ARLINGTON, Va., U.S. – The Sustainable Coffee Challenge has announced eight new partners. They join the Challenge’s mission to make coffee the world’s first sustainable agricultural product and are among nearly 160 partners, including corporations, governments, NGOs and research organizations. “Even during a global pandemic, the Sustainable Coffee Challenge is growing. It shows the coffee sector’s ongoing and ever-growing commitment to sustainability,” said Bambi Semroc, Acting Senior Vice President, Center for Sustainable Lands and Waters, Conservation International.
The new partners include:
- Leading natural and organic foods retailer Whole Foods Market will work with suppliers and industry partners to responsibly source its Whole Foods Market and 365 by Whole Foods Market® branded coffee and ensure worker welfare and environmental protection in its global coffee supply chain.
- Barka Coffee Gossips, a coffee shop based in Sofia, Bulgaria, joins the Challenge to support and cooperate with coffee farmers, their families and the land they farm for a more sustainable coffee industry.
- CertifiCafé, a Brazilian startup that helps coffee farmers to obtain certification for sustainable coffee growing, spending less time and money.
- Cooperative Coffees, a fair trade and organic green coffee importer based in Americus, GA, facilitates farmer-to-farmer learning exchanges around best regenerative-organic practices and invests in farmer innovation that improves climate resiliency and adaptation.
- Irrigation Technologies, a global wholesale Deep Root Irrigation distributor, will share with partners its technology which promises to help ensure sustainable water use, counteract climate change, and reduce fertilization costs by increasing fertilizer efficiency while also boosting yields. The use of this technology is a key strategy for avoiding deforestation and increasing the productivity and production of coffee farms around the world. Deep Root Irrigation was designed in response to California’s ongoing droughts that have been hindering their agricultural industry; and now the U.S. government is paying American farmers to implement this technology.
- Olam Coffee, a global leader in coffee origination and sustainable farming, and part of Olam Food Ingredients, with a commitment to scale impact so that farmers prosper and landscapes flourish, as outlined in the company’s new sustainability strategy Coffee LENS.
- Trilliant Food and Nutrition, is a vertically an integrated coffee and beverage manufacturer from Little Chute, Wisconsin, and will focus on environmental, social and economic issues through numerous process and packaging improvements.
- Copper Moon Coffee, a family roastery in Lafayette, Indiana. SEE Copper Moon Rising TM is Copper Moon’s sustainable sourcing program focused on social, economic and environmental impact.
The Sustainable Coffee Challenge, conceived by Conservation International and Starbucks and launched during the Paris climate meetings in 2015, is uniting players from across the coffee industry – growers, traders, roasters, retailers, governments and NGOs. It works to stimulate greater demand for sustainable coffee while forming partnerships to find and scale up programs promoting improved livelihoods, nature conservation and a continued coffee supply.
In joining the Challenge, partners commit to contributing in four action networks: scaling up sustainable coffee sourcing; coffee farm renovation and rehabilitation; improved labor practices and supply; and mapping and monitoring of coffee and forests.
To join as a partner, contact Valerie Beard, Manager, Sustainable Coffee at vbeard@conservation.org.
About Conservation International
Conservation International works to protect the critical benefits that nature provides to people. Through science, partnerships and fieldwork, Conservation International is driving innovation and investments in nature-based solutions to the climate crisis, supporting protections for critical habitats, and fostering economic development that is grounded in the conservation of nature. Conservation International works in 30 countries around the world, empowering societies at all levels to create a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable planet. Follow Conservation International’s work on Conservation News, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
About the Sustainable Coffee Challenge
The Sustainable Coffee Challenge convenes, unites and urges the coffee sector and conservation partners across the industry to spur the actions and investments necessary to make coffee the first sustainable agriculture product in the world. The Challenge is committed to stimulating demand for sustainable coffee across the value chain, from the policymaking level to the final consumer. By encouraging demand for sustainable coffee, it leads to investments that enable the transition to a sustainable production and ensuring the coffee we drink is a sustainable product.
