STiR coffee and tea magazine

34 STiR coffee and tea | 2022 Issue 5 (October/November) AWAKEN AWAKEN * Don't Miss a Single STiR ring Issue of the World's Leading Coffee and Tea Industry Magazine. AWAKEN a paid subscription to STiR (coffee and tea magazine) Visit stir-tea-coffee.com/subscribe Email info@stir-tea-coffee.com *SYNONYM: STiR, stimulate, animate, arouse, excite... w w w. s t i r - t e a - c o ff e e . c o m w w w. s t i r - t e a - c o ff e e . c o m Sustainable purchases of African origin were small among the major reporting companies. JDE Peet's reported that just 2.28% of its sustainable coffee purchases came from Africa. Nestl reported 3.7%, and Tesco reported 0.69%. Strauss Cof- fee purchased 100% of its sustainable coffee from Brazil and Vietnam, while Supracafé made all of its sustainable coffee pur- chases in Latin America. Converging definitions In the webinar's second roundtable discussion, industry stake- holders from global food ingredients company Ofi, German coffee company Melitta Group, and global beverage company Keurig Dr Pepper talked about how GCP's Coffee Sustainabil- ity Reference Code and Equivalence Mechanism help increase efficiency, knowledge, and transparency in sustainability efforts. The participants stressed the importance of using GCP's Code and Equivalence Mechanism as ways to see sustainability more clearly. Sustainability can mean many different things to the many different players across the industry supply chain. "If you have multiplying definitions that are all slightly dif- ferent, the complexity that adds to our business is massive," noted Whitney Kakos, director of supply chain sustainability at Keurig Dr Pepper. GCP gives the coffee sector a common language to talk about sustainability. Even if stakeholders are applying different sustainability standards, they can turn to the GCP Equivalence Mechanism to determine if they are meeting baseline practices. "Traders, roasters, and many others are actively trying to de- fine or redefine their sustainability targets and goals. So, a com- mon definition of baseline standards, such as the one that the GCP provides, gives the industry a better understanding and management of that," said Camilo Sánchez, global sustainabil- ity manager at Ofi. "The common language creates a way to educate stakeholders on sustainability, provides common defini- tions, and allows for more targeted discussions when we sit at the table." Bridging gaps There remain many challenges and opportunities to improve sustainability, according to participants. Mark Furniss, senior director, partnerships at coffee sustainability nonprofit Enveri- tas, stressed the importance of broadening GCP's Equivalence Mechanism to include more underserved farmers. "The Equivalence Mechanism, the way it is framed at the moment, does provide a rather narrow view of sustainability and what sustainability is," Furniss explained. "I think GCP as an organization should be looking for ways to increase innovation, to see if there are other roads, other mechanisms that might help to deliver services, deliver sustainability, deliver progress to those underserved farms." Monika Firl, senior coffee manager with global sustainability organization Fairtrade International, said the industry needs to do more to support farmers in their efforts to drive sustainabil- ity. "We still see too frequently a tendency to pass the task of achieving sustainability upstream. When the bulk of the respon- sibility to save coffee and the climate ends up on the farmers' shoulders, that is simply not realistic, nor is it fair," she said. Firl urged stakeholders to work together across the supply chain. "We must co-invest in methods and infrastructure that support sustainable practices on the ground. And I will insist that we must bridge the financial gap that exists between indus- try and coffee farmers." Stakeholders must focus on real-world details to make sus- tainability happen. "We also need more clarity where the finan- cial, technical, and human resources will come from to turn ideas into action," said Firl. Brooke Cantrell, vice president of sustainability at U.S. coffee and tea company Westrock Coffee Company, agreed that players further downstream in the coffee supply chain have an important part to play. "The roasters' opportunity is to help the farmer by educating our customers and their consumers on the roadmap to individual and sustainable production and sourcing," she said.

• Cover