Beyond Fair Trade: How One Small Coffee Company Helped Transform a Hillside Village in Thailand

(Paperback)

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"What does compassionate capitalism look like Mark Pendergrast shows us in this enlightening story of tribal life, opium, missionaries, market trends, a Thai antiques dealer, a mining entrepreneur and coffee." Abigail Carroll, author of Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal
The Akha hill tribe of Thailand has a long, tumultuous history. Politics, economics, violence, prejudice, and deforestation consistently worked against the Akha's desire to move away from their dependency on opium production and create a stable future for their children. That all changed in 2006 when prominent businessman John Darch met entrepreneur Wicha Promyong. Their meeting resulted in the establishment of an equal partnership business venture that goes beyond Fair Trade: the Doi Chaang Coffee Company. Beyond Fair Trade tells the story of the growth of this unique partnership, its successes and challenges, and the people behind it.

Reviews

"What does compassionate capitalism look like Mark Pendergrast shows us in this enlightening story of tribal life, opium, missionaries, market trends, a Thai antiques dealer, a mining entrepreneur and coffee." Abigail Carroll, author of Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal "Well-researched and well-written, Mark Pendergrast's Beyond Fair Trade is an inspirational tale of how culinary globalization can work for the benefit of both low- and high-income communities." Andrew F. Smith, editor-in-chief, Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America "I celebrate the story of Doi Chaang in Thailand as a force for change. I believe that through trade justice, communities like Doi Chaang and world markets can meet and thrive together." -Tom Smith, Executive Director of Fairtrade Canada

Author Bio

Mark Pendergrast is an independent scholar and author of Uncommon Grounds and For God, Country, and Coca-Cola, and Inside the Outbreaks, among other books.