consumer concerns about the environment and the socio economic conditions in the coffee value chain, Ahold, one of the leading retailing multinationals, started Utz Certified in 2003. Other corporations, such as Kraft and Nestlé followed suit, and started marketing coffee under another sustainability scheme, Rainforest Alliance. The industry has also developed its own verification scheme for social and environmental criteria, called the Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C). Prospects Figure 2 compares total worldwide imports of certified coffees between 2006
1,8
and 2009. It is likely that in 2010 Utz and
1,6
Rainforest will have overtaken organic as
1,4
the world’s leading sustainability certifica-
1,2
tion for coffee (in volume). However, orga-
1
nic remains the strictest system in terms
0,8
of farming system requirements. The
0,6
environmental and social benefits created
0,4
by these schemes vary considerably and
0,2
further research is required on the impact
0
Organic
Flo 2006
Utz Certified
2007
2008
Rainforest Alliance
4C
of these different standards on different environmental and social criteria.
2009
Figure 2:
Worldwide sales of certified or verified coffee by seal (million 60 kg bags)
Some coffees bear two, or even more certifications. For instance, half of FLO coffees are also certified organic. Therefore, the total quantity of certified coffee is less than the sum of the separate five
worldwide. The 2009 worldwide exports
fee, the USA, did not grow in 2010 due
categories) The ’60 kg bag’ (of green
of Demeter, or bio-dynamic, coffee are
to unsold stock remaining from 2009.
beans) is a widely used measure in coffee
estimated at approximately 5,000 bags.
Other markets are more mixed so there
trading.
was some modest growth from 2010. Fairtrade Coffee
Fairtrade’s other (non-coffee) sales have
Coffees certified as Fairtrade are the
expanded considerably.
only coffees for which exporters are guaranteed a minimum price (the price
Other forms of certification
to exporters was recently increased to
Mainstream companies have sensed the
140 US$ cents/lb for washed Arabica)
opportunity presented by coffee certified
when sold. These coffees are produced
as sustainable but, in some cases, have
exclusively by organized smallholder
been reluctant to buy at higher price
farmers. The Fairtrade organic premium
levels and meet the stringent organic and
was increased recently from 20 to 30 US
Fairtrade requirements. They have been
cents. The main market for Fairtrade cof-
looking to find ‘easier’ ways to address
28
3-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMING
-Joost Pierrot has been a marketing consultant for the organic industry since 1999 and has worked at Simon Levelt BV in the Netherlands, Europe’s first importer of organic coffee and a co-founder of ‘Max Havelaar’, the precursor of Fairtrade certification. -Daniele Giovannucci is the Executive Director of the Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA), a global consortium of institutions and UN agencies developing innovative ways to measure sustainability. -Alexander Kasterine is a Senior Adviser on Trade, Environment and Climate Change at the International Trade Centre based in Geneva, Switzerland. Pictures: courtesy of Simon Levelt B.V. and Olaf Hammelburg.