UTZ CERTIFIED Q3 Close Shows Significant Increase in Coffee, Tea and Cocoa Sales

AMSTERDAM, November 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Demand for sustainably sourced coffee, tea and cocoa continues to grow

Amsterdam, November 8, 2011 - UTZ CERTIFIED enjoys a sales boost in its third quarter sales. Compared to January - September 2010, certified sustainable coffee sales rose 23% in the same period this year, leading to a sale volume of 105,757 metric tons of coffee certified by UTZ in total. Tea sales also increased significantly by almost 74% for a total of 2,416 metric tons and sales of currently registered UTZ CERTIFIED cocoa have risen to 29,719 metric tons -- an impressive increase of 149% compared to the same period last year.

"We're encouraged by the continued increase of certified coffee, tea and cocoa sold. Food manufacturers are open to discussing future purchases and long-term commitments" says Han de Groot, executive director, UTZ CERTIFIED. "We are also seeing well-informed consumers looking to their favorite brands to source responsibly."

Coffee

Brazil remains UTZ CERTIFIED's top supplier of coffee accounting for 39% of total sales volume. Vietnam (21%), Honduras (15%), India (6%) and Colombia (5%) complete the top five supplying countries.

Cocoa

With 66% of the total sales volume, Cote d'Ivoire is the largest supplier of UTZ CERTIFIED cocoa. Dominican Republic follow with 16%, Peru with 6%.

Tea & Rooibos

33% of certified tea volume trades are Rooibos, coming from South Africa. Malawi is responsible for 45% of the tea sales and Indonesia 21%. UTZ CERTIFIED tea can also be sourced from India, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Argentina as well.

Mars, one of the founding partners of the UTZ CERTIFIED cocoa program, has publicly committed to source only UTZ cocoa for the Mars bars sold in the Netherlands by 2012. Mars has pledged only sustainable cocoa will be used by 2020 in their global production. Lidl announced their commitment to source an increasing amount of UTZ CERTIFIED cocoa for the entire range of their private chocolate label Fin Carré leading to fully a sustainable label by 2020..

All black, green, fruit, white and Rooibos teas from Ahold retail in the Netherlands now contain an increasing amount of tea leaves certified by UTZ. The 65 tea flavors will be switched to fully certified contents per segment.

About UTZ CERTIFIED

UTZ CERTIFIED is one of the largest sustainability programs for coffee, cocoa and tea in the world. Brands that have committed themselves to the sourcing of (sustainable) UTZ CERTIFIED raw materials are global market leaders. Farmers are trained in the professionalization of their agricultural practice and operational management with care for people and environment. This improves the quality of their products and allows them to produce higher volumes at lower costs. Moreover, farmers who work with UTZ CERTIFIED in the global marketplace receive a premium for their crop and they don't have to pay an annual fee for taking part in the program. The UTZ CERTIFIED tracking system subsequently guarantees that the raw materials have actually been grown and harvested in a responsible manner. For more information: http://www.utzcertified.org