The Rainforest Alliance is a nonprofit group that works internationally. It has staff in more than 20 countries and operates in over 70 countries. It was started in 1987 by Daniel Katz, an American who works to protect the environment. He is currently the chair of the group’s board of directors. The organization says its mission is to help make the world more sustainable by using social and economic methods to protect nature and improve the lives of farmers and people living in forests. It offers a certification program that helps farms be more environmentally friendly. At the same time, the Rainforest Alliance runs long-term programs that help protect nature and support communities in important tropical areas where growing products can harm the environment and the lives of people living there.
Merger with UTZ
In June 2017, the Rainforest Alliance and UTZ said they would combine. In January 2018, the combination became official by law.
The Rainforest Alliance continues its work in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
In 2020, the Rainforest Alliance created a new certification standard. This standard was based on the earlier Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture Standard and the UTZ Certification Standard. Before the new standard was used, farms could be certified under either the Rainforest Alliance or UTZ programs. Farms then moved to the new 2020 standard.
Rainforest Alliance programs
As of October 1, 2018, the Rainforest Alliance moved its sustainable forestry certification business, along with all related services, staff, and clients, to Preferred by Nature (formerly NEPCon), a global non-profit organization based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Preferred by Nature has been part of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) since 1996.
The Rainforest Alliance’s sustainable agriculture program includes training for farmers and certifies small, medium, and large farms that grow more than 100 different crops, such as coffee, tea, cocoa, and bananas. The Rainforest Alliance is ending its cattle certification program because it is not included in the 2020 Certification Program. In recent years, the Rainforest Alliance has worked more with small farmers, certifying over 7.5 million farmers and workers. To earn certification, farms must meet the Sustainable Agriculture Standard, which requires protecting ecosystems, conserving forests, reducing chemical use, improving livelihoods, and ensuring the rights and safety of workers and local communities. The Rainforest Alliance encourages businesses and consumers to choose products grown on certified farms. As of 2023, more than 5.7 million hectares of farmland are being managed sustainably under Rainforest Alliance certification.
The Rainforest Alliance’s 2017 Sustainable Agriculture Standard required farms to meet requirements gradually over time. To get certified, farms had to meet 100% of critical criteria and 50% of continuous improvement criteria in each category. The new 2020 Sustainable Agriculture Standard includes core requirements and improvement requirements. Core requirements are essential practices that must be met to earn certification and are measured as either pass or fail. These include protecting ecosystems, safeguarding wildlife and waterways, providing workers with protective gear, limiting chemical use, banning genetically modified crops, and using an "assess-and-address" system to monitor risks like child labor, forced labor, discrimination, and workplace violence. Improvement requirements help farms make further progress toward sustainability and are either mandatory or optional. Some are measured as pass or fail, while others use Smart Meters.
Smart Meters allow farmers to set goals for their farms based on what works best for their specific situation. Instead of having fixed targets set by the Rainforest Alliance, farmers choose their own goals and decide how to achieve them. For example, all farms must assign someone to address gender equality and conduct a basic risk assessment, but each farm can set its own goals to improve gender-related issues in its area.
The Rainforest Alliance Certified seal is only used on products that meet the standards and criteria described above. In February 2008, Ethical Corporation called Rainforest Alliance certification a "rigorous, independently verified scheme." As of 2019, more than 5,000 companies buy or sell products from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms, and the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal is found in over 170 countries. As of 2015, 13.6% of the world’s cocoa and 15.1% of tea came from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. As of 2017, 5.7% of the world’s coffee came from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
The Rainforest Alliance was one of the first organizations to recognize sustainable tourism practices. It worked with hotels, tour operators, and other tourism businesses to help them improve their environmental, social, and economic practices. As of October 1, 2018, Preferred by Nature took over management of the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Tourism Standards for hotels and tour operators. Today, tourism businesses can use the Rainforest Alliance’s green frog seal if they meet the Sustainable Tourism Standard set by Preferred by Nature, which is recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
Rainforest Alliance 2020 Certification Program
Rainforest Alliance certification has been added to products like pineapples, hazelnuts, coconut oil, orange juice, and vegetables. The Rainforest Alliance seal on these products helps them sell better in stores. For retailers, the seal shows that the product comes from farming that protects the environment, treats workers fairly, and follows rules. Programs like this encourage farmers to use better methods to grow crops. However, not all farmers are always rewarded for their efforts.
To get Rainforest Alliance certification, farms must follow rules about the environment, workers, and money. Farms are regularly checked to make sure they meet these rules. In June 2020, the program was updated and renamed the Sustainable Agriculture Standard. This new standard has stronger rules about protecting the environment, workers, and communities. It has two parts: rules for farms and rules for how products are sold and sent to stores.
The Sustainable Agriculture Standard includes new ideas such as farming that helps fight climate change, stopping deforestation, protecting plants and animals, checking progress, sharing responsibility, respecting human rights, paying fair wages, improving over time, and making sure men and women are treated equally. Rainforest Alliance follows ISEAL’s guidelines, and the Sustainable Agriculture Standard is checked by outside experts to make sure it meets ISEAL’s standards.
