Kahlúa offers free sustainability toolkit for producers

Coffee liqueur Kahlúa will be made entirely from sustainable coffee by November 2022, and has released a free toolkit to help other producers adopt more eco-friendly practices.

The Pernod Ricard-owned brand has spent six years investing in the social and structural conditions within coffee-farming communities in Veracruz, Mexico, the home of Kahlúa.

Now, the brand is expected to produce a 100% sustainable coffee harvest to cover all production by 2022.

Kahlúa’s free toolkit has been launched to encourage other businesses to create more sustainable production methods.

Kahlúa launched its Coffee For Good programme in 2016 in partnership with Fondo Para La Paz, a local development charity that increases the wellbeing of rural, indigenous communities in Mexico.

Giancarlo Martins, global marketing manager at Pernod Ricard, said: “Kahlúa is associated with good times. But for those good times to continue, we recognised that the way we consume, do business – and ultimately live – had to change.

“So as the world’s most recognised coffee liqueur brand, we knew we had to act. We embarked on a long journey of sustainability, which involved going back to the beginning – to the birthplace of Kahlúa in Veracruz.

“We hope that with our free industry toolkit, other businesses – within the drinks industry or otherwise – are able to take even a small amount of inspiration and find something that might work for them too.”

The Coffee For Good programme has helped 500 families (four from remote villages in the mountains of Veracruz) to harvest and sell enough coffee to cover all Kahlúa production. It has also helped to increase the yield of other crops that can then be sold elsewhere.

Local agroecological experts have also trained hundreds of farmers on sustainable techniques, such as planting trees to get the correct amount of shade, which improves the quality of coffee.

Socially, the project has worked to support gender equality and education within coffee-growing communities. Health concerns have also been addressed, particularly in villages that were previously without sanitation.

The Coffee for Good programme intends to expand to two more villages, Popcatepec and Mitepec.