Kraft Foods Partners with Rainforest Alliance on Sustainable Coffee Initiative

Kraft Foods has announced a new partnership with recognized international conservation leader, the Rainforest Alliance, to support the development of sustainable coffee production in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, and Central America.

Under the partnership arrangement, Kraft Foods is committing its support for sustainable coffee in three ways:

1. By funding technical assistance and training to improve living and working conditions on coffee farms
2. By purchasing significant and increasing quantities of certified sustainable coffee to blend into its mainstream European brands
3. By stimulating consumer demand through the introduction of 100% certified products under existing trademarks in key markets within Western Europe and the U.S.

The certified beans will come from coffee farms in Latin America that are audited and approved by the Rainforest Alliance and other members of the Sustainable Agriculture Network as being sustainably managed.

“We are delighted to partner with the Rainforest Alliance and link our sustainability efforts to a widely respected organization with an established certification protocol and a strong local presence in major coffee growing areas,” said Annemieke Wijn, Kraft Foods senior director of Commodity Sustainability Programs.

Sustainable coffee production aims to grow coffee without damaging the environment, with improved social conditions for farmers and workers and in a way that provides farmers with better returns for their coffee. Kraft Foods has been supporting sustainable coffee production for over a decade, most notably in public/private partnership projects in Colombia, Peru, and Vietnam.

“This commitment by Kraft Foods is powerful evidence that the concept of sustainable coffee, once limited to niche markets, is ready to enter the mainstream coffee market. Our partnership is an extraordinary step forward in advancing sustainable coffee farming and we are pleased to partner with Kraft Foods on this important initiative,” said Tensie Whelan, executive director of the Rainforest Alliance.

Kraft Foods is the largest branded food and beverage company headquartered in the United States and the second largest worldwide. Kraft Foods markets many of the world’s leading food brands, including Kraft cheese, Jacobs and Maxwell House coffees, Nabisco cookies and crackers, Philadelphia cream cheese, Oscar Mayer meats, Post cereals, and Milka chocolates in more than 150 countries.