The Rainforest Alliance Joins Forces with Nestle Nespresso to Form an ‘Ecolaboration’

Written by on June 26, 2009 in Featured, Green - 6 Comments

rainforest_alliance

On June 22nd, the ‘Ecolaboration’ of Rainforest Alliance(RA) and Nestle Nespresso (NN) united to combine their mission of reducing environmental degradation, enhancing the communities of certified coffee farmers from Africa to Latin America, and producing a superior (and delicious) coffee product. This is great news for the RA certified farmers, (about 80,000 of them by 2013), for the 6 million NN drinkers, and maybe most importantly, the environment and communities that benefit from the collaboration.

Ecolaboration

Each coffee farm has to perform up to the standard of Rainforest Alliance, requiring them to operate under the three circles of sustainability: Economic Viability, Environmental Conservation, and Social Justice. As outlined in RA’s Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN). This is proving to be a great way to improve societies and environments in developing and poverty stricken areas. The workers are well paid and well trained, have access to health care and education. The forests and wildlife are left to thrive, drinking water and rivers are cleaner, and the result is a financially and socially sustainable, delicious product.

RA-NN

For Nespresso espresso drinkers there is only one word – ultimo – with the revolutionary system of ground coffee capsules and sleek designs, they are a leader in the espresso industry. Partnering with Rainforest Alliance is not a surprise, NN has been supporting sustainable initiatives since 2003.

nespressso2

I first profiled the Rainforest Alliance on SocialEarth back in May (read it here) since then, they have continued to evolve improving the planet and the relationships between the creatures that inhabit it. This latest involvement is a testament to the commitment of both parties making a sustainable difference.

Rainforest Alliance

ra-logo-agriculture

Conserves biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior

Nestle Nespresso

nespresso

Nestlé Nespresso pioneered the portioned coffee market to provide the very highest quality coffees that could be enjoyed in the comfort of consumers’ homes and also savored at out-of-home locations.

  • Organization Type: Profit
  • Website: www.nespresso-pro.com
  • Founder(s):Daniel Katz
  • Founded: 1970
  • Location:New York, New York USA
Sources: rainforest.org; nespresso.com

Justine

Justine is passionate about curing social injustice and global environmental issues. She has traveled extensively in Central America and the Caribbean, and is especially interested in the emergence of the Ecotourism industry.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Erik-Eliason/814969430 Erik Eliason

    Thanks for sharing Justine! It’s great to see Rainforest Alliance the publicity they deserve!

  • http://www.coffeeratings.com/ greg

    Two decades ago, Fair Trade was created directly in response to the exploitative practices of Nestlé and three of its mass-production coffee peers (http://coffeegeek.com/opinions/markprince/11-27-2002). While it’s good to now see Nestlé attempting to make amends after two decades of industry abuses, I’m still quite skeptical of their self-interests in “greenwashing”.

    The Nespresso capsules, for example, represent one of coffee’s worst environmental practices in decades: i.e., creating manufacturing and packaging waste with individual servings. So I am not convinced the corporation is truly committed to the very causes they seem to be publicly supporting.

    But steps in the right direction are welcome.

  • http://www.socialearth.org Justine

    Hello Greg,
    I too am glad to see an effort made in the right direction. It is hard to know what is going on behind the scenes and most large companies are not very transparent, we can hope that in the near future there is more accountability for industry offenders and greenwashers can be easily uncovered. Organizations like Rainforest Alliance are working hard to press for accountability of these issues.

    Thanks for your insightful comments!

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