To invest in long-term sustainability and to strengthen its supply chain partners, S&D Coffee & Tea is continuing its valued partnership with Conservation International (CI).
To date, S&D has worked with CI on a number of initiatives including developing a set of coffee sourcing principles and a scorecard that are compatible with both trading company technical assistance/monitoring programs and certification standards.
S&D and CI also designed and piloted a holistic assurance and monitoring program that mitigates supply chain risks and enables the company to understand the impact of its investments on coffee and tea productivity, farmer livelihoods and the environment where its products are grown. Additionally, CI helped develop a landscape and incentive system that integrates into its own investment program as well as those of suppliers.
“Through our three-year partnership with Conservation International, we’ve made significant investments with a credible organization that has provided expertise to elevate our program to not only comply with but go beyond industry standards around sustainable sourcing,” says David Piza, director of corporate social responsibility and sustainability with S&D Coffee & Tea.
“We are thrilled to count S&D Coffee & Tea as one of our first partners in the Sustainable Coffee Challenge,” says Conservation International’s Bambi Semroc, who leads the Sustainable Coffee Challenge. “By partnering with CI and the Sustainable Coffee Challenge, S&D is helping lead the way to transform the coffee sector and raise the profile of sustainable coffee, all this accompanied by piloting efforts and demonstrations of a leading company approaching sustainability.”
In its continued work with CI, S&D’s objectives for the upcoming year include:
Integrating landscape-level social and environmental assessments and safeguards into S&D’s sustainable sourcing coffee program
Assessing opportunities to expand sustainable coffee sourcing into new regions
Continue developing a sustainable tea sourcing and investment strategy that addresses landscape issues and integrates safeguards into investment programs
