UTZ Certified follows a product from farmer to cup by using a ‘tracing’ program. Farmers and cooperations use the UTZ Certified certification to show that they grow coffee caring for a better environment and the people that work on their plantations. The certification gives them a better negotiating position in the worldwide trade market, because many coffee brands are specifically looking for certified ingredients. The required code of conduct for the certification UTZ Certified holds both social and ecological criteria. Brands that get 90% of their coffee from certified plantations are allowed to use the UTZ Certified logo.
 
At the moment, UTZ Certified is working on expanding her activities to other products. In October 2007, they started an initiative for a more sustainable cocoa chain. And soon more products will follow. For more information on UTZ Certified click here.
 

Fairfood in relation to UTZ Certified
Through the Product Fairness investigation, Fairfood asks brand owners a number of fixed questions.
A number of these questions match UTZ Certified criteria, for instance the questions concerning child labour, working hours, forced labour, discrimination and air pollution. Click here to view the full content of these questions. For cocoa, standards are still under development.
 
When assessing products carrying the UTZ Certified logo, brand owners do not have to answer these questions anymore. Fairfood considers buying products from UTZ Certified plantations to be a possible solution for increasing product sustainability.