Rainforest Alliance

Certifications / Rainforest Alliance

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 by Sustainable Farm Certification, International.

In July 2010, the SAN Sustainable Agriculture Standard was revised and updated from the previous version dated April 2009. Several criteria were added. The ones dealing with the environment are:

  • Farms must know the sources of their energy, how much they use, and have an energy efficiency plan.
  • Farms must implement a plan to maintain or restore connectivity of natural ecosystems within their boundaries.
  • Farms must implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon dioxide sequestration.

None of these are critical (required), but are rather novel and worthwhile additions to coffee certification schemes in particular.

The following criteria having to do with the environment were modified:

  • The criteria regarding farms not destroying any natural ecosystem, a critical criterion, is now more detailed and specific. It now also says that any natural ecosystems purposefully destroyed since late 1999 need to undergo analysis and mitigation.
  • The criteria regarding the prohibition on harvesting of endangered or threatened plants now includes the language “or other taking” of these plants. A statement banning certification of farms that have deforested in the two years prior to the start of the certification process has been deleted.

It appears that farms that underwent deforestation within two years of the start of the certification process can now be certified, but have to implement some sort of mitigation process. I’m not sure if this is a net gain or not.

You can read through these now-current standards in this PDF document.

As far as I know, there have been no revisions to the coffee standard; the last version I have is November 2005.

Caribou Coffee / Certifications / Rainforest Alliance / Retail and specialty roasters

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.

Caribou has been working towards this goal since mid-2006. Many of its coffees contain varying levels of Rainforest Alliance certified beans; Rainforest Alliance allows use of their seal on packages containing a minimum of 30% certified beans, so long as the percentage is displayed on the seal. That made me wonder if this announcement meant that every variety of coffee at Caribou would have RA-certified beans, or that every variety would consist of 100% RA-certified beans.

At the recent Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) event, I verified that every variety of coffee at Caribou would consist of 100% RA-certified beans. This certification doesn’t necessarily mean it is shade-grown coffee, but meets a variety of environmental and social criteria.

Caribou Coffee is the second largest coffeeshop operation, behind Starbucks, with over 530 stores in 16 states as well as outside the U.S. It currently has seven varieties which are 100%  RA-certified: Colombia TimanÁ¡ (my personal favorite), Guatemala El ParaÁ­so, Sumatra Samosir Batak, La Minita Peaberry, Costa Rica Sombra del Poro, Lacuna (a blend of Guatemala, El Salvador and Ethiopia), and Lakeshore Blend (Guatemala, Costa Rica and Ethiopia). Including other coffee offerings which are at least 30% RA-certified, Caribou currently sources about 17 million pounds of coffee a year from RA-certified farms.

Certifications / Coffee awards and competitions / Rainforest Alliance

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 will be two rounds of awards in order to better accommodate coffees from around the world, since coffee is a seasonal crop. The results below are from a cupping held in December, which included submissions from Brazil (11 samples), Peru (10), Hawaii (2, first time for this origin), Indonesia (6), Kenya (4, first time), and Tanzania, Uganda (first time) and Zambia (first time) with one sample each.

Here are the top ten coffees, with their scores, variety of coffee grown, farm size, altitude, processing method, and any details I’ve uncovered. The average score for the top ten coffees was 84.26.

