Alternative trading organization Cafédirect has become the first UK coffee producer to achieve certification as a B Corporation, cementing its reputation as the leading producer of sustainably sourced and Fairtrade coffee.
For nearly 30 years, Cafédirect has pioneered the concept of business as a force for good, investing over half of its profits back into farmer communities. As the first coffee brand to carry the Fairtrade certification mark, it strives to challenge the way business is done and puts farmers’ livelihoods firmly at the heart of its unique business model.
In 2009 Cafédirect established a charity arm, Producers Direct, to maximise its impact and provide practical support and guidance to the smallholder farming communities that produce 70 per cent of the world’s food supply.
The charity, which has positively impacted the lives of over 600,000 smallholders to date, is a farmer-led enterprise and seeks to empower its members to build resilience to changing climates, increase their incomes and improve food production in a sustainable way. To date, 87% of the farmers working with Producers Direct have diversified into a new farm enterprise or adopted agricultural innovations, and their incomes have increased by 50% on average as a result.
John Steel, CEO of Cafédirect, said: “We are very excited to be part of the B Corp movement. As a pioneer, it is our role to embrace approaches that drive businesses to behave better and enable consumers to make better choices.
“We are proud to challenge the way business is done and have done so ever since Cafédirect was founded through collaboration in 1991. As a brand, we embody positive impact, whether it’s providing much needed income to remote smallholder communities through the sales of our Fairtrade tea and coffee, engaging farmers in the leadership of the business or reinvesting funds in our own standalone, producer-led charity.
“No metrics, fancy charts or infographics can ever have the same meaning as smallholder farmers thanking you for making the impossible, possible. This is what good business is about. This is the great taste of Cafédirect – irresistible, impactful and unique.”
All businesses certified as B Corps must meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability, and aspire to use the power of markets to solve social and environmental problems. Over 2,000 businesses have joined the global B-Corporation community and research has shown that the B Corps who have re-certified in the UK have grown up to 28 times faster than UK GDP.
Kate Sandle, head of community at B Lab UK, added: “Cafédirect has always had social responsibility at its heart, and we are pleased that such a trailblazing company has chosen to join a global movement that’s reinventing business.
“The growth of the B Corp community in the UK and globally is testament that meaningful change is underway, with B Corp becoming ‘business as usual’.”