The Rainforest Alliance and UTZ to merge
The new organization, to be named the Rainforest Alliance, will create a single agriculture sustainability standard, it will simplify the certification process and continue to improve livelihoods for farmers and forest communities.
Once the two organizations have merged, Han de Groot, current executive director of UTZ, will be the CEO of the Rainforest Alliance. Nigel Sizer, current president of the Rainforest Alliance, will take on the role of Chief Program Officer, Advocacy, Landscapes and Livelihoods. The future Rainforest Alliance will continue to be a member of the Sustainable Agriculture Network, working in partnership with other organizations to promote sustainable agriculture.
The future sustainability standard, a single certification program known as the Rainforest Alliance standard, will utilize the respective strengths of the current Sustainable Agriculture Network and UTZ standards while creating a single auditing process for certificate holders.
The new organization will tackle environmental and social issues around the world, including climate change, deforestation, poverty and unsustainable farming. It will create a single global certification standard that will simplify certification for farmers and empower companies to build more responsible supply chains, more efficiently. It will also work to expand advocacy efforts and through new partnerships ensure conservation of entire landscapes in priority regions from India to Indonesia, Guatemala to Ghana.
Subscribe to newsletter
Info
Launched in 2011, specialist journal sweets processing(sp) keeps confectionery business professionals informed about all the latest confectionery industry supply sector developments and features detailed articles about international companies and suppliers.
sp is the sister publication of SWEETS GLOBAL NETWORK’s SG-Magazine, the highly regarded and well established international confectionery business journal. sp covers all stages and aspects of the value added chain from material sourcing to production and packaging.
sp readership includes leaders and decision makers in charge of production, R&D, QM, purchasing and supply chain management, as well as chief executives and senior managing partners.
sp appears every two months in English and German. Circulation currently stands at 5,500. 3,000 of our subscribers are based abroad, mostly in other European countries. sp is now also available as an E-paper.
About Us
International confectionery association SWEETS GLOBAL NETWORK e. V. (SG) is an established network of over 300 member companies based in ten countries. SG is the leading communication platform for confectionery professionals in German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and beyond. Meanwhile, most companies involved in manufacturing and retailing confectionery (wholesalers, specialist retailers, importers, brokers, producers) are members. All enjoy huge benefits, such as a range of high quality services and invitations to exclusive, member only events. There are an additional 40 supporting members active in the confectionery industry supply sector.
The International Sweets Business Forum in Berlin has taken SG well beyond the traditional territory of conventional training seminars and workshops. Social events, such as the New Year Reception in Munich or the ISM WARM UP held on the eve of the ISM in Cologne now rank as must-attend fixtures in the confectionery business year.
While acknowledging the growing significance of the global information and knowledge community, SG never loses sight of what’s going on at a local level. Articles in SG-Magazin and sweets processing, the SG-Newsletter (several times a week), annual publication of the SG-Directory and worldwide contacts bear witness to the pronounced internationality of the association.