Various coffee labels rely on rather different strategies for
enhancing sustainable production and/or responsible trade.
Whereas Fairtrade strongly focuses on reinforcing cooperative
organization and membership representation, Utz Certified
gives more attention to on-farm improvement of coffee practices for upgrading coffee quality. In a similar vein, Fairtrade
guarantees producers a minimum price (and a premium payment for the cooperative); whereas Utz Certified relies on free
market prices that recognize coffee quality improvements. The
procedures for supporting farmers’ welfare are thus focusing
on different entry points of their local livelihoods (Ruben &
Verkaart, 2011). In this article, we are therefore interested to
trace impact pathways of these different strategies for farmers
that have been involved in such labeling regimes for a substantial period of time.