"Sustainable coffee is produced on a farm with high biological diversity and low chemical inputs. It conserves resources, protects the environment, produces efficiently, competes commercially and enhances the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole."
-- Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, First Sustainable Coffee Congress overview paper
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Sustainable coffee: Coffee growing: Retail coffee: All the rest:
Related links
Birds, Biodiversity, & Shade Coffee- Birds that use coffee plantations
- The Grind over Sun Coffee
- The Case of the Disappearing Warbler
- Bird-Friendly coffee slide show
- WWF: Coffee and habitat conversion
- Shade certification issues
- Why Birds Are Crazy for Shade Coffee
- Audubon Magazine shade coffee article
- "Bird-Friendly" certification standards
- "Bird-Friendly" farms
- Rainforest Alliance certification standards
- Rainforest Alliance certified farms
Trade and consumer
Deeper into side issues
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Certifications category archives
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June 20, 2009: When is 100% not 100%?
Coffee labeled 100% Rainforest Alliance certified may in fact only contain 81% certified beans without disclosure to the consumer.
June 7, 2009: Cerulean Warbler Reserve coffee certified
A coffee farm that is part of the ProAves Cerulean Warbler Reserve in Santander, Colombia was recently certified by Rainforest Alliance (under the cooperative Asociación de Cafés Sostenibles de Santander). The 15 ha farm was acquired in 2006 by ProAves,...
May 16, 2009: When birders drink Folgers, part 2
Multiple studies have shown that birders can well afford to drink sustainably-grown coffee that supports the birds they enjoy so much.
May 10, 2009: Coffee, climate change, and Rainforest Alliance
At the Specialty Coffee Association of America expo, we attended a lecture on climate change and coffee. Several speakers discussed this topic, but I’ll focus on the climate module that Rainforest Alliance is adding to its certification. This was announced...
April 17, 2009: Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality 2009
As we did last year, Coffee & Conservation attended the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Coffee Breakfast at the SCAA annual show. The breakfast took place this morning. The winners of the sixth annual "Cupping for Quality" event were announced. These awards...
March 26, 2009: Nicaraguan shade coffee: Finca Esperanza Verde
My experiences on shade and bird diversity at Nicaragua's Finca Esperanza Verde.
March 19, 2009: Bird-Friendly coffee now available in Europe
I'm back from Nicaragua -- and yes, I did see Emerald Toucanets at two different shade coffee farms. I'll be writing about my trip soon. Meanwhile, news from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. Certified Bird-Friendly coffee is finally available in...
March 7, 2009: Organic certifiers incorporating shade criteria
Is incorporating shade criteria into organic certification standards a good thing?
February 2, 2009: When birders* drink Folger's
An editorial recently appeared in the scientific journal Conservation Biology. It was titled "When swordfish conservation biologists eat swordfish." As the title implies, it's a riff on the hypocrisy of avowed conservationists when their own lifestyles are inconsistent with the...
January 13, 2009: Bird-Friendly fees: where do they go?
Roasters that sell Bird-Friendly coffee, certified by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, pay a per-pound fee to Smithsonian (around US$0.25, I believe). These fees go to support bird conservation research and education, with an emphasis on coffee as bird habitat....
December 4, 2008: Bird-friendly Galapagos Island coffee
The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has just announced that it has certified Hacienda El Cafetal coffee from the Galapagos Islands as Bird-Friendly, the most eco-friendly certification for coffee. Galapagos coffee has been on my "to try" list for quite awhile....
November 10, 2008: Discontent with certifications
In my post about the Coffee Conference, I noted that one of the most interesting things I came away with was the general displeasure many participants had with coffee certifications. Both Rainforest Alliance and TransFair USA (the Fair Trade certifiying...
September 12, 2008: Coffee Review covers Rainforest Alliance coffees
Kenneth Davids' excellent Coffee Review takes on Rainforest Alliance coffees for its September reviews. Please go read his concise and insightful introduction to the reviews. He provides a good overview of the RA program and how it differs from Fair...
July 21, 2008: Rainforest Alliance introduces carbon module
Rainforest Alliance will be adding a carbon module to their certification for coffee farms (presumably other crops they certify). They are also looking for further incentives to encourage farmers to plant more trees, including developing a system that would allow coffee companies to buy carbon from farmers along with their coffee beans.
July 13, 2008: What is the market share of eco-certified coffee?
Certified coffees (organic, Fair Trade, Bird-Friendly, Rainforest Alliance, Utz, and Starbucks C.A.F.E. Practices) make up only about 4% of world green coffee exports, or about 220,000 metric tons. The U.S. is a major importer of various types of certified coffee, which make up nearly 8% of green bean imports. Let's take a quick look at the market share and growth of the three certification labels that focus largely on ecological standards: organic, Rainforest Alliance, and Bird-Friendly.
June 8, 2008: Rainforest Alliance partners with the Coffee Quality Institute
A Problem Judging by the enormous market shares of the Big Four corporate coffee multinationals, a lot of people don't mind drinking lousy tasting coffee. However, plenty of people won't do it. But more imporantly, if it doesn't taste better,...
May 15, 2008: SMBC certifies its first African coffees
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) recently certified its first Bird-Friendly coffee outside of Latin America: Anfilo Specialty Coffee Enterprise (SCE). This group of 118 farmers in the district of Wollega, in the sub-districts of Anfilo and Gidami in far western...
March 3, 2008: Coffee farms and carbon sequestration
In my post, "Why certifying shade coffee is so complex," I ended with a comment regarding the upside-down nature of shade (or organic) certification. That is, the burden of certification costs are on the producers who are doing the right...
