The forest fires in Brazil have been a hot topic in the past few weeks. The fires are a serious issue for preserving biodiversity and the planet’s vitality, and we hope that the situation will be resolved soon. Coffee has also been mentioned in the discussions. Many people are pondering if coffee farming is related to the forest fires and how biodiversity is taken into account in coffee farming. Read András Koroknay-Pál’s, who is in charge of sourcing Paulig’s green coffee, blog post about the topic.
We only have this one planet and I hope we can keep it as vital as possible. I also hope the planet will endure for many future generations to come. I feel privileged because I can promote sustainable development issues every day in my work in Paulig’s green coffee sourcing. Sustainability of the sourcing chain is a matter that is close to my heart.
At Paulig, we are committed to long-term cooperation in different countries of origin and we want to promote the wellbeing of the entire community. Coffee is a significant source of livelihood for many smallholder coffee farmers, and discontinuing cooperation suddenly in one specific country might create new problems and affect the level of income of many families.
Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, and we buy our coffee only from verified sustainable sources. In Brazil, we get coffee from farms that are located more than 2,000 kilometres south from the Amazon rainforests. That means that coffee is not farmed in the Amazon rainforest areas. Our Brazilian partners are committed to complying with the Paulig Code of Conduct that emphasises the wellbeing of both people and the environment.
We have long relationships with our Brazilian partners and we are in contact with them on a daily basis. We know that a lot of attention is paid to biodiversity in Brazil, and the Brazilian legislation also requires that a farmer keeps 20% of their coffee farm in a natural state. In the recent discussions, we have talked about the forest fires currently ongoing in Brazil, and everyone shares our wish that they will soon be under control.
Did you know that...
- Coffee is not principally farmed in the Amazon area.
- All Paulig coffee comes from verified sustainable sources, which means that our sourcing takes into account the wellbeing of both people and the environment.
- Paulig is a founding member of International Coffee Partners and the Coffee & Climate partnership programme. The purpose of these projects is to increase the coffee crop by increasing the yield of the existing farming area all the while decreasing the environmental footprint.
It has been great to see how many people find sustainability and biodiversity a significant issue. A healthy environment is built together!
András Koroknay-Pál
28.8.2019