This study uses the case of selected commercial apple farmers and farm workers from the Langkloof Valley to determine whether a profit-driven trading arrangement, such as a global apple value chain, can produce inclusive developmental outcomes. Mainstream global commodity chain (GCC) and global value chain (GVC) discourse, which is mainly inspired by a neoliberal approach to development, presents global chains (GCs) as ideal conduits for facilitating economic and social upgrading for suppliers/producers and their employees from developing countries such as South Africa.