The Kenco Coffee Company has announced that the cocoa in its extensive range of Suchard Hot Chocolate products* will now be sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms.  This major move affects Kenco In-Cup, Kenco Singles, Kenco FreshSeal, Kenco Vending, Kenco Sachets and Kenco ancillary Hot Chocolate flavour products, all marketed under the brand name Suchard.

Kraft Foods, parent company of The Kenco Coffee Company, is the first European manufacturer of Hot Chocolate flavour drinking products to introduce cocoa powder sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms. The company has worked with the Rainforest Alliance to open up new supplies from certified sources in West Africa since 2006.

The ambitious project with Kraft Foods, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the Rainforest Alliance and other partners, has helped farmers in Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s largest producer of cocoa, meet the conservation organisation’s standard for environmentally friendly and socially responsible cocoa farming.  The Rainforest Alliance and its partners have provided guidance and technical assistance to about 4,000 farmers in six cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire over two years to encourage sustainable cocoa production.  Farmers who have earned the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal have to meet comprehensive environmental and social standards, developed by the Rainforest Alliance and other conservation groups that make up the Sustainable Agriculture Network.  The farmers must take action to conserve natural resources, protect the welfare of workers and put into place more efficient management practices.

Kenco already offers an extensive range of coffees from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms under the Kenco Sustainable Development name, first introduced in 2004.  Recently the company announced the addition of tea from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms to Kenco’s vending ranges through PG tips – fifty per cent of PG tips tea now comes from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms and Unilever, the makers of PG tips, are committed to gaining certification for the rest of the tea by 2010.

The addition of Suchard Hot Chocolate flavour drink varieties using Rainforest Alliance Certified™ cocoa gives Kenco clients and customers a fantastically compelling offer which meets both the consumers’ growing desire to make a difference and customers’ desire to support sustainable farming.

Ashley Neal, Director of Sales at The Kenco Coffee Company says, ‘This launch really does help us to deliver great tasting hot beverages that make a difference and help grow a sustainable future.  We are delighted to offer Suchard Hot Chocolate, PG tips tea and Kenco Sustainable Development coffee from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ sources within the Kenco range and we are sure it will be a very motivating offer to both our customers and consumers.’

For more information on Kenco please contact us on 0870 241 4820 or visit www.kencocoffeecompany.co.uk

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*Hot Chocolate flavour products

About Rainforest Alliance
The Rainforest Alliance is an independent, international non-profit NGO that works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behaviour.   The Rainforest Alliance pioneered the practice of setting standards and certifying well-managed forests nearly 20 years ago, and developed comprehensive principles and standards for sustainable agriculture shortly thereafter. For more information visit: www.rainforest-alliance.org.

The Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM seal appears on products that comply with the standards of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (a group of NGOs of which the Rainforest Alliance serves as the Secretariat) and should not be confused with any other certification mark or product label. Care should be taken when referring to labels generically, as terms such as ethical, fair, or sustainable have specific meanings within the scope of each label’s approach to improving the social and environmental impact of business and commerce.

PRESS CONTACT:

Kraft Foods/ The Kenco Coffee Company Susan Nash 01242 284325