February 3, 2008: Why certifying shade coffee is so complex
After visiting some coffee farms in Panama's western highlands, I have some thoughts regarding shade certification programs. I am aware that there are pros and cons of various certifications. And as I frequently note here on C&C, farms lacking certifications...
January 27, 2008: What shade coffee looks like
One trip to one part of one county's coffee growing region is limited information to work with. Nonetheless, my recent visit to the western highlands of Panama was an eye-opener, replacing a mental image based on a great deal of...
December 31, 2007: Green Earth Coffee: A cautionary tale
[July 2008 update at bottom of post] I recently received an inquiry about Green Earth Coffee Company, which sells several varieties of Costa Rican coffee promoted as eco-friendly. This struck a reader as at odds with my post on how...
November 11, 2007: Kenya producing more organic coffee
A recent article notes that more producers in central Kenya are turning to organic coffee in order to take advantage of price premiums. This is welcome news, as over the last 15 years or so, Kenya has been one of...
July 31, 2007: Quick look at differing shade criteria
I recently reviewed a paper, Field-testing ecological and economic benefits of coffee certification programs, that included a nifty summary table of the criteria used for shade certification by Rainforest Alliance, and Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (under the "Bird-Friendly" trademark). I...
July 26, 2007: Research: Evaluating benefits of coffee certification programs
Field-testing ecological and economic benefits of coffee certification programs. S. M. Philpot, P. Bichier, R. Rice, and R. Greenberg. 2007. Conservation Biology 21:975-985. This study looked at the ecological (vegetation, ants and birds) and economic (yield, revenue) aspects of coffee...
June 1, 2007: Recent sustainability awards
Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality. This event was started in 2004 as a competition for Rainforest Alliance certified coffees. The most recent cuppings took place last December and in April, with over 100 samples submitted. There are many top-flight sustainable...
May 2, 2007: Organic coffee safe for now
Last week I posted about the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture ruling which will require every farm in a cooperative to be inspected annually in order to receive organic certification. It was feared this would make organic certification too expensive...
April 17, 2007: Sign the Save Organic Coffee petition
An article in Salon outlines a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture ruling which will require every farm in a cooperative to be inspected annually in order to receive organic certification. Previously, about 20% of the farms were inspected annually. The...
April 13, 2007: Some recommended reading
Book: Organic Coffee: Sustainable Development by Mayan Farmers by Maria Elena Martinez-Torres. This book is based on a PhD dissertation, but has been skillfully adapted and is very readable while still preserving the excellent information including tables, charts, and references....
February 12, 2007: Utz Kapeh certification
(Note that this is now called "Utz Certified.") Fair Trade, organic, Rainforest Alliance, and Smithsonian Bird Friendly are the most frequently seen coffee certifications. Another seal is becoming more familiar. Founded by the Dutch coffee retail giant Ahold (but now...
January 28, 2007: Biodynamic farming: flim-flam alert
Every so often when I am researching a coffee farm to determine if their methods preserve biodiversity, I come across one that uses "biodynamic" farming methods; some are even certified by the Demeter Association. What the hell is biodynamic farming?...
January 20, 2007: Answers to BirdChatter questions
(updated June 2009) Recently, the topic of shade coffee came up on the popular Internet bird list, BirdChat. I hope BirdChatters will have a look around Coffee & Conservation, beginning with some of the posts listed under "Overview" at left....
January 4, 2007: KLM to serve Rainforest Alliance coffee
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines joins Asiana Airlines (Korea) and ANA (Japan) in pledging to serve Rainforest Alliance certified coffee on all its flights. KLM serves 22 million cups of coffee annually. This is a step in the right direction, but...
December 15, 2006: Pesticides used on coffee farms, part 4: Organic coffee & further resources
I'm sure once you examine the effects of the pesticides that are commonly used on coffee, you will agree that the workers, the environment, and the folks downstream are all better off if coffee is grown without pesticides. Careful cultivation...
December 2, 2006: Research: Biodiversity and profitability in coffee agrosystems
Gordon, C., R. Manson, J. Sundberg, and A. Cruz-Angon. 2006. Biodiversity, profitability, and vegetation structure in a Mexican coffee agrosystem. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 118:256-266. This study looked at coffee grown in various types of shade in central Mexico, and...
October 12, 2006: Yuban ad campaign
Yuban coffee may carry the Rainforest Alliance seal, but only 30% of its beans are certified. Do you know where the other 70% come from? Or what kind of company you are supporting when you purchase this coffee?
October 2, 2006: Rainforest Alliance to certify 10% of coffee exports
Rainforest Alliance (RA) received a seven-year, $12 million grant to increase the number of certified farms in six Latin American countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. By the project’s end, RA will have certified 10% of the...
September 21, 2006: RA certifies in Africa
Rainforest Alliance has announced its first certification for coffee outside Latin America, certifying a group of 678 farms in the Djimmah region of Ethiopia, according to a report in Tea & Coffee Trade Journal. RA's certification requirements are not focused...
July 17, 2006: Northwest Shade Coffee Campaign update
In March 2006, I posted about the Northwest Shade Coffee Campaign, a Seattle Audubon Society project whose mission is "to protect habitat for wintering neo-tropical migratory birds in Latin America and the Caribbean by increasing consumer demand for shade-grown coffee,"...
May 20, 2006: Colombia to produce more RA coffee
According to this article in Financial Express, by 2007, ten percent (about 1 million 60 kg bags) of Colombia's coffee will be certified by social and environmental programs. One of these programs is the Rainforest Alliance sustainable agriculture program (my...
March 26, 2006: Who evaluates non-certified shade coffee? Part 2
In Part 1 of "Who evaluates non-certified shade coffee?" I pointed out that roasters, importers, and retailers of non-certified shade coffee have assorted means of "verifying" that coffee is shade grown. These are usually described as farm visits by roasters,...
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