UTZ Certified Coffee

Individuals looking for organic coffee may run across the UTZ Certified label. This label says that the bag of coffee you are buying came from a coffee farm that employed sustainable agricultural practices, good environmental practices and efficient farm management. A key feature of the UTZ Certified label is that UTZ Certified coffee is traced from grower to roaster. UTZ certified coffee is sold in North America, Europe, and Japan, in nearly fifty nations. According to UTZ,

UTZ Certified stands for sustainable farming and better opportunities for farmers, their families and our planet. The UTZ program enables farmers to learn better farming methods, improve working conditions and take better care of their children and the environment. Through the UTZ-program farmers grow better crops, generate more income and create better opportunities while safeguarding the environment and securing the earth’s natural resources.

UTZ starts by educating the coffee farmer, working with him to achieve organic status, and then follows through by providing a market for his organic coffee.

 

UTZ Certified coffee is the end result of the company working with coffee farmers across the globe.

UTZ Helps Organic Coffee Farmers

 

Tough Requirements, Gradual Implementation with UTZ Certified Coffee

The long term goals of UTZ are good agricultural practices, safe and healthy working conditions, abolishment of child labor, and environmental protection. However, a grower does not need to accomplish all that is required in the first year. This allows a grower to sign up to get his coffee UTZ certified, learn what is necessary, and grow into the long term requirements of the program. Because of the close tracking feature of all UTZ Certified products, consumers of healthy organic coffee produced by these growers can be assured of product quality as well as the farming practices that brought it to market.

What UTZ Teaches and Requires

A UTZ grower learns to do the following and then continues to do what is needed.

  • Reduce and prevent soil erosion
  • Keep records of fertilizer and chemical use and use these products responsibly
  • Follow good farming practices including integrated pest management
  • Avoid deforestation
  • Protect water sources, native and endangered species
  • Use native fauna for shade grown coffee
  • Train workers properly in their own language
  • Implement and follow through on health and safety requirements
  • Teach and require good hygiene
  • Trace coffee from planting to roaster
  • Carry out internal inspections every year

Is UTZ Certified Organic Coffee?

A UTZ Certified grower does not necessarily get approval from the US Department of Agriculture for organic coffee certification. In doing so he avoids the cost of another certification. However, many organic growers go with UTZ Certified coffee instead of organic certification. They do this because of the wider range of benefits of working with UTZ and the wider range of benefits that UTZ Certified coffee enjoys. In short, UTZ Certified coffee is typically organic coffee with healthy organic coffee antioxidants and a minimum of impurities. As with all coffees UTZ Certified coffees contain the useful ingredients which reduce the risk of Type II diabetes as well as several types of cancer. UTZ coffees are grown according to standardized and high level practices and result in high quality coffee. And, when you drink good coffee that is UTZ Certified you can trace it back to a valley in the mountains of Colombia, Panama, or Brazil where a family is living a better life by working with UTZ to bring you a great cup of coffee.

Organic Coffee Certification

Certified organic coffee is grown without pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and synthetic fertilizers. When you drink organic coffee you can avoid the more-than-100 impurities that can be found in a cup of regular coffee. There are other certifications other than UTZ. The gold standard is USDA (United States Department of Agriculture). But many small growers cannot afford to have someone designated by the USDA to certify and recertify their coffee. Thus there are many small growers who follow organic practices but only get a regular price for their coffee. That is where UTZ and organizations like Rainforest Alliance come into play.

USDA Certification

According to the USDA, the following applies to USDA organic coffee as well as to all organic food production.

“… Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations…”

Because the only coffee growers in the USA are in Hawaii the USDA outsources its onsite inspections to Bio Latina and others.

 

USDA Organic Coffee Certification Is the Gold Standard

USDA Organic Coffee Certification

 

Rainforest Alliance Certification

These folks are similar to UTZ in that they help growers achieve organic certified status working with them to achieve step by step milestones on the way. And, Rainforest Alliance helps farmers find better markets for their organic products from bananas to coffee.

 

Rainforest Alliance

Rainforest Alliance

 

Six of One and Half a Dozen of the Other

All of the certification processes give you organic certified coffees. Organic shade grown coffee is a top of the line product. Growing coffee this way protects the environment and avoids displacing song birds and other animals of the forest and gives you a great cup of coffee. Whether you go the USDA route or like UTZ or Rainforest Alliance you will be getting organic certified coffees. If you drink UTZ certified coffee you have a coffee tracked from farm to roaster to you with quality controls along the way. And you will have the comfort of knowing that your coffee came from a grower whose family cares for the land and has a better life because of UTZ and you. If you are having trouble finding organic certified coffees and especially if you are interested in wholesale organic coffee contact us at Buy Organic Coffee. For help finding small growers of organic shade grown coffee deal with people who work where it is grown. Contact Buy Organic Coffee for more info.

UTZ and Rainforest Alliance Joining Forces

As of this writing UTZ is working to join forces with Rainforest Alliance to create a powerhouse in the world of organic food, sustainable agriculture, and better lives for small scale farmers and their families.

UTZ Certified Coffee PPT




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