World's Largest Coffee Traders Agree to Sustainability, but How Committed Are They?

by William Baue

Rainforest Alliance's recent agreement on sustainability with the world's two largest coffee traders holds promise but the devil may be in the details.

SocialFunds.com -- Last week, the Rainforest Alliance, which certifies the sustainable production of coffee and other products, announced it had signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the world's two largest coffee traders, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe and Volcafe Group. These two companies combined serve about 25 percent of the global coffee market, so increasing the amount of certified coffee they deal could help counteract the current global coffee crisis of plummeting prices due to a glut of low-quality beans.

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