Research Paper On Tim Hortons

Many concerned individuals struggle with an inner morality court which prevents unethical decisions. These concerned individuals, strive to make a difference in the world at large. One of these ethical decisions deal with purchasing non-fair-traded goods from a consumer market. Many groups and activist have urged for a boycotting of certain food items in a protested hope of stopping this occurrence. Nevertheless, it continues to occur in a consumer based society and the validity of the fair trade is also questioned. In this essay, I will put to trial the coffee production franchise Tim Hortons; I will use the grounds of “beyond reasonable doubt”, to produce a fair verdict in the matter of unethical trade, resulted from traceability of coffee

production for this company. I will use sources from Tim Hortons representatives and outside protesters to determine a final decision.
In order to produce a fair understanding, I must first present the defence of the Tim Hortons cooperation.

As an acclaimed Canadian company, Tim Hortons understand the demand of fair trade consumerism in Canada. The official Tim Hortons corporation claims to produce coffee based on purely ethical means; this claim is declared on the official Tim Hortons website. They state, “The majority of the coffee we purchase comes from “small holder” farmers” (Tim Hortons 2017) The site also provides a chart which demonstrates the process in which Tim Hortons buys its coffee from “small holder” farmers all the way up to its importer, ending with the consumer. The official owners of the Tim Hortons chain suggest, “Tim Hortons verifies detailed compliance with our Vendor Code, confirming that our coffee is ethically sourced.” (International, 2016)The official website, also provides a third-party verification called the “control union”, which claims a “certified” verification stating the results of audited procedures taken by the company (https://certifications.controlunion.com/en, 2014) From a distant observation, it would seem this report suggest Tim Hortons to produce their coffee based on purely ethical means. Traceability is keen in understanding where the actual product (coffee in this case) comes from. Based on the official Tim Hortons website and its ownership reports, the official response is Tim Hortons gets its coffee from several of the world's renowned coffee-producing

regions and uses a premium blend of “100% Arabica beans” (http://sustainabilityreport.timhortons.com/planet-supply-chain.html#coffee, 2017)This Seemingly vague response is backed by Tim Hortons mentioning an initiative to help Brazilian and Guatemalan farmers; this is not to suggest all of its “Arabica beans” come from these countries but they are amongst the main countries mentioned as producers. Tim Hortons does mention it uses ethical means for productions however, it fails to provide distinctive information regarding its actual traceability. In regard to commodity chains, Tim Hortons vaguely mentions that most of its finalized production of the imported coffee, is managed in places like Canada. Further research suggest that the main corporate manufactures are located across Canada and the United States, (International, 2016) with very little information to the exact number of manufacturing plants.
Tim Hortons has officially declared through a third-party basis, authentication of ethical coffee production.

However, many groups and protesting individuals have strongly disagreed with this stance. The issue with a lack of traceability has been the topic of discussion for these advocacies. Tim Hortons attributes its production as fair trade however, as one article notes this is only a temporary scheme. According to the no child for sale website, (https://nochildforsale.ca/challenge/ask-for-ethical/, 2010) Tim Hortons uses a special blend of coffee under the association of “coffee partnership”. This is a special blend in which Tim Hortons has made to help “4000” farmers across South America. The promotion was a means to help farmers with the special blend; nevertheless, this advertisement only mentions 4000 farmers who were to benefit from this special blend. The no child for sale foundation demands that Tim Hortons publishes the exact number of ethically sourced coffee and the number of unethical coffee. This vague definition suggest that Tim Hortons is falsely advertising their ethical production according to other sources such as suggested by Julie Craves, who completely rejects the Tim Hortons idea of fair trade and declares it as non-accurate. (RSS, 2007) Similarly, Tim Hortons is questioned by its exploitation of using the Canadian identity. In an article written on in the National, Tim Hortons is questioned as to why they use this false Canadian identity for

profiting means. (Marsh, 2018) This can also entertain the fact that if Tim Hortons is ready to stoop to such unethical means for profits; what other unethical means are they ready to use? The question also arises in regard to the actual matter of free trade and third-party verification legitimacy. Many researchers have questioned the authentication of the label and its honesty. One article mentions that fair trade and similar brands simply act as a business model and are great way to propagate to a concerned ethical market, the article suggest that consumers should buy from major corporations like Tim Hortons. (Scannell*, 2009)
The final step would be to produce a verdict in regard to the matter discussed. Tim Hortons, has done a brilliant job in justifying its ethical concerns pertaining to fair trade consumerism. However, the well calculated claims prove to have a hidden truth when thoroughly examined. The question of traceability has simply vanished in the official Tim Hortons response and proves to be non-existent. Traceability, has been demanded by many activists who question the sourcing of the coffee. Likewise, Tim Hortons advocates in the name of ethical consumerism nevertheless, their vague identification of commodity chains and unethical exploitation of the Canadian name truly show its profit orientated nature. Tim Hortons, has not made it clear where exactly their coffee beans come from in their entirety, likewise they use many diverting tactics such as the special blend to deflect the ethical concerns. Finally, after through research Tim Hortons fails to prove its authentic use of fair trade and must be questioned regarding this falsehood. I question the Tim Hortons franchise regarding this matter. I also am forced to ask the question as to how can one truly know the legitimacy of third party verification? Are these verifications done by private investigators who are actually working for the very same company they are auditing as suggested in the article (Scannell*, 2009)When will this illusion of fair-trade branding stop?