Sustainable Coconut - Let's Count the Ways
07.11.2016 | Author: Global Organics | Category: Coconut
Summer is the season of tropical flavors... and what’s more tropical than coconut?
Like today’s conscious consumers, our coconut supply partners believe in protecting the environment, supporting farmers and giving back to their communities. In celebration of sunny weather and cool coconut concoctions, we’re counting the ways the coconut we source matches up with current sustainability trends.
If you already use our coconut ingredients, share this information with your customers while it’s hot! If you still haven’t tried our coconut specialties, read on and consider the many ways you could be making a difference towards environmental and social sustainability…
Organic Farming
Certified organic farming methods greatly reduce the amount of pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and fungicides applied to crops, including coconut. Avoiding the use of synthetic chemical inputs helps to preserve biodiversity, soil fertility, groundwater quality and the health of farmworkers.
Intercropping
Intercropping practices mix coconut palm trees with pepper, clove and cinnamon trees to increase the soil’s nutrient content and further reduce the need for synthetic chemical fertilizers. This practice also provides additional income to farmers, helping to improve their quality of life.
Reducing Waste
To help reduce waste, every part of the coconut is used in some way; this includes the coconut water, shell, husk and white meat. The coconut water and meat are used to create a variety of organic products. Coconut husks are used for husk burying, or mulching, which helps retain moisture and prevent soil erosion around coconut trees. Even water is recycled as treated wastewater is released and reused for irrigation.
Energy Efficiency
Rather than being discarded, coconut shells are reused to power boilers. This reduces the overall carbon footprint of the plantation and processing facilities. Part of the wastewater is also used for biogas generation and heat production to improve energy efficiency.
Positive Social Impact
All employees are offered fair wages and have access to benefits including health insurance, health and wellness programs, annual bonus or profit sharing plans, productivity based incentive programs and higher education scholarships for children of employees. Employees are also given opportunities for growth through professional development training and job-specific technical training.
This positive social impact extends out to local communities where several institutions are supported in various ways. A few examples include: donating medical equipment to hospitals, supporting health clinics for pregnant and young mothers and helping build a school library.
Sustainable sourcing isn’t just good for the earth; it’s good for business. Today’s conscious consumers want to know where their food comes from and what impact it has on the natural environment. Increasing transparency and sharing the authentic sourcing stories behind the ingredients in your products can help build and maintain customer loyalty. Go ahead: tell your customers about how you only source sustainable coconut for your products!
