University of Vermont ScholarWorks @ UVM Graduate College Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 2015 The upplS y Chain Of Fair Trade Coffee: Challenges, Opportunities & The uturF e Inside A Troubled Industry Katharine D. Lukas University of Vermont Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis Part of the Agricultural Economics Commons, and the Sustainability Commons Recommended Citation Lukas, Katharine D., "The uS pply Chain Of Fair Trade Coffee: Challenges, Opportunities & The uturF e Inside A Troubled Industry" (2015). Graduate College Dissertations and Theses. 441. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/441 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate College Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF FAIR TRADE COFFEE: CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES & THE FUTURE INSIDE A TROUBLED INDUSTRY A Thesis Presented by Katharine Diane Lukas to The Faculty of the Graduate College of The University of Vermont In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Specializing in Community Development and Applied Economics October, 2015 Defense Date: June 12, 2015 Thesis Examination Committee: David Conner, Ph.D, Advisor Shoshanah Inwood, Ph.D., Chairperson V. Ernesto Méndez, Ph.D. Cynthia J. Forehand, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate College ABSTRACT What started as a grassroots effort to aid tradespeople in developing nations, Fair Trade and similar certification models have, over the last sixty years, successfully established themselves as a viable alternative to conventional international trade; the ongoing growth of their market share and volume emphasize the increasing market demand for these alternatives.