In earlier years, when powerful companies in the Northern hemisphere bought coffee or cocoa from small farmers in the South, they demanded low prices and threatened to buy elsewhere if they didn’t get their way. Commodity prices often plunged before harvest, forcing many farmers into bankruptcy and others to cut down their trees in favour of other plants that would guarantee some type of income. In this heartless business environment, company managers would simply shrug their shoulders in mock-disbelief and move on to the next coun
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