21 September 2020

Rainforest Alliance – are you ready to #FollowTheFrog?

Today marks the start of the annual Rainforest Alliance #FollowTheFrog campaign and we’d like to take this opportunity to share more about the Rainforest Alliance and what they do to create a better future for people and nature.

Who is the Rainforest Alliance?

The Rainforest Alliance (RA) is an international non-profit organisation working at the intersection of business, agriculture, and forests to make responsible business, the new normal. They are building an alliance to protect forests, improve the livelihoods of farmers and forest communities, promote their human rights, and help them mitigate and adapt to the ongoing climate crisis.

Founded in 1987, the RA works together with companies, farmers, foresters, communities, and consumers to achieve deep-rooted change on the most critical social and environmental challenges facing agriculture today.

What does Rainforest Alliance Certified™ mean?

The Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal is awarded to farms, forests, and businesses that meet rigorous environmental and social standards. It features a green frog to symbolise that products are sustainably grown in ways that strengthen farm and forest management, boost farm productivity, improve working conditions, and protect natural resources for future generations.

In May 2020, RA introduced its new Rainforest Alliance certification seal. It’s been refreshed to better inform and inspire those looking to make positive consumption a habit. The seal is a way for brands to tell a story about the good that goes into their products and makes it easier for consumers to make better purchasing decisions. On September 1, 2020, the product packaging and promotional materials with the new seal were revealed to the public.

The Rainforest Alliance works towards a world in which people and nature can thrive together. The frog in the Rainforest Alliance seal is the perfect symbol of this mission. As an indicator species, the presence of the frog is a positive sign that the natural ecosystem is balanced and thriving. That’s why we ask you to #followthefrog – to make choices that help. By choosing products that carry the frog seal, you are supporting farmers, in taking steps to make this product more sustainable, creating a better future for people and nature.

How does UCC Coffee partner with the Rainforest Alliance?

At UCC we want to contribute to better farming practices, fight against the climate crisis, conserve our forests, protect the human rights of farmers and workers, and improve their livelihoods. That’s why we buy from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms and offer certified coffees for a range of customer and own-brand products, including our biggest brand, Grand Cafe and threesixty. This partnership helps support the sustainability efforts in our coffee growing regions, and we’ve developed a close relationship to help support the program to deliver the best outcomes for farmers and consumers alike.

To show support, we will be posting #FollowTheFrog across our social media channels. Be sure to check out Rainforest Alliance’s Instagram and Twitter pages or learn more on their website www.rainforest-alliance.org.