Yes, I had #FairTradeFail t-shirts made. Here’s why.

When faced with a scandal, most companies want to put it behind them as soon as possible. But when KafKof faced our very public supply chain failure--where poor quality, non-certified beans were substituted for our signature fair trade sustainable coffee--we knew changing the subject wasn’t the answer.

Sustainability roots

Our brand was built on the idea of delicious coffee that you would feel good about adding to your daily life. That may sound grand, but it’s what we believe. We also believe that ethical organizations learn from their mistakes and strive to do better.

So you may have heard about our new internal training programs, our audit of the global supply chain, or our new partnerships with local growers. We’re very proud of those efforts. But there’s also the t-shirt. Yes, it has both the KafKof name and the #FairTradeFail label.

#FairTradeFail? Are you serious?

Wearing our commitment to change.

Yes, I spent corporate money printing the snarky hashtag given to our supply chain failure. On t-shirts. Worn in public. I’m wearing it, and the executive team is wearing it, and you may even see a barista wearing it, because we own the failure, collectively.

Trust through transparency

Corporations get accused of a lot of misdeeds, some earned, some not. But we are here to take responsibility for our actions, be transparent about our path forward, and earn back your trust. Until we do, accusations of greenwashing, empty PR, and stock price preservation will come fast and furious.

But this really is a simple proposition for us. A Georgetown University study put it bluntly:

An ethical corporate climate is either developing or deteriorating, enriching itself or impoverishing itself. It needs constant care and attention (Feldman, 2015).

We are committed to improvement, and if we take a few jabs while wearing the social stamp of our public failure, at least we get a dialog going. If you catch the back of the shirt, you’ll see we have a lot to talk about.

We want to hear from you. Please leave a comment!

Teri | KafKof Communications Team
Twitter: @KafKofTeri 
Order: special blend double skim cappuccino

PS: Thanks to sustainable and woman-owned Ink Forest for an awesome custom t-shirt process.


METADATA

Page Title: https://kafkof.blogspot.com/2017/12/yes-i-had-fairtradefail-t-shirts-made.html

Meta Description: When sustainable coffee leader KafKof faced a supply chain failure known as #fairtradefail, changing the subject wasn’t the answer.

Headline: Yes, I had #FairTradeFail t-shirts made. Here’s why.

Keywords: #fairtradefail, bean-to-cup, coffee, ethical organization, failure, fair trade, farmers, KafKof, sustainability, supply chain, t-shirt, transparency, trust

REFERENCES

Feldman, E. (2015). The 7 biggest mistakes companies make that can erode their ethical culture and destroy their reputation. Ethikos, (29)1, pp. 1-7.