Operations

Peet's going all in with going green

Enveritas execs inspect drying green coffee on a farm in Guatemala. Provided

June 6, 2022

Peet's Coffee, which has 270 locations in the U.S and China, confirmed Monday that 100% of its purchases are responsibly sourced per standards created by Enveritas, an independent third-party, non-profit company that tracks social, economic and agricultural impact across multiple crops and industries.

"This responsible sourcing achievement is the result of a multi-year data collection process to verify the conditions and practices of the more than 59,000, mostly small coffee farms in 24 regions around the world who supply coffee beans for Peet's Coffee," Doug Welsh, Peet's VP and roast master, said in a company press release.

The verification process relies upon farm audits conducted by regional specialists trained in coffee production to help identify a variety of risks including deforestation, child labor and other damaging social and environmental conditions. It also holds Peet's responsible for supporting its coffee-growing communities through community impact investments. Enveritas's data-based system measures conditions at the point of origin to identify farmers and communities most in need of agronomic and other assistance, according to the release.

In 2016, Peet's Coffee began working with Enveritas to design a coffee-specific verification program that uses, among other techniques, artificial intelligence and geo-spatial technology to gather independent reports of conditions on coffee farms. These conditions are verified against 30 sustainability standards set by Enveritas, which has performed over 20,000 annual audits across Peet's coffee supply chain. Peet's shares the results of these audits with its suppliers, and if issues are revealed, the company works with importers, governments, non-profits, competitors and its farmer partners to develop impact projects tailored to the needs of farmers and their communities. The chain operates 39 social and environmental impact programs in 24 regions, Welsh said.

"Coffee is more than a source of energy or enjoyment for the millions of people worldwide who farm coffee for their livelihood, as a family legacy and way of life," he said in the release. "At Peet's, responsible sourcing requires that we identify challenges, invest in projects that improve lives, and then measure that progress. The reach of this accomplishment – applying consistent sustainability standards to all the coffee we roast — is just the beginning. If we can achieve this across our global system at Peet's, other coffee roasters can as well. Our collaborative approach will help advance progress and create more tailored, relevant support for coffee farmers and their home communities."

Unlike Peet's, many many coffee companies are satisfied with paying for a label that says their coffee is certified and don't track data to reveal issues, said David Browning, CEO of Enveritas.

"Peet's Coffee came to us several years ago with the challenge to customize a data collection system to track actual practices in the regions where they source coffee beans," he said in the release. "The company wanted to know with certainty how Peet's coffee is grown and then help improve conditions within each community through targeted projects. The verification audits we perform are rigorous, and the data details actual practices in place for accuracy and year-over-year analysis. It is a model that will help individual producers and the industry evolve to better address climate change and other associated, complex challenges."