Certifications

Smithsonian Bird-Friendly

First Bird-Friendly coffee from Caribbean

The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has announced the first Bird-Friendly certified coffee from the Caribbean, from Spirit Mountain Coffee in the Dominican Republic. Several years ago, I wrote a piece about coffee growing on Hispaniola, the island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti. There, you can read about Hispaniola’s great biodiversity, including 30 endemic bird species; the importance of the island to birds that winter and migrate through the West Indies and breed in North America; and the critical role of shade coffee in preserving habitat on an island with a very high level of deforestation.

The farm is near the village of La Angostura in the Jarabacoa region. The property is around 140 ha, of which 32 ha at 1100 to 1400 meters is in typica and caturra coffee (some bourbon is being planted). All the coffee is Bird-Friendly/organic certified, and also carries Rainforest Alliance and UTZ certifications. The current owners acquired the abandoned farm in 2003, and have since planted over 50,000 trees of over 30 species that provide both timber and habitat for birds and other flora and fauna, making it ideal to qualify for Bird-Friendly certification.

In addition to coffee, Spirit Mountain keeps 20 bee hives for organic honey production, and also grows a variety of citrus, nut, and timber trees.

Corporate coffee / McDonald's / Rainforest Alliance

McDonald’s makes substantial commitment to coffee sustainability

mccafeMcDonald’s Corp. recently announced that their North American operations is investing $6.5 million over 4.5 years to provide technical assistance to Guatemalan coffee farmers to increase their capacity for sustainable coffee production. McDonald’s is partnering with the non-profit TechnoServe (which coordinates many coffee-related projects) and SCAN (Sustainable Commodity Assistance Network), a global consortium of 20 organizations that provide an array of support for sustainable agriculture practices. This is another component in the sustainability efforts of the Golden Arches, a number of which are directly related to coffee. These include:

  • All coffee in the U.K. is from Rainforest Alliance-certified farms (since 2007).
  • All coffee in the rest of their 39 European markets is from Rainforest Alliance-certified or UTZ Certified farms (since 2007).
  • All coffee in Australia and New Zealand is from Rainforest Alliance-certified farms (since 2008-2009).
  • All coffee for espresso-based drinks in the U.S. is sourced from Rainforest Alliance-certified farms (as of March 2013).
  • All coffee for espresso-based drinks in Canada must be certified by a third party, and is currently 100% Rainforest Alliance.

To get an idea of why I find this so significant, we need put all of this in perspective by comparing it to the largest coffee buyer in the U.S., J.M. Smucker Company.

McDonald’s is a fast food restaurant. They do not directly source or roast coffee (it comes through suppliers). Coffee is not their core business, but makes up just 6% of U.S. sales for the company1. Smucker’s is a food manufacturer that owns the coffee brands Folgers, Millstone, Dunkin Donuts bagged coffee, Café Pilon, and Café Bustelo. Coffee makes up 44% of their U.S. sales.

McDonald’s certified coffee purchases in 2011 — Rainforest Alliance, UTZ, and Fair Trade — were about 10,400 metric tons, with three-quarters of it being Rainforest Alliance-certified. Although the McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. lag behind European markets in offering certified coffee, the company expects to buy around 3800 tons for the domestic market.  Not a lot, but more than Smuckers (1500 tons) and Nestlé (2000 tons) total certified global purchases combined!

The most recent McDonald’s pledge amounts to $1.4 million a year to provide sustainability support to coffee farmers. That’s 0.06% of its annual coffee sales of about $2.1 billion on U.S. systemwide sales of just over $35 billion. That doesn’t sound like much until you realize that Smucker has opted to support TechnoServe at $150,000 annually2, or 0.006% of its annual U.S. retail coffee sales of $2.3 billion.  And, as I like to remind everyone, JM Smucker has a dismal environmental sustainability record, and less than 0.5% of the coffee it buys each year carries any type of certification whatsoever.

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You can let McDonald’s know (on Facebook, for example) that you appreciate their efforts and would like to see more eco-certified coffee in the U.S.

1Figures provided to me by McDonald’s and are the most recent available; total global coffee purchase information not available at this time. The Nestle and Smucker figures are based on the most recently available data — both of those companies are very guarded about releasing any information to the public. In contrast, McDonald’s was helpful and forthcoming about giving me this data, and also has extensive information at their web site.

2This figure is based on statements made by Smucker’s regarding a continuation of support provided to TechnoServe by Proctor & Gamble, which sold its coffee brands to Smucker. The last time donors were listed in TechnoServe’s annual reports was 2009, and Smucker was listed as a donor in the $100,000 to $499,999 level. I wrote to TechnoServe to verify the amount of support they received from Smucker, but did not receive a reply. I’m sure if Smucker had upped the ante, they’d brag about it, because their 2013 Corporate Responsibility Report touted this relationship…by highlighting the work TechnoServe had done with 170,000 coffee farmers, making it sound as if Smucker should receive lots of credit. TechnoServe receives $3.1 million in corporate and foundation support alone.

Certifications / Corporate coffee / Nestlé/Nespresso

Nestlé: Saying no to coffee certifications

Nestlé is the world’s largest food company, with 2011 sales of $94 billion. Some of the most popular of their many coffee brands are Nescafé , Nespresso, and Taster’s Choice. The company buys upwards of 850,000 tons of coffee annually, of which less than 1% is eco-certified.

Nestlé’s most recent corporate responsibility report, Creating Shared Value 2011 (PDF), makes some specific statements about what this big multinational company thinks about sustainability certification.

