Costa stirs up coffee market

Every cup of coffee sold by Costa will now be made up of beans sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms across all 785 of its UK stores.

The move, which was introduced yesterday, means that Costa will buy almost 1,500 tonnes of green beans, already achieving 30% of its annual requirements from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.

To celebrate the launch, Costa Coffee commissioned pavement artist Manfred Stader to create a 3D image of a Costa cup, using chalk and coffee roasting waste product from Costa's Roastery in Lambeth, London.

The symbol from the Rainforest Alliance logo, which is a chocolate dusted frog, will be replicated on top of the coffee froth. Coffee made up of these beans will be available in Costa's global stores by January 2009, in 24 markets in over 300 stores.

John Derkach, managing director of Costa Coffee, commented: "We have a responsibility to ensure that coffee production is sustainable, that it supports coffee growing communities and protects the environment. Recent YouGov research has revealed that UK consumers want ethically sourced coffee, another reason why we have made this important choice for our business.  The work that the Rainforest Alliance does also complements our Costa Foundation projects perfectly."

Rainforest Alliance works with farmers to ensure farms are not only run in an environmentally sustainable manner, but also improve conditions for workers and their families. This includes improving worker safety, ensuring the environment is protected, and ensuring workers are paid decent wages.

Words: Maria Bracken

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