From now on, McDonald's-uk will be sourcing its coffee beans from farms certified by the New York-based global non-profit Rainforest Alliance. Starting January 10, 2007, all McDonald restaurants in the uk and Ireland have started selling exclusively Kenco coffee--a Kraft Foods high-quality Arabica coffee containing 100 per cent R ainforest Alliance certified beans.
Only farms that meet specific, independent and verifiable standards during production, including environmental protection, the rights and welfare of workers and the interest of coffee-growing communities, are awarded the certification. The announcement means the beans will come from certified farms in Colombia, Brazil and Central America, and will benefit thousands of farmers and farm workers while protecting the environment.
In another development, the us coffee giant, Starbucks, has admitted that it has not reached any agreement with the Ethiopian government over the trademark of Ethiopian coffee beans. The dispute had led to global protests alleging that Starbucks is affecting the interest of Ethiopian coffee farmers.
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