Mondelez International Inc., Deerfield, Ill., announced its plans to invest in making its coffee business more sustainable. The company’s “Coffee Made Happy” campaign will invest a minimum of $200 million to empower 1 million coffee farming entrepreneurs by 2020.
The program is designed to help the next generation of farmers by inspiring them, training them and building their capacity to improve their livelihoods and attract new generations back to the small-scale farming sector, the company says. The approach reflects Mondelez International's core values and builds on its previous commitment to sustainably source 100 percent of its European coffee by 2015, it says.
"’Coffee Made Happy’ is a bold, industry-changing move, and we think it's achievable," said Hubert Weber, president of global coffee, in a statement. "This is the right thing to do for farmers, for the environment, and for our business. Together, we can help make coffee farming an attractive profession for generations to come."
The Coffee Made Happy campaign plans to increase farmer productivity and the viability of small-scale coffee farming while also strengthening agricultural practices and helping to build more sustainable coffee communities, the company says. Mondelez International is already collaborating in sustainable agriculture with partners including Rainforest Alliance and the 4C Association. By continuing these relationships and fostering new collaborations, the company will boost existing commercial skills development programs in Vietnam, Peru and other important coffee markets, it says.
The Coffee Made Happy campaign also aims to drive business growth, because more and more consumers are interested in where their coffee comes from, how it's grown and who is growing it, according to Mondelez International.
"We believe coffee grown with joy is more of a joy to drink," said Roland Weening, vice president of marketing and sustainability for global coffee, in a statement. "’Coffee Made Happy’ will show consumers that great quality coffee can be both enjoyable and sustainable."
The Coffee Made Happy campaign is the latest in Mondelez International's plans to make its full supply chain more transparent and sustainable. In the last five years, its European plants have worked to use resources more efficiently and reuse and recycle the waste they produce. Today, all 10 of the company's European coffee plants send zero waste to landfill, and the company plans to do even more by using new manufacturing technologies, recycling shipping materials and choosing more sustainable transport materials, it says.