Landscape management
The Rainforest Alliance works with local communities to plan and carry out programs that help protect the environment and improve communities in tropical regions where making products can harm both people and nature. The Rainforest Alliance's programs that manage land use help farmers, businesses, local people, government groups, and other organizations talk about shared goals and work together on solutions.
Regenerative agriculture
In its 2024 annual report, the Rainforest Alliance presented new tools to help farmers use regenerative agriculture methods. These tools aim to improve soil health, increase biodiversity, and support people living in rural areas. The report described plans to create better ways to work with entire landscapes and make rules for farming easier for all involved. As part of its long-term goals, the Rainforest Alliance hopes to help 100 million farmers adopt regenerative practices by the year 2030.
Criticism and response
Rainforest Alliance sustainable agriculture certification, like the certification schemes UTZ Certified and organic, does not provide producers with a minimum or guaranteed price. This leaves them at risk of losing money if market prices drop. For example, in the 1980s, a pound (454g) of standard-grade coffee sold for about $1.20. By 2003, the price had fallen to around $0.50, which was not enough to cover the costs of production in many parts of the world. Coffee prices later rose, reaching $1.18 per pound by the end of 2007.
Although some Rainforest Alliance Certified farms sell high-quality produce for higher prices, the Alliance focuses on improving all aspects of farming practices. Studies by outside organizations have shown that this approach helps increase farmers’ income and total earnings.
Daniel Jaffee, a sociology professor at Michigan State University, has criticized Rainforest Alliance certification. He said the standards are "possibly lower than fair trade's" and noted that they set minimum housing and sanitation rules but do not require a minimum price for coffee. He also pointed out that the standards only require plantation owners to pay workers the national minimum wage, which is often too low.
The Economist supports the Rainforest Alliance’s method, stating that guaranteeing a minimum price, as Fairtrade does, reduces the incentive to improve product quality. They also note that coffee drinkers report wide differences in the quality of Fairtrade coffee. The Rainforest Alliance does not guarantee a minimum price or offer a premium, but instead provides training and advice. Consumers often pay more for products with the Rainforest Alliance logo, but this is not due to a formal subsidy program. These products still compete in the marketplace.
The Rainforest Alliance 2020 Certification Program includes new requirements for buyers of certified commodities. The Sustainability Differential is an extra cash payment given to certified producers beyond the market price of the product. This payment has no restrictions on how it is used. Sustainability Investments are cash or in-kind support from buyers to help producers meet the Sustainable Agriculture Standard.
To address low incomes and challenges in cocoa farming, the Rainforest Alliance introduced a minimum Sustainability Differential of $70 per metric ton for its cocoa program, starting in July 2022.
In the mid-2000s, the Rainforest Alliance faced criticism for allowing its seal on products containing only 30% certified content. The current standard requires 90% certified content, or 100% equivalent certified volume through a certified supply chain. Exceptions apply to herbs, where the minimum was 40% until 2021 and 50% afterward, and palm oil, where the minimum is 30%. Products meeting these thresholds but not the 90% standard must list the amount of certified content on their labels.
In 2014, the U.S. nonprofit Water and Sanitation Health (WASH) sued the Rainforest Alliance, claiming unfair marketing practices. WASH alleged that the Rainforest Alliance certified Chiquita banana suppliers as sustainable despite reports of water contamination and pesticide use near schools in Guatemala. The Rainforest Alliance denied these claims and defended its auditing process. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2016.
A similar case by the Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL) was dismissed by a Washington, D.C. court in 2023.
A 2020 Guardian report claimed that some Costa Rican pineapple growers certified by the Rainforest Alliance used illegal chemicals, exploited workers, and hid undocumented laborers from auditors. The Rainforest Alliance stated all certified plantations must follow strict audits. However, a representative from a Costa Rican environmental group said audits were not rigorous enough to detect violations.
The release of the 2020 Sustainable Agriculture Standard caused concern among banana producer and exporter associations in Latin America. These groups, which partner with the Rainforest Alliance, challenged the new standards and the decision-making process in an open letter. They requested explanations about how the new standard was developed and expressed concerns that only 2% of their input was considered.
On July 23, 2020, the Rainforest Alliance held a meeting with banana associations to discuss the new standard. Juan José Pons, a representative from Ecuador’s banana industry, said the standard ignored the costs and efforts made by producers in social and environmental areas. He noted that European supermarkets continue to lower prices, reducing returns on investments. The associations also questioned why the new standard did not address economic challenges worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and black sigatoka disease.
For banana producers, Rainforest Alliance certification is vital to access the European Union market, where over 65% of their exports go. The Rainforest Alliance organized roundtables in late 2020 to discuss the new standard with banana sector representatives. However, as of November 2020, the associations still disagreed with the shared responsibility plan, which would place increased production costs solely on producers. They continued discussions with the Rainforest Alliance and European retailers. On November 27, 2020, the associations called a meeting with the Rainforest Alliance and European retailers to resolve the issue. The Rainforest Alliance was not present, and producers later requested a meeting with the organization’s board of directors.
The Rainforest Alliance held another roundtable on December 18, 2020, to further discuss the new standard with banana sector representatives. The organization stated it considered feedback from stakeholders but did not provide further details in the text.