Introduction Third-party certifications are great aids to consumers who want to know their coffee was produced under specific standards. Coffee produced under various certification schemes is still a pretty small fraction of total global production. One frequent question I get is why more coffee isn’t certified (Bird-Friendly, organic, etc.), or why the coffee costs more…
Certifications
What’s happening with Fair Trade?
Big kerfluffle, well explained in the following posts; make sure to read the comments. My thoughts on how this relates to other certifications follow. To tell the truth: who owns Fair Trade? — Small Farmers, Big Change (Equal Exchange blog). Some very necessary historical background, and how we arrived where we are today. The slow…
Certified coffee: current market share, part 2
Report on how much certified, sustainably-grown coffee was produced and sold worldwide in 2008, broken down by major buyer.
Certified coffee: current market share, part 1
Report on how much certified, sustainably-grown coffee was produced and sold worldwide in 2009, broken down by certification.
Review: PT’s Kenya Kia Ora
Organic coffee from Kenya accounts for less than 1% of exports. Here’s a review of one of the first widely available offerings, from a surprising source.
Rainforest Cupping for Quality 2010, round 2
For the past several years, I’ve covered the Rainforest Alliance (RA) Cupping for Quality awards, a competition for RA-certified farms. In its first year, 2003, eight countries submitted 40 coffees for consideration. There is now so much participation, and to accommodate the variable seasonality of the world’s coffees, that two cuppings are held each year:…
Bird-friendly coffee (and me) on NPR
I was on a segment of Public Radio International‘s show “The World” talking about sustainable coffee certifications. The emphasis of the show was on standards that preserve bird habitat. It aired today, but you can hear the audio at The World’s web site here. The piece runs about 5 minutes and, saving the best for…
Rainforest Alliance updates standards
Rainforest Alliance promotes standards for sustainable production of a variety of agriculture crops through standards set by the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN). In order for a farm to be Rainforest Alliance certified, they must comply with an overarching set of standards, with some crops requiring additional or specific standards. Evaluation of compliance audits are done…
Starbucks CAFE Practices
A review of the environmental criteria in Starbucks green coffee sourcing guidelines finds they are as good as or better than some other popular certifications.
New organic and eco-friendly coffee market data
The North American Organic Coffee Industry Report 2010 by Daniele Giovannucci shows that the North American organic coffee market topped $1.4 billion dollars in 2009. The report is available from the Organic Trade Association (OTA) and was announced at an…
New quick guide to certifications
Link to a quick guide to the five most common coffee certifications.
Counter Culture Coffee transparency report
Counter Culture Coffee has just released its first annual Transparency Report, covering 2009. Simple, straightforward, five pages describing each of CCC’s Direct Trade coffees, including the date of the last farm visit by a CCC employee and how much they…
Caribou Coffee: All Rainforest Alliance by 2011
Caribou Coffee recently announced that it will be sourcing all of its beans from Rainforest Alliance certified farms by the end of 2011.
Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality 2010 winners
The first set of 2010 winners of the Cupping for Quality competition, featuring Rainforest Alliance-certified coffees, was just announced at the annual Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) meeting. RA now certifies 2% of world coffee exports. This year, there…
Bird-Friendly certified coffee at more Smithsonian units
More Smithsonian Institution locations now serving Bird-Friendly certified coffee.