LONDON, UK – In a move by the Global Coffee Platform (GCP) to advance transparency and sustainability in the coffee value chain, two tiers of Olam International’s sustainability insights platform AtSource – AtSource Entry Verified¹ and AtSource Plus – have been added as new sustainable sourcing schemes to the GCP Reporting on Sustainable Coffee Purchases programme². Launched in April 2018, AtSource provides Olam customers with a verified social and environmental footprint for their product supply chains, calculated from farm-level data, which then informs continuous improvement programmes.
Responding to the recognition by the GCP, Juan Antonio Rivas, Senior Vice-President & Global Head, Sustainability & Business Development at Olam Coffee, part of Olam Food Ingredients, said: “We are very pleased that two tiers of our AtSource programme have been assessed as being “equivalent” to the Baseline Coffee Code.
This, in addition to other benchmarking studies that have been concluded in the recent months as well as the different awards our programme has received, gives us confidence that our sustainability focus and priorities are well aligned with what the coffee sector requires.
“But more importantly, it will allow our coffee customers to report their AtSource purchases as “sustainable” and thus will help them meet their commitments and targets, which we see as critical to ensure increased transparency going forward.”
GCP Director of Programs and Corporate Partnerships, Gelkha Buitrago, said: “For the sector, this means that we will be measuring progress on commitments to sustainable sourcing using the same bar, and a common language.
Additionally, the equivalence process helped driving improvement in the sustainability schemes through alignment with internationally recognized credible practices and requirements.”
Roasters and retailers, including signatories of the ICO London Declaration, are now invited to participate in the next round of GCP Reporting, which commences on February 5th.
¹ AtSource Entry Verified: especially created for Olam’s coffee customers in line with industry sustainability standards
² Following an assessment process, GCP confirmed that AtSource Entry Verified and AtSource Plus meet the criteria for Baseline Coffee Code Equivalent 2nd party. For AtSource’s coffee customers, this means their AtSource Entry Verified and AtSource Plus purchased volumes are now eligible for submission to GCP’s Roaster and Retailer Reporting on Sustainable Coffee Purchases.
