Published: April 1, 2011

The truth behind the green movement in the coffee industry

One recent trend within the coffee industry is a newfound dedication to social and environmental responsibility. For the most part, coffee is grown in rural rainforests where economic revenue is minimal. In fact, according to the Rainforest Alliance website, more than 25 million people in the tropics depend on the plant. It’s the No. 2 most traded commodity within the region — second only to oil. As a result, a premium should be placed on both the treatment of a delicate environment and the treatment of farmers dependent on the cash crop.

Fair Trade was the original product certification initiative to tackle “equitable and sustainable trading partnerships and create opportunities to alleviate poverty” In order to do so, Fair Trade guarantees a minimum price slightly above market rates plus a premium for investing in projects that assist social, economic and environmental development. It’s a private non-profit, which means consumers must rely on individual evaluations to access labeling initiatives. In order to qualify for certification, growers must meet a set of standards broken into four different categories: social, ecological, trade and price.

Rainforest Alliance produced a program in which growers must meet environmental, social and economic criteria that are available to both small farms and larger, centrally managed farms. The fund is mainly supported by grant money and local certifiers are hired directly by the Sustainable Agricultural Network (SAN) to evaluate farm standards. While Fair Trade certified blends must contain 100-percent fair trade coffee. Rainforest Alliance will allow blends with only 30-percent content from Rainforest Alliance Certified Farms to carry their seal.

Some coffee producers have taken social responsibility matters into their own hands and started initiatives themselves. “We back Fair Trade Certification and the Rainforest Alliance 100-percent,” says Michael Gavina, the purchasing manager of F. Gaviña & Sons Inc. “But we also have our own social responsibility program. In fact, we recently partnered with CISA Exportadora to renovate two schools in Nicaragua and we’re tracking student progress. We affected 450 students in a positive way. It’s a program we’re really proud of.” The company chose Nicaragua because it’s the second poorest country in Latin America with an annual GDP per capita of $484 U.S. Fifty-percent of the country’s population lives in poverty and 17-percent lives in extreme poverty.

In addition to the education program, Gaviña makes an environmental effort locally. “We try to be as eco-friendly as possible,” Gaviña says. “In 2007, the city of Venon [where the company's home base is located] awarded us the Solid Waste Award for recycling,” he says. “We’ve also started a sparkle project that has three goals. To reduce our carbon footprint, to do a lifestyle analysis that includes sorting our waste to examine the possibility of recycling more and to become Lead-Safe Certified.”

Fair Trade (fairtradefederation.org) and the Rainforest Alliance (rainforest-alliance.org) are trying to make the world and the coffee market a better place by ensuring proper working conditions and environmental obligations are met.