Last month's blockage of Egypt's Suez Canal has led to supply constraints for some Rainforest Alliance- and UTZ-certified coffee brands, a leading manufacturer has said.
Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) said that due to the blockage, it is 'currently unable to source enough certified coffee from key coffee origins in Asia and Africa'.
Coffee Commitment
'JDE is proud of our commitment to sustainability and sourcing Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee for multiple brands in various markets,' the group said in a statement, adding that the Suez incident means that from March until May 2021, 'some of our brands may not contain 100% coffee from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
'We expect this to be resolved by end of May 2021, though, and our products will go back to 100% certified.'
The company said that it plans to purchase a volume of certified coffee equivalent to what it would have used during this period, in order to continue to support its supplier farmers.
It added that despite the current supply issue, it remains 'on track' in terms of achieving its commitment of 100% responsibly certified coffee by 2025.
Suez Blockage
The Suez Canal was blocked from 23 March to 29 March, after the 200,000 tonne Ever Given vessel, operated by Taiwanese transport company Evergreen Marine, ran aground.
The stricken ship, which was estimated to have held up around $9.6 billion worth in global trade for each day it was stuck, led to many transporters re-routing around Africa, as well as giving rise to a number of Internet memes, incorporating the #SuezBLOCKED hashtag. [Pic: ©Bjoern Wylezich/123RF.COM]
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
