Sustainable coffee and tea
Provide small producers with a fair income and encourage sustainable cultivation methods? We do this through the certification of the coffee and tea of our private labels. Through three international chain projects, we also buy coffee beans directly from small cooperatives.
Supporting coffee businesses
Coffee is an important product for Colruyt Group, and has been ever since the company was founded. As the only retailer in Belgium, we have - since 1937 - our own coffee-roasting house in Ghislenghien, where we roast the beans for our private label coffees such as Graindor.
This also ensures that, through our purchase policy, we can make a sustainable difference in a sector facing major challenges, partly due to global warming. Through certifications and supply chain projects, we aim to improve the living and working conditions of the coffee producers and to promote sustainable and environmentally friendly cultivation.
of our private label products (Boni, Everyday) had a sustainability label in 2022
certified coffee beans purchased (UTZ, Rainforest Alliance, Bio, Fairtrade) in 2022
In 2015, when only 1.8% of our private label coffees had a sustainability label, we launched the ambition to have 100% of our private label coffees certified. We succeeded in this goal in 2021: all of our coffee for the Belgian market now has a sustainability label: Rainforest Alliance and/or BIO and Fairtrade. These labels guarantee good working conditions and environmentally-friendly cultivation methods. Fairtrade also guarantees minimum prices for farmers.
Two coffee projects on two continents
In cooperation with partners such as Rikolto, we are currently running two chain projects for the production and purchase of coffee beans: in Kachalù (Colombia) and in Kivu (Congo). By working directly with coffee farmers and cooperatives and guaranteeing them a market, we give them more financial scope and opportunities to make their production more sustainable. Through Colruyt Group Foundation, we also organise training projects in these production regions to prepare the local population better for (future) challenges facing the coffee sector.
Tea: Rainforest Alliance-label
Prefer a cup of tea? All our private label Boni tea bears the Rainforest Alliance quality label. Rainforest Alliance introduced a new certification standard for tea in 2020. The focus is on two aspects: an extra payment to tea producers (the so-called ‘sustainability differential’) and an environmentally-friendly production method.
