Mexican coffee farmers have had an enormous amount of trouble selling their coffee beans at a price that would generate sustainable profit. Nico Roozen and Frans van der Hoff had a vision to implement a fair trade business that would increase not only profits of the farmers but their overall lifestyles. Nico and Frans both face the problem of distribution because fairly traded coffee was distributed only through the so-called Third World Shops that didn’t generate enough demand to create a stable supply chain. The possible alternatives to this problem would be for them to create their own brand of coffee, advertise the rise of fair trade coffee and its great quality, or create a hallmark with Solidaridad. The first alternative would
The first disadvantage is it would cost a large chunk of money to organize an advertising campaign. The UCIRI is a new company, but has many financial issues with the Mexican banks involving paying off debt. The second disadvantage is they would have to take time to develop an advertising campaign. They would have to reach out to Solidaridad to come up with the resources and people to organize it. The third disadvantage is even with an organic advertising campaign, it would be a massive struggle to turn consumers attention to fairly traded coffee from regular coffee. Regular coffee dominates the market and many people feel loyal to their brand of coffee they drink. The advertising campaign could turn into a waste of time and money by not turning many consumers attention to fair traded coffee. The third alternative would be for the Mexican coffee workers to create a hallmark within the Solidaridad Company. The first advantage of this alternative is Solidaridad would provide and give access to more resources that the farmers can’t reach by themselves. The second advantage is it would cost less than starting up their own company. Since it would be just a subdivision of the Solidaridad Company, it would cost less than starting up and funding a whole new company. The third advantage of this alternative is it would be quicker to start than a whole new company. Time is a key factor for the farmers especially with the Mexican banks