Governance analysis in global coffee value chain: a study with downstream agents
Résumé
Global value chains are more complex than commodity chains, in which value distribution depends on the transparency of information. Transparency, however, is influenced by the way transactions are organized in the chain in terms of governance structure. In global specialty coffee value chains, the value created by producers needs to be transmitted through the whole value chain. This transmission strongly depends on the coordination of downstream agents. The purpose of this paper was to analyze the governance mechanisms between importers, roasters and coffee shops of the global specialty coffee value chain based on semi-structured interviews with 18 of its downstream agents in Europe. The results show that the global specialty coffee value chain transacted a set of coffee attributes that are measured by different mechanisms, and that the more downstream the transaction is, the more subjective these measurements are.
Despite subjectivity, transactions in this chain are organized through less formal governance mechanisms thanks to the strong relational-based interactions between agents and the role of the key coordinating agent: the importer. Nevertheless, while guaranteeing the coordination of the chain, this key agent is the only holder of both upstream and downstream chain information. This information asymmetry reinforces the coordinating power of the information holder, increasing the risks of unequal value appropriation across the chain. We conclude that the global specialty coffee value chain requires different coffee attributes measurements and incentive mechanisms in order to decrease the asymmetry of information along the chain.
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