Costa beats coffee target

Costa, the UK’s largest coffee shop chain, announced last month that all coffee sold in its 785 British stores is now made from beans ‘sustainably grown’ on farms certified by the Rainforest Alliance.

The Whitbread-owned brand had set a target of converting its entire supply to Rainforest Alliance certification by 2010 (EP10, issue 1, p6), but has made swifter progress than expected. It claims to be on track to make the switch in all stores by January 2009, covering more than 300 additional outlets in 24 countries. Costa is going through a phase of rapid expansion both in the UK and overseas.

Certified farms are required to meet social and environmental standards in areas such as pesticide use and welfare for workers’ families. Farms are inspected annually and must continue to show progress to stay in the scheme.

Starbucks also announced recently that all espresso coffee sold to its customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa has been certified to standards set by the non-profit body Conservation International.