Earth day came early this year for Caribou Coffee. The company that only trails
Starbucks in the number of coffee shops operated in the U.S. (500 outlets to Starbucks’ 15,000 stores across the U.S.) announced in January that all of its American stores will sell only coffee sourced from
Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. While the company will give
free coffee on Sunday to all customers in 20 U.S. states and the District of Columbia who walk into its stores, the real story is the move towards more responsibly and sustainably sourced
coffee.
For Caribou, the journey with the Rainforest Alliance has been a long one, dating back to 2003.
A year ago,
Caribou Coffee decided it would
source all of its beans from the NGO’s certified farms by the end of 2011. The company worked with farmers in Latin America, North America, Africa and Southeast Asia to boost the Rainforest Alliance’s social, environmental and economic benefits.
For Rainforest Alliance, having Caribou sport its Green Frog seal of approval is a huge step for the organization. The New York-based sustainable advocacy group work includes several
sustainable cocoa initiatives and has partnered with large companies including
Nestle. But people and the environment win, too. Workers on farms that follow the Alliance’s guidelines benefit from decent wages and safer working conditions while their families have access to education, health care and housing. The farms in turn implement improved water conservation initiatives and have a leading role in the preservation of wildlife habitat. Finally the farms gain better yields from more efficient farm practices while reducing waste and eliminating the use of harmful chemicals.
Watch for Caribou to keep growing in the the coming years. Just a few years ago the company’s stock was in the tank at less than two dollars a share but the company has
turned it around financially and the stock’s value has increased five-fold. Now that the company has embraced more environmentally and ethical products, look for the company to become a solid model of what it means to be a truly sustainable business. Customers who score that free coffee this Sunday will be sipping a caffeinated indulgence from a company on the move that everyone from farmer to barista can feel better about.
Leon Kaye, based in California, is a sustainability consultant and the editor of GreenGoPost.com. He also contributes to Guardian Sustainable Business and Inhabitat. You can follow him on Twitter.
Published earlier today on
Triple Pundit.
Photo of original Caribou Coffee shop courtesy
Wikipedia.
About The Author
Leon Kaye
Leon Kaye is the founder and editor of GreenGoPost.com and its advisory division,
GGP Media.
Contact him to discuss how he can work with your organization or event.
His focus is making the business case for sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
He writes for San Francisco-based
Triple Pundit,
Inhabitat and now
The Guardian, for which he writes about corporate responsibility, water, and green building. He has also written for AIA's
Architect Magazine.
Leon works out of Fresno and Silicon Valley, California, and when he has free time, he enjoys hiking, gardening, cooking, weightlifting, and planning his next trip to one of the 60 countries he has visited. He has an MBA from USC's Marshall School of Business and is also a proud graduate of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) and Cal State-Fresno.
Earth day came early this year for Caribou Coffee. The company that only trails Starbucks in the number of coffee shops operated in the U.S. (500 outlets to Starbucks’ 15,000 stores across the U.S.) announced in January that all of its American stores will sell only coffee sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. While the company will give free coffee on Sunday to all customers in 20 U.S. states and the District of Columbia who walk into its stores, the real story is the move towards more responsibly and sustainably sourced coffee.
For Caribou, the journey with the Rainforest Alliance has been a long one, dating back to 2003.
A year ago, Caribou Coffee decided it would source all of its beans from the NGO’s certified farms by the end of 2011. The company worked with farmers in Latin America, North America, Africa and Southeast Asia to boost the Rainforest Alliance’s social, environmental and economic benefits.
For Rainforest Alliance, having Caribou sport its Green Frog seal of approval is a huge step for the organization. The New York-based sustainable advocacy group work includes several sustainable cocoa initiatives and has partnered with large companies including Nestle. But people and the environment win, too. Workers on farms that follow the Alliance’s guidelines benefit from decent wages and safer working conditions while their families have access to education, health care and housing. The farms in turn implement improved water conservation initiatives and have a leading role in the preservation of wildlife habitat. Finally the farms gain better yields from more efficient farm practices while reducing waste and eliminating the use of harmful chemicals.
Watch for Caribou to keep growing in the the coming years. Just a few years ago the company’s stock was in the tank at less than two dollars a share but the company has turned it around financially and the stock’s value has increased five-fold. Now that the company has embraced more environmentally and ethical products, look for the company to become a solid model of what it means to be a truly sustainable business. Customers who score that free coffee this Sunday will be sipping a caffeinated indulgence from a company on the move that everyone from farmer to barista can feel better about.
Leon Kaye, based in California, is a sustainability consultant and the editor of GreenGoPost.com. He also contributes to Guardian Sustainable Business and Inhabitat. You can follow him on Twitter.
Published earlier today on Triple Pundit.
Photo of original Caribou Coffee shop courtesy Wikipedia.
