Coffee Industry Anchored a Leadership Journey
My career has consistently focused on the intersection of social impact and business. A key driver throughout my professional journey has been understanding how connections between various stakeholders can lead to transformative outcomes, which led me to specialize in stakeholder engagement. Several years of professional experience in triple impact and my MBA with a sustainability focus were preparing me for my first role at Juan Valdez as Sustainability Manager. It equipped me to tackle one of Juan Valdez’s biggest challenge: sustainability.
As Chief Sustainability Officer at Juan Valdez, I reflect on my nine-year journey, which has been shaped by the beauty of the coffee industry. This experience has shown me how purpose, economic development, and innovation converge, opening a world of opportunities to establish Juan Valdez as a global brand where sustainability is a core competitive advantage.
Sustainability Strategy Grounded in Business Priorities
A robust sustainability strategy hinges on a deep business understanding. To prioritize sustainability initiatives, we’ve approached this in three key ways:
● Materiality Assessment: Identifying the overlap between critical issues for our stakeholders and our business.
● Sustainability Trends: Analyzing consumer preferences and the practices of leading global triple-impact companies (benchmark).
● Regulations and Certifications: Identifying local and global regulations, as well as standards such as Rainforest Alliance, organic, or BCorp.
With this business perspective, we have established multifunctional teams to define and achieve our sustainability goals. Our roadmap to 2030 emphasizes community impact, climate change, and traceability.
Impact Driven by Three Key Barriers
Juan Valdez faces three primary challenges:
1. Bridging the Gap between Regulation and Rural Communities:
● According to the National Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers, a significant portion of Colombian coffee growers are small to medium-sized producers (under 5 ha), and 26.8% of over 550,000 coffee growers are experiencing multidimensional poverty.
● In contrast, the Green Deal demands robust social standards and deforestation-free value chains, which are in stark contrast with such initiatives.
● We have collaborated extensively with communities, the National Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers, and other partners to navigate these regulations without burdening the communities, acknowledging that this incurs additional business costs.
● To address this, we have launched multidimensional strengthening initiatives to help communities overcome coffee industry challenges, improve social and environmental standards, and ensure regulatory compliance.
The future of the coffee industry is anchored in comprehensive value chain traceability, where social and environmental considerations are paramount
2. Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change:
● Climate change poses a severe threat; by 2050, half of the land currently suitable for Arabica coffee (Colombia’s primary variety) will become unsuitable if current emission trends persist. (World Coffee Research, 2015).
● In coffee-growing regions, we are experiencing unpredictable droughts and floods, along with rising temperatures, leading to harvest uncertainty, quality and quantity issues, and unstable prices.
● In line with our Race to Zero commitment, we’ve assessed our carbon footprint across scope 1, 2, and 3 to pinpoint our main impacts.
● Through training and innovation in farms, we are supporting communities in reducing their own environmental impacts. At the same time, we also work to implement a decarbonization plan for our operations (primarily coffee shops).
3. Enhancing Consumer Awareness of Sustainability:
● Globally, there’s a growing demand for sustainable brands, with consumers increasingly prioritizing traceability and ESG practices in their coffee.
● However, this trend varies significantly by country; some markets highly value and are willing to pay a premium for sustainable products, while others are not.
● As a brand present in 40 countries (with Juan Valdez coffee shops in 20), we must tailor our approach to sustainability awareness in each market to ensure responsible growth.
● To this end, last year we launched the 2030 global sustainability guidelines, aiming to establish minimum sustainability standards aligned with our core values and purpose across all Juan Valdez coffee shops worldwide.
● Furthermore, through innovation and marketing, we’ve built a sustainable portfolio featuring women-sourced (Women Coffee Growers Program), youth-sourced (Young Coffee Growers Program), Organic, and Rainforest Alliance certified references.
● Our B Corp certification, held since 2021, further validates our triple impact efforts.
The Future Demands Transparent, Resilient Sustainability
The future of the coffee and consumer goods industry is anchored in comprehensive value chain traceability, where social and environmental considerations are paramount. Providing consumers with information on how all inputs are sourced will enable them to make informed purchase decisions. Sustainable products will become increasingly premium in nature as innovation merges with triple impact, elevating businesses to a new level. Packaging and materiality will also change to become more functional, affordable, and environmentally friendly, while consumer willingness to pay for these products will increase.
Sustainability is synonymous with resilience. It’s a journey of paradigm shifts, acting as an intrapreneur, challenging the status quo, and gaining a deep understanding of business logic. We must continue to push forward with optimism and resilience, recognizing that change takes time and not every battle can be fought simultaneously.
A competitive advantage mindset is also crucial. We should strive to transform sustainable challenges into unique value propositions for organizations. This approach can also counteract ESG detractors by demonstrating that businesses can grow sustainably.
Finally, always remember your ‘why.’ Why did you choose this path? In my own professional journey, I have often questioned the worth of my work when plans deviate. However, remembering that I chose this path to contribute to making the world a better place consistently renews my hope and recharges my drive to continue.