  1. Kigutha Estate — Kenya. 86.54. Growing the bourbon (“French mission”) variety on 122.76 ha at 1700 m. Washed. Kigutha is in the Kiambu region, an area dominated by large privately-owned estates and plantations. It’s managed by Tropical Farm Management, part of the Neumann Kaffee Gruppe. TFM manages over 40 coffee estates and operates coffee projects for over 30,000 smallholder farmers. Many of their worldwide operations also have Rainforest Alliance certification.Environmental-related initiatives at Kigutha include integrated pest management, water conservation (including a dam that provides habitat for hippos), and soil erosion management. One of the bigger challenges for the farm was how to incorporate shade, since most coffee in Kenya is typically grown in the sun. The farm nursery is now cultivating 12 native tree species for use on the property, and they are aiming for 30% shade cover.
  2. Tunki — Peru (Puno, Tunkimayo sector). 86.00. Typica and bourbon on 3 ha at 1650 m. Washed. This coffee comes from members of CECOVASA (Central de Cooperativas Agrarias Cafetaleras de los Valles de. Sandia), a group of Fair Trade cooperatives totaling nearly 5000 members. CECOVASA has also been working with Conservation International. CECOVASA has won coffee quality awards before, as well as an award for their work preserving biodiversity.  Tunki is one of the eight cooperatives/brands (two others also placed in the top ten — see 5 and 6 below), and is also organic. “Tunki” is the local name for the national bird of Peru, the spectacular Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. Equal Exchange has a good article on a visit to CECOVASA. (Update: here’s an interview with the farmer. He has a quality tip: no sweaty mules.)
  3. Machare / Uru Estates — Tanzania (on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro). 85.71. KP and N39 on 300 ha at 1400 m. Washed. There are shade trees on the farm (many photos on the estate web site indicate something of a shade monoculture), and 30% has been left uncultivated. There is a nursery of indigenous trees used to plant in the protected area. The farm uses integrated pest management. The owners are involved in much community work, including coordinating hydro-electric generators to provide power and irrigation for nearby villages. Marchare was the first Utz Certified farm in Tanzania.
  4. Ipanema Coffees — Brazil (Alfenas – Sul de Minas). 84.50. Bourbon, catuai, and Mundo Novo on 2800 ha at 1000 m. Semi-washed.
  5. Quechua — Peru (Puno, Alfonso Ugarte sector). 84.06. Typica and caturra on 2 ha at 1700 m. Washed. Another coffee from CECOVASA members (see #2).
  6. Tambopata — Peru (Puno, Belen sector). 83.46. Typica and caturra on 2 ha at 1500 m. Washed. Another coffee from CECOVASA members (see #2).
  7. PT Olam Indonesia — Indonesia (North Sumatra). 83.4. Crowned Garuda Mandheling Grade 1 on 127.9 ha at 1000 m. Semi-washed. Small farmer group.
  8. Terranova Estate — Zambia. 83.33. SL28 and bourbon on 1000 ha at 1250 m. Dry process. I wrote about Terranova when it was one of Starbucks Black Apron coffees, and it includes a lengthy comment from the owners.
  9. Mirante da Boa Vista — Brazil (Minas Gerais, cerrado region). 82.79 (tie). Bourbon, Catuai, and Mundo Novo on 190 ha at 1000 m. Semi-washed.
  10. Nchengo Estate — Kenya  (Central Province). 82.79 (tie). SL28 on 135 ha at 1550 m. Washed.

The next round of cuppings will take place May in New York City. It will include primarily Central American origins, along with Colombia, Ethiopia, and India.

Coffee & Conservation covered previous Cupping for Quality winners in 2008 and 2009.

Certifications / Coffee regions / Rainforest Alliance

Rainforest Alliance certifies coffee in Vietnam

An oversupply of coffee was one of the catalysts of the world coffee crisis in the 1990s, and most of it came from Vietnam. Vietnam increased production 1100% that decade, assisted by development agencies and large multinational coffee roasters. Nearly all the coffee grown in this country is robusta (Coffea canephora), generally low quality beans historically used as filler in blends or in cheap coffee.

The planting of hundreds of thousands of hectares of robusta coffee in the 1990s alone, with its associated destruction of forest, caused significant environmental problems. The Buon Ma Thuot region Vietnam’s Central Highlands was at the center of the coffee boom, and it is also the focus of Rainforest Alliance’s (RA) efforts in promoting sustainable coffee production in the country.

RA began holding workshops in Vietnam several years ago, and two large coffee export companies (Dakman Vietnam, part of Volcafe; and ECOM Group) were especially responsive. These companies buy coffee from farmers who typically grow coffee on small farms less than 2 ha (5 ac) in size. By the end of 2008, over 600 farms (1000 ha) were RA certified. Now over 1000 farms are certified, covering 1600 ha (nearly 4000 ac). This is still a very small percentage of the area in coffee production, but encouraging as this is generally commodity coffee used by multinational roasters (I believe Kraft is a major purchaser).

Robusta coffee is typically grown in the sun, so the RA certification does not mean the coffee is shade grown. Instead, the certification emphasizes reduced agrochemical use, better waste management, and water conservation. Environmental and wildlife education efforts are also increasing.

Update: In 2019, the chapter, PGI Buon Ma Thuot Coffee in Vietnam, was published in the book Sustainability of European Food Quality Schemes, and is open access.

Robusta coffee farm in Vietnam’s Central Highlands by amasc under a Creative Commons license.