Rainforest Alliance´s sales increasing

Sales of Rainforest Alliance Certified sustainable coffee, bananas and chocolate surpassed US$1 billion in 2006 (€ 700 million) and the growth is predicted to continue, according to the Rainforest Alliance. Increasing consumer demand for sustainable products has helped the rapid growth of Rainforest Alliance certification in coffee, forestry and other crops. The volume of sales of coffee from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms has almost doubled each year since 2003 - from 7 million pounds to 54.7 million pounds in 2006; sales in 2007 are projected to exceed 91 million pounds.
 
Announcing the figures at a Taste of Sustainability event in London, Chris Wille, Chief of Sustainable Agriculture, said that the United Kingdom had been at the forefront of global demand for sustainably grown goods. Companies were responding by putting sustainability at the heart of their sourcing strategies, reports the Rainforest Alliance.

Good Natured juice will be launched this month made from oranges from the Rainforest Alliance Certified Del Oro farm in Costa Rica. McDonald's restaurants will switch to Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee from Kenco; Unilever, the world's largest tea company, announces its plans to source its entire global tea supply from certified sustainable sources. The first tea from the Rainforest Alliance Certified Kericho Estate in Kenya was launched in August for the „Away from Home” market. Morrisons in-store cafes are serving Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee now. Lyons Original and Decaffeinated roast and ground coffee converts to 100 percent Rainforest Alliance Certified. Kraft's Kenco Pure and Kenco Sustainable Development range of instant coffees is the top selling instant ethically sourced brand with 25.5 percent share of the ethical market. Pret a Manger sources Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee, as part of their triple certified ethical coffee offering.

As of August 2007 the Rainforest Alliance has certified almost 15,000 small family farms, plantations and cooperatives in 14 countries putting 752,712 acres (304,742 hectares) of farmland and associated ecosystems under sustainable management and benefiting more than 1.5 million farmers, farm workers and their families. The Rainforest Alliance forestry programme has certified 104 million acres (42 million hectares) of forestland.

http://www.rainforest-alliance.org