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Gelkha Buitrago: “Equivalence mechanism will reduce effort required to comply with multiple sustainability schemes."
In what it described as “a move to advance sector transparency and purchases of sustainable coffee,” Global Coffee Platform (GCP) expanded its reporting on sustainable coffee purchases by adding four new sustainability schemes and invites more roasters and retailers to get involved in the next round of reporting.
The four new schemes – ECOM's SMS Verified, Neumann’s NKG BLOOM, and Olam’s AtSource Entry Verified and AtSource Plus – bring the number of schemes recognized by GCP to nine. Roasters and retailers, including signatories of the ICO London Declaration, have been invited to participate in the next round of GCP reporting, which kicked off on February 5.
The quartet of sustainability schemes meet a baseline for sustainability through the GCP equivalence mechanism, which includes an assessment on how schemes meet the requirements of the GCP baseline coffee code and how they are implemented in practice.
The reporting program will culminate with the publication of the second “GCP Snapshot,” providing the coffee sector with information about transparent and measurable progress. GCP’s Snapshot on 2018 sustainable coffee purchases delivered insights on collective reporting by JDE, Melitta, Nestlé, Strauss, and Supracafé, based on GCP-recognized voluntary sustainability standards and schemes including 4C, Certifica Minas, Fairtrade, Rainforest/UTZ, CAFE Practices, and Nespresso AAA.
“For farmers who face the demands of multiple sustainability schemes and programs, this hopefully results in reduced effort as there is wider alignment around baseline sustainability,” said Gelkha Buitrago, GCP director of programs and corporate partnerships.
Other sustainability schemes are also being assessed under the equivalence mechanism and could soon be recognized, GCP said.