The Research Journey: Where to Begin?

The research journey began with my experience in the industry. This study was facilitated by contacting a network o f former colleagues in numerous supermarket retailers in the UK. The supermarket ‘buying fraternity’ is somewhat incestuous and typically, with careers moving between supermarket groups, there is virtually always someone who has a contact in the ‘opposite camp’ or ‘someone who knows someone’ and as such referrals across competitive boundaries were not unusual. Thus I was transferred from one individual to the next in a number o f supermarket retailers in my endeavours to construct a research plan. It was suggested to me by one o f these informants that the best course o f action would be to make contact with the three major banana TNC producers. This was to be the start o f a journey that would eventually lead me to the banana plantations of Costa Rica, where I would observe the production process o f a fruit destined for foreign markets.

The first requirement was to approach the producers, but I knew from personal experience I needed some form o f introduction or at the very least some contact names in the companies I was about to approach; cold calling would not be my best option. Cold calling is a typical phrase used in the sales and marketing environment, whereby no previous contact or introduction has been made, it has the literal sense o f knocking on doors unannounced. I contacted a former retail colleague who had previously had some involvement with the banana sector and asked for advice; from which I was given my first producer contact name and telephone number: a representative in Chiquita, who as my colleague noted “will be amenable to your study and will probably be happy to meet and talk to you, also he w on’t mind me giving you his telephone number” (Conversation Retail Colleague, December 2004). I arranged to meet the representative at the Ethical Corporation conference held in London on the 22nd o f February 2005.

The conference was a two-day event entitled ‘Business/NGO Partnerships and Engagement’, and a number o f case studies were presented to show the structure and progress o f such collaboration. Several o f the presentations caught my

attention, including one by the ETI and Marks and Spencer PLC regarding the implementation o f the ETI Base Code in the company’s food supply chain, and another by Chiquita International. One of the statements made in the presentation by the representative from Chiquita stood out, he said ‘Companies are citizens o f the wider world, they are not only concerned with self-interest, but have a duty to society’ (Conference presentation, February 2005). The comment may have been constructed for the conference audience, but it made me think a little more about the lens through which I could view my own research and how I could explore the relationship between business and society.

As agreed, I met with the representative from Chiquita and we had the opportunity to talk at length. We discussed the banana industry, the production process, labour codes o f conduct, the position o f UK supermarkets on issues of environmental and social conditions on banana plantations and tentatively explored the opportunity o f me visiting a banana plantation owned by Chiquita (Conversation George Jaksch, CSR Director: Chiquita, February 2005). While the location o f the field study trip had not been finalised, indications from previous discussions with my retail network were that Costa Rica would be the ideal place. The reasoning for this choice was Costa Rica was one o f the biggest banana exporters in the world and the country was considered a more stable and safer environment compared to its Central American neighbours. Having discovered that Chiquita had a large number o f banana farms there, I was disposed to study the industry there. However, other considerations needed to be taken into account, such as which other banana TNC producers operated in Costa Rica, and how best could I make contact with them. Jaksch (Chiquita) informed me of a major event in the banana industry calendar, which was due to take place in a couple o f months, the Second International Banana Conference (IBCII). I was not aware o f this event and as all the major actors in the global banana supply chain - producers, retailers, government officials, trade unions and NGOs - would gather to discuss the issues and challenges facing the industry, it seemed opportune for me to attend. As noted by Jaksch, it appeared to be perfect timing

for my study and “a chance to meet everyone who is important in the world o f bananas” (Conversation George Jaksch, CSR Director: Chiquita, February 2005).

5.2.1 The Second International Banana Conference

By attending the Second International Banana Conference (IBCII) in Brussels, I was able to make contacts and engage with many stakeholders in the global banana chain from corporate entities to trade unions, and from government representatives to civil society groups. The key objective o f the conference was to ‘secure commitments by governments and banana companies to respect/enforce labour and trade union rights and standards for workers in all producing countries’ (IBCII 2004: 2). The whole conference agenda was structured around what the organisers deemed the most pressing question in the banana industry ‘How to Reverse the Race to the B ottom ’ - a question o f tackling the major issues o f fair prices, living wages and labour rights. The m ain argument was that producers, driven by the m ajor supermarket groups, were seeking ever lower production costs in order to supply cheaper and cheaper bananas and this was crippling the industry and its workers (IBCII 2004).

Following the First International Banana Conference (IBCI) in 1998, it appeared that the m ajority o f banana producers and trading companies accepted the diagnosis o f the dire conditions in the banana industry and were intent on rectifying the situation (Farquhar and Smith 2005). Yet, in spite o f this understanding and the proliferation o f voluntary labour initiatives and codes o f conduct being introduced, achievements on the ground seemed limited (Farquhar and Smith 2005, Chambron 2005). According to Chambron (2005) conditions in socio-economic terms actually appeared to worsen during the years following the

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first conference. One o f the reasons commonly cited for this, was the power of

12 During the IBCII event the terms ‘power’ and ‘buying power’ were often used to describe the