Chapter 9: Assertiveness in Coffee Agri-Food Chain Business

This document is a chapter that discusses the negotiation problem in product commercialisation by small-scale producers in the Mexican agri-food sector, specifically in the coffee industry. The chapter emphasises the importance of developing soft skills, particularly assertiveness, in the different actors of the productive chain for price negotiation and product commercialisation. The article discusses the concepts of agroecology and assertiveness in agri-food value chains and the methodology used to measure the relationship between assertiveness and overpricing of agri-food goods using a logistic model. The study found that assertiveness in management and other skills and knowledge can lead to higher coffee prices and improve producers’ quality of life. The article also discusses the coffee industry’s evolution in terms of economic units, added value, governance, institutional framework and policy initiatives to support the sector. The study’s results could have implications for other agri-food products in Mexico, such as Creole corn, mezcal, tequila and cocoa.