Demystifying Sustainable Product Certifications - Part 1

Do you know what the certifications on the grocery products you buy actually mean? It seems that there's an ever-increasing variety of certification labels adorning items in our supermarkets and competing for our attention. How are we supposed to choose between products that make competing claims about their ethical and/or environmental kudos? Is there a gold standard, and if not, which is the best kind of certification to choose for key products? I've researched these questions, so that when I'm in the chaos of the supermarket I can make the best choices. I'll share the fruits of my research into the most common certification logos in New Zealand as a series of posts, starting with this one on Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance.

You're most likely to see the Fairtrade logo on coffee, chocolate, tea, spices, sugar and now bananas. According to the Fairtrade Association of Australia and New Zealand, more than five million people benefit from the Fairtrade scheme. Fairtrade provides producers with a fixed, fair minimum price for their produce, which covers the cost of sustainable production. Fairtrade producer organisations also get paid a premium on top of the minimum price to invest in social, economic and environmental development in their community. To qualify for Fairtrade certification, producers must meet set standards, which cover:

• chemical use on crops; 
• labour conditions: non-discrimination, freedom of association, collective bargaining, minimum wage and health and safety requirements; and 
• how producer organisations must make decisions on how to spend the Fairtrade premium.

The Rainforest Alliance certifies operations meeting its set of standards, which focus on the environmental impacts of agricultural activities, such as decreasing contamination of waterways, decreasing erosion, controls on the use of agrochemicals, waste control and water conservation. Farms must also meet labour standards such as paying workers at least the local minimum legal wage, having a non-discriminatory hiring policy and providing sanitary facilities for workers. Unlike Fairtrade, there is no minimum price guarantee for Rainforest Alliance producers. The Rainforest Alliance certification logo is found most prominently in New Zealand on McDonald's McCafe coffee. A considerable proportion of New Zealand's forests are now certified under the Rainforest Alliance's Smartwood program. The Body Shop uses Rainforest Alliance certified palm oil in its soaps.

Next up, a look New Zealand's most prominent organic certifications. Also coming up, a deeper delve into the relative merits of the most common coffee certifications.