Holiday Inn is Serving Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee

Holiday Inn Hotels announced today it will begin serving Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee, 100% Arabica bean blend at its U.S. properties. The rollout will begin this month and be implemented in all hotels by June. That’s fast. According to the press release, This move harnesses Holiday Inn’s massive buying power and makes it the largest hotel brand to serve Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee.” The chain expects to buy over half a million pounds of coffee blended with Rainforest Alliance Certified beans this year for its Best-4-Breakfast coffee. The change will “facilitate environmentally and socially responsible practices on farms where workers and their families are protected and biodiversity is conserved. Areas of impact include the protection of ecosystems and access to clean and safe living and working conditions, schools, healthcare, training, potable drinking water, decent wages, better markets for crops and other worker rights and benefits.” Coffee with benefits :).

This is one way a hotel can make a difference, others being put in to practice by Marriott properties with their more ecologically friendly practices. “In the past three years, the amount of coffee purchased from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms has, on average, doubled, from an estimated seven million pounds of coffee purchased in 2003 to an estimated 59.9 million pounds purchased in 2006.” That’s a lot of coffee.

Yeah, Holiday Inn!