Last term, I took Geography 122 which focusses on modernity and globalization. For the term paper I decided to do a supply chain analysis for a foreign fruit, and I chose to research the coconut. Performing a supply chain analysis means looking at all the people and processes that a product goes through to get from the supplier to the consumer. In my analysis, I talked about various different ways in which coconuts are used, and then looked more in-depth at a couple of specific supply chains. As well, I compared a traditional supply chain to a fair trade one, and noted the differences.
The research for the paper made me think about how complicated supply chains can be, as a result of globalization. Even for just one fruit, there are so many possible routes it can take and products it can be turned into that I really had to be selective in my research. I learned just how hard some of the coconut farmers have to work just to survive, though many of them live in extreme poverty, unlike those higher up in the supply chain. When I looked at a fair trade coconut supply chain, although it still didn’t mean total equality for everyone involved, there seemed to be a significant improvement in the lives of the farmers. Taking a closer look at supply chains furthered my passion for being as ethical of a consumer as I can possibly be.
Below is the introduction to my paper.
One of the most versatile and celebrated fruits to exist, the coconut has important value and high popularity in many places of the world. The coconut has a long list of different uses, associated with different parts of the fruit. It forms an important part of the food basket of the peoples in the countries from where it is cultivated (Kumar & Kapoor, 2010), as well it is exported in large quantities. It would seem, then, that those who do the job of picking and preparing the fruit are rightly rewarded. However, this is not always true. In order to understand what happens to those who produce coconuts, we have to consider supply chains. Supply chains look at the full range of activities and participants involved in moving products from suppliers to consumers, and each person in the chain has a link to the next. (Kumar & Kapoor, 2010). Those at the lowest levels of the chain often do not receive the pay they deserve, and it seems as though they are stuck in this system. The supply chains can often be quite inefficient, and can negatively impact the environment as well as the people in it. But all hope is not lost. Fair trade coconut producers do exist, and they demonstrate that a coconut industry supply chain can work smoothly and benefit everyone within the chain. In my paper I will discuss coconut industries globally, and then I will use a few specific examples of chains in some of the major coconut producing countries. I will also discuss fair trade coconut supply chains and how they differ from traditional ones. I would like to make the point that there is lots of diversity in the way that different coconut supply chains are structured, and although there are several issues throughout the different supply chains, there is so much possibility to fix those issues. Though the recent surge in popularity of the coconut has so far not necessarily provided benefits to everyone in the supply chain, there is great opportunity for improvement in this industry, and the first step is to understand the workings of the supply chain.