Purchases of 4C Compliant Coffee more than doubled in one year

Bonn, 16th November 2011. Purchases of 4C Compliant Coffee grew significantly in coffee year
2010/11, reaching 810,291 bags (approx. 48,000 tonnes), or more than double the previous
period. Since 4C Compliant Coffee was first traded four years ago, purchases have been
growing steadily and 4C Membership has increased from 37 to 160 members today.
This growth is driven by an increasing number of 4C Members who are including 4C Compliant
Coffee into their purchasing plans.
For instance, 4C Member Nestlé S.A. announced in August 2010 the launch of the NESCAFÉ
Plan, an ambitious sustainability program in partnership with the 4C Association and the
Rainforest Alliance.
“Since the NESCAFE PLAN launch, NESCAFE/Nestlé together with its partners has helped
consolidate the 4C Association. Nestlé is also committed to helping improve the Association’s
capacity to deliver on the very ambitious commitments we have made to significantly increase
our 4C Compliant Coffee volumes”, stated Nicolas Huillet, Project Leader, NESCAFE PLAN.
For its part, 4C Member Kraft Foods announced in May 2011 that it will move towards 100%
sustainable sourced beans for all its European brands by 2015. To achieve this goal, Kraft Foods
will considerably increase its sourcing of 4C Compliant Coffee and also certified coffee from
other recognized sustainability standards.
“Kraft Foods is committed to ensuring the future availability of quality coffee beans. The 4C
baseline standard plays an essential role in achieving this objective. Kraft Foods has already
contracted large amounts of 4C Compliant Coffee for coffee year 2011/12 and will continue to
do so in the coming years. We will also continue working with other sustainability standards to
help more farmers and workers benefit from sustainable farming practices”, stated Hubert
Weber, President Coffee, Kraft Foods Europe.
Additional purchasing commitments by other 4C industry members, with some also publicly
announced by for example Coop and Tchibo Gmbh, further contributed to the increase in
purchases.
In order to meet the steady rise in demand for 4C Compliant Coffee, the 4C Association’s
current priority is to further improve and streamline the 4C verification process while ensuring a
continued high level of quality and credibility of the audits. To this end, the 4C Association has
reviewed its verification guidelines and in coming months will be organizing trainings for
verifiers in different coffee producing regions. The objective is to extend the network of
independent auditors who are properly trained to conduct 4C verifications.
“The increase in purchases and the recent commitments of many 4C Members prove that the 4C
system is recognized as the baseline sustainability standard among coffee stakeholders. Our
vision is to help build a thriving, sustainable coffee sector for generations to come. We will
therefore continue to encourage purchases of 4C Compliant Coffee as well as certified coffee
from other sustainability initiatives”, said Melanie Rutten-Sülz, Executive Director of the 4C
Association.
As a pre-competitive sustainability platform and to stimulate supply of and demand for verified
and certified coffee, the 4C Association not only promotes its own baseline standard and
verification system but also those of other sustainability standards. Two of the most recognized
sustainability standards in the coffee sector, UTZ Certified and the Rainforest Alliance, are
already 4C Members and are engaging with the association to broaden their impact.

The 4C Association is the multi-stakeholder organization that brings together actors that are genuinely committed to addressing the sustainability issues of the coffee sector in a pre-competitive manner. The members of the 4C Association include coffee farmers (both big and small), traders (importers and exporters), industry players (coffee roasters and retailers) and civil society (non-governmental organizations, standard setting inititiatives and trade unions). This global community works together to improve the economic, social and environmental conditions of farmers who make their living growing coffee. Members also include individuals committed to this goal.
Together the members of the 4C Association developed the 4C Code of Conduct which sets out baseline social, environmental and economic principles for the sustainable production and trade of green coffee. For more information: www.4c-coffeeassociation.org

4C Association
Veronica Perez Sueiro
Adenauerallee 108
D-53113 Bonn
Germany
phone: 0049-228-8505015
email:veronica.perez@4c-coffeeassociation.org
www.4c-coffeeassociation.org

This release was published on openPR.