Transparency Levels of Danish Coffee Sellers: A Study on the Transparency Levels of Four Influential Coffee Sellers on the Danish Market

Abstract

Transparency in business is gaining more popularity as a strategic choice for companies for a number of reasons. The purpose of the study is to expand the knowledge on how transparent are the Danish coffee roasters and instant coffee manufacturers towards their consumers, as well as the reasoning behind this level of transparency. I take the perspective of a consumer and analyze three sources of information through which companies have a chance to be transparent: the packaging of the product, the official website of the company and other relevant reports. I look at four major players on the coffee market in Denmark: Merrild Kaffe, BKI foods, Peter Larsen Kaffe and The Coffee Collective. I identify three possible classifications for transparency that shed light on which aspects are better or worse covered by the roasters. I find that the companies are better at providing information about themselves, without much reference to the rest of the supply chain. The only exception to the case is the specialty coffee roster The Coffee Collective, which provides full disclosure on its’ suppliers, the price payed to farmers and the Quality Bonus, which is a reliable indicator for coffee quality. Based on Sodhi et al. (2019) classification of types of transparency information, I find examples from the four companies, covering different supply chain areas: suppliers, environmental footprint, costs, workplace safety, provenance. I finish the paper with suggestions for other researchers that want to look at transparency in the coffee supply chains from different angles.