Eight leading coffee companies grow their sustainable coffee purchases

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A new report from the Global Coffee Platform (GCP), GCP Snapshot 2021, has revealed growth in sustainable coffee purchases of eight of the sector’s leading roasters and retailers. The GCP Snapshot 2021 is the result of a transparent and pre-competitive approach from the participating companies, representing a strong commitment to addressing coffee sustainability challenges collectively.

The new publication provides insights on the sustainable coffee purchases of JDE Peet’s, Melitta Group, Keurig Dr Pepper, Nestlé, Strauss Coffee, SUPRACAFÉ, Tesco and Westrock Coffee, all of whom have committed to disclosing their responsible sourcing progress using aligned, comparable metrics. According to GCP, the eight leading coffee companies have taken exemplary public action by transparently sharing their sustainable coffee purchase volumes in the new report, published on Tuesday.

“Over the past four years, innovative Collective Reporting of Sustainable Coffee Purchases from prominent coffee companies in GCP’s Snapshot has provided transparent information showing the sector how increases of sustainable coffee purchases are expanding the global marketplace for sustainable coffees,” said GCP executive director, Annette Pensel. “As regulatory, financial and reporting environments continue to evolve, GCP Snapshot partners are providing substantial leadership, actions, and impact to foster increased production and consumption of sustainable coffees throughout the world.”

This year’s report is the result of GCP’s expanding collective reporting efforts, which has included new participating GCP Members, new reporting features, and an expansion of sustainability schemes eligible for reporting by using the GCP Baseline Coffee Code as a reference. The following GCP-recognised sustainability schemes have been included for reporting on 2021 volumes:

•3rd Party Schemes: 4C, Certifica Minas, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance/UTZ, and Starbucks’ C.A.F.E. Practices;
•2nd Party Schemes: Ecom’s SMS, Enveritas Gold, Enveritas Green, Nespresso AAA, ofi’s AtSource Entry Verified and AtSource Plus, LIFT by Mercon, and Neumann’s NKG Bloom.

Highlights of the GCP Snapshot include data on the increasing share of sustainable coffee purchases as reported by GCP Members for 2021, climbing up to 1,254,141 MT (55% of total received green coffee – a relative increase of 29% compared to 2020). The report also presents the breakdown of purchases per participating company, as well as a feature on companies’ sustainable coffee purchases according to sourcing regions. Moreover, it offers insights into origin diversity (sustainable coffee purchases received from 33 coffee-producing countries), and the shares of sustainable coffee purchased according to different GCP-recognised sustainability schemes.

“While important work is underway, even bolder individual and collaborative efforts are needed to achieve transformational change that results in economic viability of sustainable coffee farming and a living income for producers and workers while preserving nature and addressing climate change, effectively,” said Pensel. “We’re excited by the progress made and look forward to welcoming more roasters and retailers reporting in the next GCP Snapshot.”

The full report is available to read here.

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