For the sixth consecutive year, the Rainforest Alliance confirmed its significant role in the coffee industry at the 2008 Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) conference -- the largest coffee industry gathering in the world.

At this year's conference, held at the Minneapolis Convention Center, attendees visited the Rainforest Alliance booth, came to our cocktail party and enjoyed our sustainable coffee breakfast, where the top-scoring producers in our annual "Cupping for Quality" coffee evaluation -- all representing Rainforest Alliance Certified farms -- were honored. Senior marketing and business development manager Sabrina Vigilante also spoke at two panel discussions.

We would like to thank the following sponsors of our cocktail party and breakfast: Atlantic Specialty Coffee, Balzac Brothers & Company, Bodum, Cafe Bom Dia, Caribou Coffee, Coffee Holding Company, Diedrich Coffee, Java City, Kanematsu Corporation, Mercon Coffee Group, Millstone, Plantas y Flores, Procter & Gamble, Paragon Trading, Reunion Island Coffee, Royal Coffee New York, Inc. and Ueshima Coffee Co., Ltd.

The Rainforest Alliance has reached a major milestone: the area of farmland certified in compliance with the standard of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) is now more than one million acres (more than 414,000 hectares) in 18 countries. The number of Rainforest Alliance Certified farms grew by 143 percent in the past year, to reach a total of 31,727 -- benefiting some two million farmers and helping to mitigate carbon emissions by conserving forest cover.

For Coffee, Sustainability = Quality

At our fifth annual "Cupping for Quality" coffee evaluation -- in which 90 Rainforest Alliance Certified farms in 11 countries took part -- 94 percent of the coffees scored 80 or above. For the second consecutive year, the highest scorer was Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda, with a score of 89.93.

To further strengthen the sustainability-quality link, the Rainforest Alliance will be collaborating with the Coffee Quality Institute on trainings and other activities to encourage sustainable development and quality improvement in the coffee industry.

The Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) has issued a new Sustainable Agriculture Standard -- available in English, Spanish, French and German -- which can now be used for over 100 crops.

Through a public consultation process, the SAN is developing additional criteria (the "SAN Addendum") for all crops. These criteria, which will be official by December 2008, will redefine some aspects of sustainability (e.g., energy use, greenhouse gas emissions control).

Sugarcane plantations and oil palm production units will be eligible for certification if they comply with the the new Standard and the Addendum. The SAN and the Rainforest Alliance hope to motivate producers of these crops -- much in demand because of their use as biofuels -- to make changes on their farms that will lead to increased ecosystem conservation, natural resource management and dignified treatment of workers.

At our annual awards dinner gala, held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, the Rainforest Alliance celebrated companies and individuals who are contributing to the health of our planet, including:

• Britain's Prince Charles, honored for his activism and advocacy for sustainable farming and biodiversity conservation
• Gloria Jean's Coffees International, which has committed to buying nearly four million pounds of coffee this year -- and sourcing up to 80 percent of all its coffee in the next three years -- from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms
• Goldman, Sachs & Co., which serves coffee from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms in its office cafeterias, cafés and pantries and is also using sustainably produced wood and paper.
• Luigi LavAzza S.p.A., Italy's leading coffee company, which works with the Rainforest Alliance to help small coffee growers in Honduras, Peru and Colombia improve working conditions and environmental practices and become more competitive

Frog Spotting: The Latest Certified Offerings

The little green frog keeps on hopping around the globe!

In the US, Busch Entertainment now offers coffee from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms in Sea World amusement parks nationwide. Wal-Mart shoppers will find Sam's Choice coffee boasting the green seal, thanks to Café Bom Dia. New York City's famous Mud Coffee truck and café has switched to 100 percent certified coffee from Guatemala and Brazil. And further north, Canadian department store giant Zellers is stocking its restaurants with beans bearing the seal as part of their "Global Mind Initiative."

In Europe, the frog flies on British Airways, served in cups containing 100 percent certified brew. Throughout the UK, the seal can be found in all Costa Coffee shops -- and in McDonald's restaurants, all of which are now serving certified PG tips tea! The frog is also in ads for Belcolade chocolates in France.

In Japan, Coca-Cola boasts the seal on their canned Georgia Green Planet coffee -- the leader in canned coffee beverages in the Japanese market -- and Hamaya Co. launched their Sustainability Prime Selection coffee from Guatemala and Costa Rica. The frog has also hopped over to Singapore and China, on coffee cups served at MIX coffee shops.

And Costco Mexico has introduced a coffee 100 percent sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.

Sam's Choice Offers Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee

Breakfast Blend whole bean and ground coffee from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms has become one of six gourmet coffees to be offered by Wal-Mart in stores across the US under its Sam's Choice brand. The beans are roasted by Brazil-based company Café Bom Dia.

Products from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms have recently been mentioned in a wide variety of publications, including: 

"Coffee, Mate," Grist (Australia)
"Sustainable Coffee sales double," Calgary Herald (Canada)
"Unilever goes for value addition in new profit drive," Business Daily Africa (East Africa).
"Mais café sustentable," Terramater Hoje (Portugal)
"Cafes colombianos ganaron 5 premios en XX Conferencia de Asociacion Americana de Cafes Especiales (SCAA)," Portafolio (Colombia)
"Le programme de café durable de Rainforest Alliance a de plus en plus de succés," Actualit News (France)

Correction

In the story "Sustainable Flowers for that Special Occasion" in the January - March issue of Farm to Market, we erroneously reported, "Nine members of the Association of Colombian Flower Growers and Exporters (ASOCOFLORES) were certified in November 2007, a first for that country." In fact, only one member of ASOCOFLORES -- The Elite Flower Ltda., located in Bogota -- was certified at that time. We regret the error.

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© 2008 Rainforest Alliance