by Peter Knight | Jul 31, 2019 | Blog
Whether it’s a flat white or an instant hit, most of us want to know that our coffee comes from sustainable sources.
Or so it may seem from the efforts by coffee brands to tell us about the source of their arabicas or robustas.
Coffee is all about the story and most coffee brands have
become expert story tellers.
We set out to find out if the leading coffee brands have a
good story to tell about their sourcing, and how well they tell it – ranking
their performance.
We did the same a little while back for soft commodity
traders – the companies that sell to the food processors and brands – finding a
mixed performance.
Given the high level of interest in coffee sustainability,
our expectations were high for coffee.
We thought coffee brands would all have fascinating tales about
their sourcing. And would be telling
them brilliantly on their websites. Not
so. Their performance is mixed, ranging from fresh-roasted to over-boiled.
What we did
We looked at 11 major brands in Europe and the USA: Costa
Coffee, Douwe Egberts, Dunkin Donuts, Illy, Keurig, Lavazza, McDonald’s, Nescafé,
Nespresso, Starbucks and Taylors.
The inclusion of McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts in our list
may seem surprising, but they sell a lot of coffee and make a big thing about
the quality of their product.
How we did it
Our methodology is simple.
First, we scored if the brand has a good story to tell –
from 0 (poor) to 10 (excellent):
• Does the brand have a sustainable sourcing strategy with
timebound and measurable goals that cover the environmental, social and
economic issues facing coffee farms?
• Has the brand reported against its sustainability strategy
since 2017?
Second, we scored how well the story is told – from 0 (poor)
to 10 (excellent) across four categories:
• Messaging: Does the brand tell its sustainable sourcing
story clearly and concisely?
• Liveliness: Has the brand shared progress in the last
three months via a blog or news update?
• Multimedia: Does the brand make good use of videos and/or
infographics to explain its sustainable sourcing strategy in a sharable,
engaging way?
• Social media: How often does the brand share sustainable
coffee sourcing posts on Twitter? On average, what level of engagement
(comments, likes, shares) do these posts generate? (We chose Twitter because it
is the most widely used by brands on sustainability issues).
And now the winners
The joint winners are McDonald’s and Nescafé. Coming in a close third is Illy.
We’re not in the business of intentionally embarrassing
people, so we don’t publish the full ranking.
We have been in touch with all 11 brands to share their ranking and to check
that we got our facts right.
Read our report to find greater detail on our methodology
and, more important, examples of good communications practice among the world’s
leading coffee brands.
Which Coffee Brands Tell Their Sustainability Story
Best? Email publications@contexteurope.com
for a copy.
by Context | Sep 28, 2018 | Blog
Mars Wrigley Confectionery launched its new cocoa sourcing strategy, Cocoa for Generations, in September. John Ament, Global VP Cocoa at Mars, shares his excitement at the opportunity to meet the many social and environmental challenges of the cocoa industry.
It’s not often you get a chance to improve the lives of millions of people.
With the launch of our ground-breaking Cocoa for Generations initiative, our cocoa team at Mars Wrigley Confectionery is creating a pathway for cocoa farmers, their families and their communities to thrive. I feel privileged and humbled to be leading that team.
Without cocoa there would be no chocolate. Cocoa plants are particularly fussy about their environment and grow only in a narrow band near the equator, preferably in the shade of forest trees. Cocoa is produced in Asia, central and south America and Africa, and most comes from the west African countries of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, where it is grown by smallholder farmers tending plots no bigger than a couple of football fields.
Mars has been making chocolate for over 100 years, and over time has made significant investments in research on Cocoa plant science and agronomy. In the past decades our plant scientists have been working to help improve the efficiency of farmers with a combination of healthier, more productive plants and modern farming methods. During this time, with IBM, we have mapped the cocoa genome and shared the information with all, to ensure that the application of good science can boost productivity and thereby the livelihoods of hard-working cocoa farmers.
While much progress has been made, the stark reality is that the cocoa supply chain is broken. Despite genuine and best-intentioned efforts by all those in the cocoa industry, the sector is characterized by human rights issues (hazardous child labor remains commonplace), plant disease, deforestation and farmers locked into poverty.
Our Cocoa for Generations initiative puts farmers and farming communities at the center of our efforts. Working with others in our industry, we are determined to lead the way in boosting farmer income, protecting children and preserving forests. That’s our immediate objective. In the longer-term, we have begun working to crack the code on what modern, sustainable smallholder cocoa farming looks like and how we can make it happen.
I fully realize the enormity of the challenge and we know from experience that there will be many difficulties ahead, and that we do not have all the answers. But we are determined to make progress, and have identified three things we have to achieve as fast as possible.
First, we must find ways to address the key issues impacting the farmers, their communities and environment today, putting their interests at the heart of what we do. This requires finding solutions to increase farmer income, protect children from hazardous labor and ensure they have access to quality education, and preserve forests for the long-term benefit of their communities and the planet.
We know this is a mammoth task but we have a plan on how to get there and we have set ourselves a goal of delivering on this ambition by 2025. At that point we want to be able to ensure that all the cocoa we buy has been produced responsibly.
Second, and starting now, we must demonstrate – at scale – a clear path to sustainable smallholder cocoa farming in the future, with thriving farmers and prosperous communities. We know from our experience that this is indeed possible, but it does take time. We found in Indonesia, for example, that it took farmers up to seven years to adopt new methods. Merely providing access to training is not enough and we have learned that one-to-one coaching is best. The results of such efforts can be hugely rewarding. Three quarters of farms connected to our Indonesia Cocoa Development Hubs have been renovated to improve long-term productivity.
Finally, while we at Mars can lead the way, we know that success will only come by working in partnership with governments, non-governmental organizations, certifiers and the entire cocoa sector. We must inspire others to come together, to collaborate, co-create and to ensure our joint efforts lead to Cocoa for Generations.
Originally posted on LinkedIn.
