Their last ingredient: consumer values
Moyee is a Fairchain brand. They offer coffee with supreme cupping scores (taste). Better even, their unique selling point is fairness. They promise to leave way more of the profits of coffee in the country of origin, thereby trying to provide for living wages.
Moyee has figured out how to present their ideas and beliefs in a way that speaks to consumers. Who isn’t vulnerable to pictures of farmers, good tasting coffee and fair and transparent business?
There is however one thing they, and most other companies, are not doing yet.
Value alignment
Okay, so I think there are two main ingredients to a perfect fit between consumers and products.
First, transparency and accountability. It should be clear how farmers are treated, what the impact of the product is on different parties, stakeholders and environments.
Moyee is at the state of the art of these developments.
Second, identifying the values of the consumer. See, the danger of businesses like Moyee that are so ideologically driven and progressive is that they become the big intermediary they try to dismantle in the first place. Sure, brands like DE and Nespresso are performing worse on every socially accepted ethical metric. But, there is a danger that Moyee will create the same type of imposition of values that other coffee brands live by.
I am assuming here that every consumer has some set of values that they want to use in their purchases. I am also assuming that on a general level, most people agree on things like sustainability and fairness. On a very specific level, I think people tend to disagree on the prioritization of certain values.
For example, some might want to spend their money in a way that promotes fairness with the belief that how people are treated should be prioritized.
Others might find financial issues more important when it comes to fairness and believe fair distribution of profits is the highest priority.
Avoiding imposing values
If brands like Moyee want to avoid imposing any values (so not choosing for the costumer what the costumer values, but letting them speak up about their values), they ought to ask for those values.
Three reasons why:
- it is democratic
- it avoids being paternalistic (chosing for someone with the intention of doing something good for them)
- it will acknowledge that consumers are credible knowers of their values
Figuring out where you stand
The Moyee/Fairchain model …. why is it not ubiquitous right now? My guess would be that most people have to figure out for themselves where they stand and what their beliefs and values are. Most of us have sufficient information available to do this, but lack the proper guidance.
So, Guido and all other Moyeesta’s, how did you figure out what your values are? Surely it happened in a safe environment where reflection and conversation was possible.
Socratic interaction with every coffee drinker
What does it take for Moyee?
- be prepared to (slightly and in a nuanced way) change the values of the business based on the input of consumers
- find a way to interact with every distinct kind of customer to figure out what the nuances are in their values
- map those values and respect them
The effects?
Can’t say. But, when someone asks me what I value and find important I am more likely to connect and act in line with those values.
In the same way it is likely that if consumers are asked for their values, those consumers have a higher propensity to transact with a business (Lui & Gal 2010).
Lit.
Liu, Wendy & Gal, David. (2010). Bringing Us Together or Driving Us Apart: The Effect of Soliciting Consumer Input on Consumers’ Propensity to Transact with an Organization. Journal of Consumer Research. 38. 242–242. 10.1086/658884.
