Rainforest Alliance, Nestlé Form ‘Ecolaboration’ Pact
Rainforest Alliance and the Nestlé Nespresso Company on Monday signed the “Ecolaboration” pact, an agreement aimed at benefiting coffee growers in Costa Rica and across the globe.
The accord guarantees that coffee sold by Nespresso is grown in a sustainable manner. Coffee fields are graded based on a set of over 100 criteria.
If a coffee grower meets 80 percent of the overall criteria, and scores no less than 50 percent in any specific area, a Rainforest Alliance Certified stamp will be placed on the packaged coffee.
Rainforest Alliance could not guarantee that growers would receive a higher price for the certified coffee, but Communications Coordinator Jessica Webb said that “consumers usually prefer a sustainable product over a non-sustainable product.” She noted that in many cases a higher price is associated with sustainablygrown products.
A press release from Rainforest Alliance, an international conservation organization, said that certified fields will “cover all the aspects of sustainable agriculture, including the conservation of water, protection of wildlife…(as well as) good salaries, drinking water and access to schools and health services” for workers.
Nespresso expects that 80 percent of its coffee bags will carry a Rainforest Alliance Certified stamp by the year 2013. Other countries that will participate in the program include Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya and Mexico.
Coffee was once Costa Rica’s number one cash crop until falling in 2006 to number the number three spot behind bananas and pineapples.
–Mike McDonald
You may be interested

IMF approves $1.8 billion loan for Costa Rica
The Tico Times - March 1, 2021The IMF approved a 36-month credit agreement for $1.778 billion dollars with Costa Rica, the entity reported Monday, which immediately…

Immigration to headline talks between Biden, Lopez Obrador
AFP - March 1, 2021The flow of migrants and trade, legal and illegal, across the US-Mexican border will be the focus Monday when President…

Costa Rica has administered nearly 150,000 vaccine doses
Alejandro Zúñiga - March 1, 2021Costa Rica has administered 149,812 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, the Presidency said Monday. The nearly 150,000 jabs mean…