Pioneering an Inclusive Business Model: A Founder’s View on Impact and Scale in the Coffee Industry
Speaker: David Griswold, President, Sustainable Harvest.
Pioneering a relationship-based coffee business model, Sustainable Harvest Coffee has become the largest importer in North America of fair trade and organic coffee. Sustainable Harvest’s investment in business transparency and traceability, farmer training, and pre-harvest financing brings high quality, reliable, and traceable products from smallholder farmers in the developing world to consumers in the US, Europe, and Asia. By developing a transparency-based global business platform that differs greatly from traditional commodity supply chain models, Sustainable Harvest has thrived while others have faced substantial challenges from a global economy that has stagnated and dipped. David discussed the reasons for his company’s success, the challenges ahead, and the impact of his business model.