The company presents its overall position in a section titled Third-party certifications and Responsible Sourcing: “Certification is not an end point in itself, and only one of several ways of Creating Shared Value, promoting sustainable rural development and progressing other development goals in an effective and holistic way.”

In the section specifically devoted to coffee, there is a sub-section titled Marketing certified coffee to consumers. Here’s what it says:

Currently, there are no plans to market certified coffee to consumers (ie, coffee carrying a certification seal on the label). We believe that our own Responsible Sourcing Platform, which combines in-house codes and guidelines, capacity-building teams for key commodities and suppliers, NGO and industry partnerships and third-party certifications, offers a more targeted approach than certification alone.”

Unfortunately for consumers, Nestlé offers few details on their “Responsible Sourcing Platform” so that we can judge whether we think their coffee is really grown in a sustainable manner. They do mention that the “Nestlé Supplier Code is an integral part of any green coffee contract.” This document is publicly available (PDF). It’s easy reading. In fact, it’s only 6 pages, three of which are the covers and title page.  Here are the sections on Sustainability and Environment, in their entirety:

  • Sustainability Nestlé supports and encourages operating practices, farming practices and agricultural production systems that are sustainable. This is an integral part of Nestlé’s supply strategy and supplier development. Nestlé expects the Supplier to Nestlé to continuously strive towards improving the efficiency and sustainability of its operations, which will include water conservation programs.
  • Environment The Supplier must operate with care for the environment and ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations in the country where products or services are manufactured or delivered.

That’s it. Nothing specific, no standards, guidelines, or benchmarks. In contrast, the basic farm standard of Rainforest Alliance runs 49 pages. Starbucks CAFE Practices has 7 pages of criteria just devoted to environmental leadership for its coffee suppliers.

Nestlé states that “For coffee, biodiversity issues are managed primarily through the use of the 4C Coffee Code and the Nespresso Sustainable Quality AAA programme for coffee sourcing.” Please read this post to learn how 4C compliance merely indicates marginal standards of human and environmental decency. As for the AAA Sustainable Quality program, see this post for an overview of the environmental and social requirements for producers in the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality Program, with its low bar for inclusion.

Maybe there’s more to their sourcing guidelines, and they include fabulous safeguards for the environment. I assume if that were the case they’d be making sure we know every last detail, and their coffee would easily qualify for various certifications that consumers would recognize and understand. But Nestlé has made it clear they are not interested in these certifications, and that their way is better. Whatever that is; we’re supposed to take their word for it.

Certifications / Coffee awards and competitions / Rainforest Alliance

Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality — Dec 2012

ra-sealThe Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality award is designed to recognize exceptional coffees carrying the Rainforest Alliance seal and to highlight the linkage between sustainable farm management practices and cup quality. Two annual cuppings and awards are divided by geography. In December, coffees from the southern hemisphere — including Brazil, Peru, Kenya, Tanzania and Indonesia — compete.

The latest cupping evaluated 51 coffee samples from 9 origins, including one from Malawi, the first entry for that country.  Here are the top 10 coffees:

  1. Ndumberi Factory, Kenya — 87.41.  One of the coffee processing mills (factories) utilized by the Ndumberi cooperative. This group of over 2500 smallholders in the Kiambu region is also Fair Trade and UTZ Certified. Many of the members — the average size of their plots is 0.15 ha — do grow under some shade.
  2. Tunki, Peru — 86.91.  Placed first last year, and second in 2010. Also certified organic and Fair Trade. Tunki is one of the coffees from CECOVASA (Central de Cooperativas Agrarias Cafetaleras de los Valles de. Sandia), a group of cooperatives totaling nearly 5000 members. CECOVASA has been working with Conservation International, and has won an award for their work preserving biodiversity. “Tunki” is the local name for the national bird of Peru, the spectacular Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, depicted in their logo. Equal Exchange has a good article on a visit to CECOVASA.
  3. El Silencio – Luis Fernando Arias Alzate, Colombia — 86.88. Also Fair Trade.
  4. Tegu Factory, Kenya — 86.09. Nyeri district, part of the Tekangu Farmers Cooperative, which has around 900 members. Also UTZ Certified. The co-op has engaged in a community tree planting project.
  5. Quechua, Peru — 86.00. Like Tunki, one of the CECOVASA coffees; also organic and Fair Trade. Came in 5th place in 2010.
  6. Santo Tomas 2, Eibar Jose Rojas Pajoy, Colombia — 85.44.
  7. Gichatha-ini Factory, Kenya — 85.18. Also Fair Trade and UTZ Certified.
  8. Ibonia Estate, Kenya — 84.46. Also UTZ Certified. Placed 6th in 2010.
  9. Coop Sol & Café [Coopertiva de Servicios Multiples Sol & Cafe], Peru — 84.25. Also Fair Trade and organic certified. This 1000+ member cooperative includes cacoa and rice producers.
  10. Yadini Estate, Kenya — 84.23. A 131 ha estate (81 cultivated in cofffee) near Ruiru. Also UTZ Certified, and a Starbucks supplier. Placed 9th in 2010. According to a profile on their web site, “Bio- diversity is also being enhanced on the farm by the ongoing planting of coffee friendly shade trees” and they hope to market shade coffee in the future.

Last year, I began tracking the cumulative data on this competition going back to 2007. The average score for the top ten in this current event was 85.68, which is slightly above the previous average of 85.14. The top score of 87.41 was below the average of previous top scores (88.02). Not all countries have competed each year, but of the countries that have had coffees in at least five events, the highest average score goes to Peru at 86.30 (five events). Colombia (86.05, n=6) and Guatemala (86.04, n=5) came in next.

Search for these coffees online — I have seen quite a few of them offered within the last two crop years.