Establishing a sustainable supply chain at Kraft

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Establishing a sustainable supply chain at Kraft

In 2003, Kraft foods announced a partnership with the Rainforest Alliance to incorporate and develop sustainable coffee programs into its supply chain.

Nearly three years later, we can demonstrate the growth of the program and its early successes:

* In 2004 Kraft purchased 2,400 tons of Rainforest Alliance certified [sustainable] coffee. In 2005, this figure was more than doubled to 6,400 tons. In 2006, Kraft will purchase 13,400 tons of certified coffee - enough to make 1.6 billion cups of coffee.

* The coffee purchased is blended directly into more than six major coffee brands including Maxwell House, Kenco, Carte Noire, Jacobs, Jaques Vabre and Gevalia. The coffee has also been used to launch three 100 percent sustainable brands, Kenco "Sustainable Development," Jaques Vabre "Cafe Pour Agir" and Gevalia "Ekologist."

Kraft buys as much as 40 percent of the coffee produced at Las Lajas, a coffee cooperative in El Salvador with 3,800 residents. The higher and consistent prices paid for the coffee by Kraft (usually between 8-12 US cents per pound of coffee) has allowed Las Lajas to:

* Invest US$40,000 in a much need drinking water distribution system.
* Plant over 30,000 trees in one year - many of them endangered species.
* Introduce weekly support visits to the farm by a local pediatrician - in many cases, the only doctor that the rural children see.

By 2005, just the second year of the partnership, sustainable coffee that Kraft purchased helped to:
* Support around 100,000 people in Central and South America.
* Preserve over 50,000 acres of rainforest.

Excerpted from "Forging a sustainable supply chain for the next 100 years at Kraft" by Tensie Whelan and Annemieke Wijn, in the current issue of Corporate Responsibility Management.

Blogged on 6:22 PM by Upay

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