Dunkin' Donuts Expands Collaboration With The Rainforest Alliance

Dunkin' Donuts is committed to sustainable sourcing, incorporating certified products in its coffee portfolio and helping to make a positive impact on farming communities worldwide. Today, the brand announced that it will continue to fulfill this commitment by expanding its current work with the Rainforest Alliance to have all Dunkin' Donuts' espresso beverages served at Dunkin' Donuts U.S. restaurants and in approximately 16 international markets made with 100% espresso beans sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms by the end of this year.

The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization that works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods so that the planet and people prosper together. Rainforest Alliance certification helps to protect wildlife; safeguard soils and waterways; and improve quality of life for workers, their families and local communities.

Findings in the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) / Rainforest Alliance Impacts Report, released early this year, show that Rainforest Alliance certification benefits small-scale producers. Smallholder farms applying the agronomic practices outlined in the SAN Standard were found to increase productivity and profitability, improve environmental quality and health, and had increased access to training. In addition, certification helps to improve working conditions and access to medical care and schools for their children.

Espresso beans from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms are the latest in several recent introductions of products by Dunkin' Brands, parent company of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, that carry the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal. In the U.S. and select international markets, Dunkin' Donuts serves 30% Rainforest Alliance Certified Dark Roast Coffee, and 30% Rainforest Alliance Certified Iced Green Tea is available in select U.S. markets. In 2015, Dunkin' Donuts offered 30% Rainforest Alliance Certified Colombian Packaged Coffee, the brand's first-ever single-origin packaged coffee, for a limited time. Internationally, Baskin-Robbins launched Lemon Black Tea Sorbet and Raspberry Black Tea Sorbet, each made with 50% Rainforest Alliance Certified black tea, as limited time offers in 2014.

Additionally, since 2010, Dunkin' Brands has granted more than $260,000 to the Rainforest Alliance to fund projects on coffee and tea farms in Colombia, Guatemala, Ethiopia and India. With these funds, the Rainforest Alliance has provided technical assistance and training programs to coffee and tea farmers seeking to improve the sustainability and productivity of their farms. The grants have also helped certify more than 4,000 coffee farms, which now abide by comprehensive economic, social and environmental criteria developed by SAN, and provide training for farmers to assist them in better adapting to climate change.

According to Christine Riley Miller, Dunkin' Brands Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, "Dunkin' Donuts is committed to responsibly serving our guests, franchisees, communities and the interests of our planet. Rainforest Alliance encompasses the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainability to help farmers, particularly small-scale farmers, achieve an increase in profitability and productivity. We are excited to grow our work with the Rainforest Alliance, and going forward we hope to continue to increase the number of certified items -- both coffee and other products -- we make available to our guests."

"We're proud to be working with a company that shares our vision for a future where people and the planet can prosper together," said Alex Morgan, Director of Markets Transformation for the Rainforest Alliance. "By prioritizing sustainably sourced coffee, Dunkin' Donuts is renewing their commitment to being environmentally, socially, and economically responsible."