Did you know that the coffee we drink depends on the health, prosperity and well-being of 25 million coffee producers, 10 million hectares of coffee farms, and the continued ability of nature to sustain them? To help protect the coffee we love, Dunkin’ has joined The Sustainable Coffee Challenge, a collaborative effort among companies, governments, NGOs, research institutions and others dedicated to making the coffee sector fully sustainable.

The Challenge is facilitated by Conservation International, with the agenda and actions led by Challenge partners. Together with the Sustainable Coffee Challenge, Dunkin’ will work to find solutions for the coffee community while stimulating the need for sustainable coffee.

Dunkin’s participation in the Sustainable Coffee Challenge builds on its recently announced initiative to boost coffee sustainability with World Coffee Research (WCR).  In partnership with the National DCP, the Dunkin’ franchisee-owned supply chain management cooperative, the chain is donating a percentage of sales from every pound of Original Blend coffee beans sold for use in Dunkin’ restaurants over the next five years to World Coffee Research in support of coffee sustainability efforts. This financial contribution, which could amount to $2MM over the course of the agreement, will support WCR’s mission to grow, protect and enhance supplies of quality coffee, while improving the livelihoods of the families who produce it. 

This funding for WCR’s research will advance several key objectives toward coffee sustainability, including:

Increase the supplies of quality coffee for the global coffee market through innovative, collaborative research on key supply constraints, including climate change, disease and insect problems, yield and quality, and the lack of genetic diversity.

• Better understand the causes and effects of genetic, agronomic, and post-harvest factors on the quality of coffees in order to increase quality and volumes of coffee.
• Improve the livelihoods of coffee growers by providing them with better, higher revenue-earning varieties and agronomic technologies.
• Increase the capacity of coffee origin countries to execute advanced coffee research that will result in increased cup quality and volumes of quality coffee.