1 E. & J. Gallo, The World's Largest Winery Case Study 3. E. & J. Gallo, the world's largest winery, announced that it would stop selling its Thunderbird and Night Train Express wines in the Tenderloin, the skid row of San Francisco, for six months. Gallo took this action after meeting with an activist group called Safe and Sober Streets. The activist group had asked grocers to remove the high-alcohol wine from the district where citizens say drunkards create a menace. One retailer in the district said, "If I don't sell this, I will have to close my doors and go home." Discuss the actions of E. & J. Gallo and the dilemma of the retailers in the district. Be sure to discuss the type of philosophy each of them holds with respect to social responsibility and ethical dilemmas. E & J. Gallo is in a dilemma whether to remove its wines brand from the area to make activists and citizens irked by the menace created by the high alcoholic wine but have the retailer lose their income source or continue running it at the expense of the community’s peace. Closure of the business will also deny the drinkers a chance to enjoy Thunderbird and Night Train Express wines in the Tenderloin. E. & J. Gallo will also lose a market for its products, yet it is not illegal to sell wines within the said area. E. & J. Gallo operates on a utilitarian ethical philosophy that emphasized the greatest good for the greatest number. The winery is more focused on the welfare of the majority at the expense of the minority (Jennings, 2018). The local community’s interests come before those of the retailers. In this respect, E. & J. Gallo deem it good to side with the majority’s demands rather than the minority who can have other options. On the other hand, the retailers hold the Kantian philosophy of ethics, which holds that what is legal is justifiable. The universal law is the guiding ethical principle for the retailers, who
2 see no problem with selling Thunderbird and Night Train Express wines, regardless of the menace they create as long as the law allows them to operate the wine businesses. Kantian ethics hold the individuals should respect other peoples' human nature (Jennings, 2018). In this respect, the community ought to respect the drinkers and the wines business by accommodating the menace that the high alcohol wine business creates in Tenderloin.
3 Reference Jennings, M.J. (2018). Business its legal, ethical, and global environment (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.