by what Raynolds (2009) calls ‘mission-driven’
enterprises: companies dedicated to sustain�
ability and improving farmer conditions.
2 From niche to mainstream
Primarily in response to NGO pressure
and consumer demand, mainstream coffee
roasters and retailers began selling certified
sustainable coffees in the early 2000s. NGOs
and consumers were concerned that while
coffee retail sales were booming in developed
countries, coffee farmers were receiving the
lowest prices in real terms in 100 years (Osorio,
2002). After liberalization of the global coffee
market, coffee growers’ share of the final
retail price of coffee fell from 20 per cent in
1989–90 to below 10 per cent in the early 2000s
(Mendoza and Bastiaensen, 2003: 37–38;
Talbot, 1997: 65–67).
Starbucks was the first large coffee company
to agree to start selling Fairtrade certified
coffee (in April 2000), under pressure from
an NGO campaign led by Global Exchange.
In 2003, Global Exchange, Oxfam America,
Co-op America, the Interfaith Fair Trade
Initiative and the company’s shareholders
pushed Procter & Gamble to begin offering
Fairtrade certified coffee through its Millstone
division. That same year, the Coffee Coalition
(a group of seven development organizations
and two trade unions) pressured Sara Lee
into selling Fairtrade coffee by mounting a
consumer awareness campaign attacking
the company’s best-known coffee brand,
Douwe Egberts