“Coffee connects us with the whole world.”
Interview: Christian Heuss
Janina Grabs explores ways to make global supply chains for coffee, cocoa and co. more sustainable. In this interview, she explains how certifications, minimum standards and other measures work in practice.
UNI NOVA: Ms. Grabs, how did you, a political scientist, come to study sustainability?
Janina Grabs: Even as a student, I was fascinated by the fact that people grow products that allow us to enjoy a good diet here in Central Europe but often don’t afford them a living wage. In Canada, I wrote my bachelor’s thesis on food security in Russia. As I was writing it, I realized I was particularly interested in the interface between agriculture, global markets and social justice — specifically in sectors closely linked to the environment.
Did you always want to become an academic?
No, I didn’t actually. I originally wanted to work for the UN or its Food and Agriculture Organization so that I could address global problems directly. The Mercator Fellowship on International Affairs opened the door to some really exciting roles: I worked in agricultural policy at the European Commission in Brussels, and with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), a German federal enterprise that supports international cooperation, on development projects in Costa Rica. It was there that I noticed how much I value the independence of academia — and the opportunity to critically examine questions before offering solutions.
You don’t come from a farming background. What sparked your interest in agricultural topics?
Human rights — the right to food — and, from an early age, Fairtrade. At high school (Matura), I gave a presentation on Max Havelaar and the banana trade. I’m fascinated by how products are produced, how global supply chains work and who earns money from them.
Coffee became your first major research topic. Just a coincidence?
Yes. In Costa Rica I worked on a project that aimed to make coffee climate-neutral. That led to my dissertation at the University of Münster on sustainability and certification. Coffee is a fascinating product: It’s grown in more than 50 countries, often by smallholder farmers, and comes to us relatively unprocessed — a direct link between producers in the South and consumers in the North.
What do you find so interesting about global supply chains?
The question of how ecological, social and economic sustainability can be connected. Responsibility — for protecting forests, using fewer pesticides — is often delegated to farmers without them being paid a fair price. I’m interested in the distribution of power and value creation, who takes on how much responsibility and how producers can achieve a living wage.
What responsibility do consumers bear?
They can influence demand — for example for organic or Fairtrade products. But responsibility mustn’t be offloaded onto the individual alone. If you can afford to make a conscious choice, then you should. If you’re counting every penny, you shouldn’t be subjected to moral pressure, too. The collective is also important: If lots of people deliberately buy more sustainable products, then socially responsible companies can gain market shares. But structural changes require minimum political standards that apply to all.
You studied the impact of certifications like Fairtrade. What was your conclusion?
Certification works in particular when minimum prices and premiums are guaranteed. Still, there are labels with high requirements and low premiums. Also, more certified coffee is being produced today than the market will take — the beans end up being sold as standard products, which doesn’t recognize the value added by the farmers.
What happens if demand for niche products such as Fairtrade cocoa rises rapidly and they enter the mass market?
“Mainstreaming” can lead to demand rising faster than available production capacities. To satisfy demand, standards are lowered and farmers take only the first, basic step toward sustainability. This raises the question of whether it’s better to have lots of producers who are a little more sustainable, or a few who take sustainability a long way.
And what’s your answer?
It’s actually a normative question — and the answer changes depending on the perspective. For me, it’s important that we make ourselves aware of how terms like “sustainability” change in the mainstream, and that we make sure not to lose sight of ambitious standards.
Some companies use their own sustainability programs rather than external labels. Is this seeing an opportunity or just greenwashing?
Both are possible. Internal programs may be more closely tailored to reality but are often less transparent. We compare these approaches with established certification programs and examine how far they go and whether they are verified in practice.
Your SNSF Starting Grant project in Basel focuses on political regulation. What is this about?
We examine how companies, politics and producers respond to new EU rules — such as the regulation on deforestation-free products. This requires that products be traceable to individual parcels of land. If a plot was deforested after 2020, the coffee produced there can no longer be imported into the EU. This incentivizes forest protection. But it can also mean that producers from areas at the edges of tropical forests can no longer find anyone to take their products because importers are generally risk averse. We also analyze the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which obligates companies to address violations of human rights and environmental protections in their supply chains. We’re interested in how the anticipated impact of such laws influences the decisions made by companies and producers — and what happens when these laws are postponed or weakened.
What methods do you use?
We interview companies, authorities and NGOs, carry out surveys and conduct experiments with hypothetical scenarios. In Colombia and Côte d’Ivoire, we observe over the long term how regulations on deforestation, child labor and income affect smallholder farmers. We want to understand whether laws actually effect changes — or whether measures are introduced voluntarily because future regulation seems likely.
Your three main products — coffee, cocoa, palm oil — have similarities and differences.
They are all grown in the Global South, often by smallholder farmers, and entail social and ecological risks. Almost all cocoa, two-thirds of all coffee, and one-third of all palm oil are grown by smallholder farmers. Problems range from child labor in cocoa production to forced labor on palm oil plantations.
How do you remain impartial in a field with so many interested parties?
We don’t take on mandates from companies, but we do work in multistakeholder forums if impartiality is institutionally guaranteed. The same goes for NGOs: We exchange ideas with them, but we don’t allow them to co-opt us. This means we retain our credibility — both in politics and in the private sector.
Do you sometimes lose faith?
As a human I do. For example, in the face of the climate crisis. As a researcher, it motivates me to understand why measures fail — and to find examples showing that fair business models are possible. These might include coffee roasters that work with radical transparency, or cooperatives that share profits with producers. These pioneers prove that change is possible, even in difficult circumstances.
Has your consumer behavior changed?
Yes. I pay more for food, look at where it comes from and the conditions in which it was produced, and engage with producers — in the knowledge that behind every product there are people who have to make a living from it. This awareness is with me whenever I go to the supermarket.
Janina Grabs is a political scientist, associate professor and head of the Sustainability Research Group at the University of Basel. Her research examines the regulation of global agricultural supply chains with a focus on coffee, cocoa and palm oil. She analyzes how public policy and private standards can help to make production and trade more sustainable.
More articles in this issue of UNI NOVA (November 2025).