Translations

KRAFT FOODS helps coffee farmers

5. Fair Operating Practices

Responsible purchasing

Sector Food-processing

Year 2008

Country United States

Transmitter

Context

More than 25 million people make a living from the coffee industry. This resource is the core business of many countries, as well as the most marketed foodstuff in the world, ranking second after petroleum. As a major and worldwide economic player, Kraft Foods does concrete fieldwork and helps producers develop a sustainable farming.

Objectives

- Improving the locals’ living conditions and protecting their environment while meeting the consumers’ demand for quality.

APPROACH

Kraft Foods has been doing fieldwork for more than 10 years in coffee producing countries by working with its partners. In 2003, the group decided to cultivate a partnership with Rainforest Alliance to become even more involved.

Rainforest has been experiencing for 13 years a checking process towards sustainable farming according to the crop (bananas, coffee, flowers,…), to fight against the destruction of the forest and improve the farmers’ living conditions. Rainforest Alliance local checkers control the respect of natural resources, biodiversity, social conditions production, and introduce a series of talks with local communities.

Kraft Food promised it would buy more and more Rainforest Alliance labeled coffee. It amounted to 6,400t in 2005 and to 20,000t in 2007. These labeled coffee beans are mixed with coffee from various brands of the group without advertising it or increasing prices.

Both Kraft Foods and Rainforest Alliance want to offer the consumers the opportunity to get involved in such an approach. That is the reason why a coffee fully checked by Alliance can now be bought.