Working closely with the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), several large, international coffee roasters – Nestlé, Kraft, Tchibo, and Sara Lee (which together account for 30 per cent of world sales) – have started an ambitious programme to drive the development of sustainable coffee sales from their current level of around 8 per cent, to 25 per cent by 2015.
“By working through existing local structures and accelerating what is already in place, we think that we can reach this ambitious goal,” said Ted van der Put, Programme Director at IDH.
The programme will work in a number of producing countries including Brazil, Vietnam, and East Africa. It will address productivity, climate change, and access to finance, in addition to encouraging alignment among existing standards. “This will increase sustainable coffee production in a pre-competitive manner and make coffee farmers more resilient,” said IDH.
The details of the international plan are currently being worked out for each producing country. IDH says the programme is due to get underway later this year.
