Case Study: Butterflies of Costa Rica
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In July 2007 Joris Brinckerhoff, founder and owner of Costa Rica Entomological Supplies (CRES), must decide whether to accept an offer from RBA, a publications firm in Barcelona, Spain, to sell mounted butterflies or "deadstock" as part of RBA's "collectibles" program for schoolchildren. Joris had always avoided the deadstock business which he considered to be low margin and unstable. The business proposed by RBA would also require additional investment and increased overhead. Nevertheless, he thought that the RBA offer might be attractive to CRES and its many suppliers in rural areas throughout the country. Currently, the oversupply of butterfly pupae was adversely affecting not only his business, but also the livelihoods of dozens of breeders, many of whom had been low-income rural families, endangering the social gains that had been made over the past years.