

example, contains a document titled, �The Conservation Principles of Coffee Production,� signed

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by sixteen different organizations. Some of these, such as Conservation International and the

Seattle Audubon Society are centrally involved in the sustainable coffee movement. Others like

Greenpeace and the National Wildlife Federation are involved only on the periphery.

Nevertheless, they agree with the movement�s message and are able to express their support

through their involvement in the Consumer�s Choice Counsel. Other umbrella organizations

serve similar functions, supplying the network with both uniformity and connectivity.

Fig. 4: Umbrella Organizations

* Key located at end of document

CONSUMER�S CHOICE COUNCIL

IFAT

EFTA

IFOAM

OXFAM

EQUAL EXCHANGE

SEATTLE AUDUBON

NATIONAL AUDUBON

ATLANTA AUDUBON

FT Organisatie

OCA

10,000 VILLAGES

SERRV

CAFÉ DIRECTCOOP AMERICA

FAIRTRADE FED

PESTICIDE NET

RAINFOREST ALLIANCE

SONGBIRD FND

TRANSFAIR USA

FLO

NATIONAL INITIATIVES

OTHER MEMBERS

OTHER MEMBERS

OTHER MEMBERS

OTHER MEMBERS

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Getting the Message out

From under the umbrella organizations and out of the activist hubs the messages and

campaigns hit the consumer. These messages come in a variety of forms. They may be the

reports of umbrella organizations, the educational campaigns of certifiers and environmental

groups, the anti-corporate campaigns of labor activists, the

student voices of campus campaigns, data from a multitude of

informational organizations such as Sustainable Sources, or the

leaflets handed out by a human rights activist. To tap into this

cornucopia of information, just search for �sustainable coffee� on your nearest computer and

open one of the hundreds of links your search will produce.

Fig. 5: Getting the Message Out

HUMAN RIGHTS/ LABOR GROUPS

ENVIRONMENTAL/MIGRATORY BIRD GROUPS

ORGANIC FOOD GROUPS

FAIR TRADE COFFEE RETAILERS

ENLISTED ACTIVISTS

INFORMATIONAL WEBSITES

SUSTAINABLE SOURCES

CONSUMERS

CONCERNED CITIZENS

RETAILERS

STUDENT CAMPAIGNS

* Key located at end of document

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MAP

• A bolded box indicates that the group named in the box is of special importance to that specific diagram.

• A dashed boarder around a box indicates that the group named in the box is an

umbrella organization.

• Both green and blue are used to indicate the Consumer�s Choice Council. This is because the

CCC is both a human rights organization and an environmental organization.

STRONG LINKS

LINKS

CONTRACTS

EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN

ANTI-CORPORATE/OTHER HOSTILE CAMPAIGN

PATH OF COFFEE

HUMAN RIGHTS/ LABOR GROUP

ENVIRONMENTAL/MIGRATORY BIRD GROUP

ORGANIC FOOD GROUP

ACTOR IN THE COFFEE PATH

SPECIFIC COFFEE RETAILER

OTHER ACTOR

KEY