Starbucks

Starbucks is one of the biggest buyers of  Fairtrade coffee. They do only business with farms who respect labour and environmental standards, for example minimum wages, water usages,...

Starbucks has send some of his employees to his farms. Like that, they could see what difference Starbucks makes for these farmers. They help to increase output and decrease costs.

The Guardian

I think Starbucks is a good example to show that ethics and doing business go together.
They also try to do something for the environment. As you see on their website, they have a lot of engagements. For example energy: they want to reduce energy use by 25% and get 50% of their energy from renewable sources. Water is an essential ingredient in coffee. In 2009 Starbucks reduced their water use by 4,1% and their still working on it.

This shows that you can be ethical and be profitable at the same time.

Karen Van Crombrugghe

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream

From the beginning the ice cream brand Ben en Jerry’s is known for its care for the community. Even when the brand was getting more popular and they finally could reap the fruits of their hard work, they didn’t start caring less, like now they are planning to get all their products Fairtrade certified.  Ben & Jerry’s value-based business model has become an example for their parent company, Unilever.

Before there used to be a struggle between the  two companies, where  both had different values and Unilever is more consumer driven. However,  Unilever has learned from its subsidiary and applied Ben & Jerry’s values also in the other Unilever brands and implemented these values in their Sustainable Living Plan which I spoke about in my previous blog entry. (The New York Times)

As said in Jolien’s third blog, CSR does reward and Ben and Jerry’s might be the best proof of that, since they started making profit when they got known for there community-based values. Ben & Jerry’s business model sets a good example of how other firms should operate to safeguard sustainable growth.

Evelyn Stalpaert

How ethical are eco labels?

I agree entirely with Cedric. Producers more and more put their own labels on the packaging of their products. 

According to a British survey by order to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the extensive variety of eco labels are experienced as confusing and deceiving by consumers. Such as Cedric mentioned in his blog, too often people wrongly think they buy ethically produced goods. These labels however, are no guarantee that every part of the supply chain has acted ethically.  

Cedric said some labels do not have any ethical requirements, which is very disturbing in my opinion. Dr Kathy Lewis, the head of the University of Hertfordshire’s Agricultural and Environmental Research Unit, confirms this fact. Just by paying a membership fee, companies are allowed to use an ‘ethical’ label. What does it mean for products with no label? Are their producers socially irresponsible? Or did they just not pay their membership fee?

Too many labels and too many different requirements make it impossible for consumers to judge the ethical level of companies. We need a more global accepted system to stamp the ethical effort. A scale, found on all products, informing consumers how harmful or harmless a product is to the environment, would bring some transparency. (Telegraph)

Jolien Nachtergaele 

Leading firms: Coca-Cola

The Coca-Cola Refreshments (USA) company recently installed two fuel cell systems in their New York production facility. Fuel cells are one of the cleanest energy sources, because they operate in water balance. This means that there’s no water pollution and no loss of water in the system. It also reduces the amount of energy that is needed from the utility grid. As a result of this there will be less emissions, because the generators that provide the utility grid with energy won’t have to operate as much as before. The positive financial advantage of a fuel cell system is that it reduces the costs, because there’s less water needed and the energy costs is also a lot lower compared to other energy sources. (The New York Times)

This is a recent article that shows the ethical progress of the Coca-Cola company. As Karen said in her article, the Coca-Cola company wants to improve their impact on the environment. My article shows that they’re investing in fuel cells to cut back on emissions. This new energy source also allows them to reduce their costs. This is a perfect example of how acting ethical can also be healthy for a company. 

Cedric Meyers

The label maze

More and more people are getting interested in ethical consumerism, but few people can recognize the true ethical labels. Nowadays companies know that some consumers are seduced by labels such as “environmentally friendly product” , “fair trade”, etc.. This is why companies tend to create their own ethical labels. These labels cause a lot of confusion amongst consumers, because each label has its own requirements. Some of these labels are very easy to get and don’t require any ethical behavior of the company. As a result of this consumers are often mislead. They think that they are purchasing ethical products, but nothing is farther from the truth. This shows the important need for more global approved labels. The ETP (Ethical Tea Partnership) is an example of such a label. It’s a label created by different companies in association with NGOs that protect ethical standards. The label requires companies to respect local laws and to create healthy working conditions in foreign plantations. The Lipton Tea company is one of the biggest leading firms that uses this label.(the guardian)

This article shows that ethical consumerism is being abused by some companies. In my opinion this is mainly the result of the fact that people don’t know enough about ethical labels. Personally, I only know the requirements for the Fair Trade label and thanks to Evelyn’s article I now also know the requirements for the Unilever label, but there’re a lot of labels about which I don’t know anything. So I think it’s important for consumers, governments and companies to create more global approved labels and to make sure that consumers know what they stand for.


Cedric Meyers

Does CSR reward?

That Corporate Social Responsibility influences consumer behavior is a fact. It seems that people really care about the extent to which a company is committed to the community and the environment. 

To begin with, being ethical has a positive, direct effect on sales. Consumers are willing to pay more for products that are ethically produced. 

Furthermore, CSR is rewarded in an indirect way. This is proved by the fact that Socially Responsible Investing  has become very popular. Socially Responsible Investing stands for investments that beside a profit motive, have an eye for environment. People who want to invest socially responsible, will just invest in firms that are doing great in their sector on ethical field.

According to Eurosif, the European Sustainable Investment Forum, Socially Responsible Investing represents 20 per cent of total investments. In my opinion, that’s a huge share. This figure demonstrates the importance of the public opinion. SRI should be a stimulus for companies to pay attention to their reputation and come up with a more social responsible management.(De Tijd)

Jolien Nachtergaele

Coca-Cola's and water

To produce one litre of final product, it takes 2,72 litres of water. Two years before, it took 3,12 litres. Therefore, activists have blamed Coca-Cola: "it is ridiculous that a firm that calls itself a hydration company wastes so much water"

A few years ago, there was a scandal in India.The Coca-Cola drinks contained high levels of pesticide. The firm also used too much water in drought-prone areas.

But the company has taken some measures to improve their use of water. They are trying to improve the efficiency of water use in each factory. There is one problem, a lot of the factories are not the companies property and local bottlers refuse.
Coca-Cola is also working together with non-governmental groups. In India, they are using rainwater instead of tap water.

The Economist

Water is a big problem in the world and it will certainly be so in the future. I think it is necessary that companies try to reduce their water use.
Coca-Cola takes these measures also for their own sake. Without water, there is no Coca-Cola.

Karen Van Crombrugghe