Browsing by Subject "Coffee"

Coffee is one of the most traded goods in the world, and Finns are the ones consuming the beverage the most on a per capita basis. In terms of sustainability, the value chain of coffee is of interest from an environmental, social and economic perspective. Being a global value chain, coffee production, processing and trade is affected by regulation and therefore several certification schemes and voluntary sustainability standards are trying to address multiple sustainability issues in the coffee industry. The aim of this thesis is to explore which stakeholder groups effect the decisions related to sustainability practices of organization’s operating in the Finnish coffee business, and to understand to what extent the choice of different voluntary sustainability standards by coffee value chain (VC) stakeholders is a function of "legitimacy trade-offs", in terms of balancing an organization’s internal expectations and norms with external expectations and norms. The overall research question is as follows: To what extent is the choice of different voluntary sustainability standards by coffee value chain (VC) stakeholders a function of "legitimacy trade-offs", in terms of balancing an organization’s internal expectations and norms with external expectations and norms? This is studied first through a short literature review on stakeholder theory, institutional theory and a recourse-based theory. The subsequent empirical study part was based on survey research, which was executed through a self-administrative web questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent out to Finnish companies in the coffee business. The results of the empirical study highlighted that there is pressure from both internal stakeholders (employees and shareholders) and from some external stakeholders (including domestic customers) to adopt or not to adopt different standards, confirming that coffee businesses in Finland (roasters/ processors) must indeed be balancing the needs and wishes of different stakeholders in the coffee value chain. The results also suggest why different organizations adopt different certification schemes while some did not use any. In sum, the views on the usefulness and stakeholder expectations regarding certifications varied, and some organizations hope that certifications contribute to improved coordination and cost savings.