JulieCraves

Certifications / Corporate coffee / Jacobs Douwe Egberts/KraftHeinz / Rainforest Alliance

Yuban ad campaign

As I was perusing a magazine, I came across an ad for Yuban coffee with the headline “The coffee you make can make a difference.”  It showed their coffee cans, emblazoned with the Rainforest Alliance seal and a banner saying “Conserving the environment & supporting coffee farmers.  Minimum 30% Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee.”

Let’s examine. Who are we dealing with? Yuban is a Maxwell House brand, which in turn is owned by Kraft Foods. (More on which corporations own which brands here.)

How big a deal is it that Kraft is buying RA beans? While Kraft will purchase 12,000 tons of RA coffee in 2006, this represents a tiny fraction (I’ve calculated about 1.5%) of Kraft’s coffee bean purchases.

What’s with the 30%? Rainforest Alliance (RA) allows use of their seal on products with a minimum of 30% certified beans (a fact for which they are sometimes criticized).  In order for Kraft to keep their prices so low (suggested retail for a 12-ounce can of RA-bean-containing Yuban is $3.89; a 13-ounce can of Maxwell House is $2.56), the other two-thirds of the beans in the can must be lower quality, likely technified/sun coffee.  I don’t see any other way they can do it.  The cost differential between certified beans and non-certified beans also means that I doubt Yuban will ever contain more RA certified beans than the 30% minimum required for use of the RA seal. (Update: As of January 2013, the Yuban can still indicates 30% certified beans. However, RA is requiring companies to scale up their percentages over time…read more here.)

Does this move really help farmers? While RA certification includes fair labor practices, and RA certified coffee usually commands some premium, the criteria does not set a minimum price paid to farmers. RA certification is cheaper for corporations that Fair Trade certification.  Oxfam is still pressuring Kraft to agree to buy Fair Trade coffee.

RA cannot be faulted for their efforts in promoting and making sustainable coffee available to mainstream consumers.  Nor can they really be criticized for partnering with Kraft, since RA certifies a product, not a company.

Still, it difficult for me to endorse supporting a corporation like Kraft which has a dubious ethical record (Responsible Shopper profile here). And while Kraft deserves some credit, as none of the other Big Coffee companies is making this type of effort, real environmental preservation and fair prices for farmers is far, far better served by purchasing sustainable coffees from small companies and roasters with relationships with their suppliers, especially those that provide information on the specific farms where their beans are sourced.  Plus I guarantee it will taste better!

UPDATE! The January 2007 issue of Coffee Review goes over supermarket coffees, including this coffee, which is “dominated by a cloyingly sweet nut character, the calling card of inexpensive coffees of the robusta species.”  Robusta tastes bad, and is sun coffee.  Very bad!  As for the Yuban Organic brand, that review notes it is recommended for “Those on a budget with a commitment to organic growing principles that transcends the desire to drink decent coffee.”  Please also read the accompanying article or my post about it.

More information:

 

Birds and other biodiversity / Research on coffee growing

Abstracts on presentations at the NAOC

Here are some very brief summaries of research that had to do with coffee growing that were presented at North American Ornithological Conference. I also put together a page with full abstracts, and author contacts.

  • Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea) foraging behavior in the western Andes of Colombia. This species (which I’ve written about before) was common in shade coffee plantations, and only fed in the shade canopy.
  • Population ecology of Cerulean Warblers on breeding and wintering grounds. This study concluded that shade coffee farms in the Venezuelan Andes were critical wintering habitat for this species, with density in the farms higher than in the surrounding forest.
  • Coffee certification as an economic incentive for bird conservation. Discusses the shade coffee farms of central Veracruz, Mexico, many shaded by cloud forest tree species.
  • Certification and birds: the importance of shade coffee plantations for species diversity in the Cuetzalan region, Puebla, Mexico. 182 species were recorded in this area, and while not as rich as primary forest, shade coffee still maintains a high diversity of birds.
  • Traditional coffee plantations: suitable habitat in the anthropogenic matrix for Neotropical resident and migratory birds. A study that complements the previous Puebla study, quantifying the different types of birds found in shade coffee.
  • Neotropical insectivorous birds as pest control of the coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) on Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee farms.  More on Matt Johnson’s work in Jamaica.
  • Birds, shade grown coffee, and community outreach in Ecuador. Self explanatory.
  • Sensitive bird species in shade coffee plantations. In southern Mexico, shade coffee with high levels of structural diversity (many layers of shade trees) may be good for conservation purposes; however, shade coffee may only be important for forest species which are sensitive to deforestation and disturbance when close to intact forest.

Coffee regions

Veracruz, Mexico

I am attending the North American Ornithological Conference in Veracruz, Mexico.  Coffee breaks are catered by Consejo Regulador del Cafe Veracruz, the organization that regulates and certifies “Cafe Veracruz” labeled coffee, guaranteeing origin and quality.

Veracruz state is on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, and is divided into three growing regions, as shown in this map (click to enlarge).

One of the farm requirements is for coffee (arabica only: typical, bourbon, or Mundo Novo) to be shade grown (how much I don’t know).  There are several vendors selling these coffees as well, but so far I’ve only seen ground coffee, and would rather not bring that home for a review.  The coffee we’ve had on breaks has been quite good.  If I do find whole beans, I’ll snap some up for a report.

I’ve seen several posters on coffee and birds, and talked to several people very involved in both research and the certification process.  I will have much more information in the weeks to come as I synthesize what I learn.  More later.

Certifications / Rainforest Alliance

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 world’s coffee (they currently certify less than 1%).  The grant comes from the Global Environmental Facility, an independent financial organization established in 1990 by the World Bank, the United Nations Environment Program, and the United Nations Development Program. These entities manage projects that benefit the global environment and promote sustainable livelihoods in local communities.

Grant funds will go towards increasing production and demand of RA coffees. On the production side, RA indicates it will “provide farmers with the information and tools necessary to improve their management practices and make them more responsible with regards to the environment, workers and communities.”  Plans for increasing demand include encouraging companies to buy and promote RA certified coffee, and arranging media tours of RA certified farms so that consumers realize “their potential roles in fostering the conservation of habitats and quality of life for millions of third-world workers.”

The press release (PDF) as well as a separate project summary put the emphasis on the marketing side.  Elsewhere, there was mention of a research or monitoring component, noting that the “project also plans to monitor and document the impact of coffee plantations on biodiversity.”

Obviously there is no incentive for farmers to produce coffee which is sustainable (under any certification scheme) without sufficient demand. I think it will be very important for third parties to make sure that consumers are clearly educated about what they are supporting when they purchase RA certified coffee — especially versus other certification programs.