Mars Drinks Welcomes New Additions to Rainforest Alliance Certified Beverages

French Vanilla, Hazelnut and French Roast coffees; and English Breakfast and Earl Grey teas, which are the first single serve teas in North America to be Rainforest Alliance Certified, join Mars Drinks’.

28 Sep 2009 --- Mars Drinks is pleased to announce five new additions to its continually expanding suite of beverages featuring the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal. Underscoring FLAVIA’s commitment to Fresh Ideas, Fresh Insights and Fresh Products, the new beverages containing coffee and tea from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms reinforces Mars Drinks’ dedication to being your partner at work.

“Sustainability is important, not only to our organization, but also to our customers,” said Daniel Vennard, Corporate Sustainability Director for Mars Drinks. “We are dedicated to satisfying our customers by offering great tasting, fresh and high-quality beverages made from sustainable sources.”

The newly added beverages, which range from classic teas to creamy, rich coffees, are joining a family of beverages that feature the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal that were first introduced in October 2008. French Vanilla, Hazelnut and French Roast coffees; and English Breakfast and Earl Grey teas, which are the first single serve teas in North America to be Rainforest Alliance Certified, join Mars Drinks’ 3 most popular coffees; Breakfast Blend, House Blend and Kona Blend.

Rainforest Alliance Certified farms support a healthy environment, promote the well being of workers and their communities and ensure efficient farming methods. Farm workers benefit from safe working conditions and improved access to dignified housing, medical care and schools for their children. Certification ensures the protection of ecosystems, including wildlife habitat, water and soil.

The sourcing of coffee and tea from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms is part of Mars Drinks’ overall sustainability initiative, Thirsty for Change. Thirsty for Change seeks to make its own operations, as well as the operations of its customers more sustainable through reducing waste, reducing energy and giving back to its farmers:

• Reduce waste: To help decrease the amount of waste that is sent to landfills, Mars Drinks launched an exclusive partnership with TerraCycle. Through this partnership, used FLAVIA Fresh Packs will be upcycled into a wide range of office products and the used coffee grinds will be turned into compost.

• Reduce energy: FLAVIA recently updated its line of brewers so that they utilize the latest technology in energy efficiency. In fact, FLAVIA C400 uses an estimated 40% less energy than the leading single serve competitor*!

• Give back to our farmers: In addition to working with the Rainforest Alliance, FLAVIA also has its own program, Brighter Tomorrow at Origin, which helps farmers in Kenya improve the quality of their product and command a higher price for their yield.

“Mars Drinks is committed to a pipeline of sustainable innovation,” said Vennard. “We are constantly looking for ways to incorporate sustainability into all aspects of the FLAVIA experience.”

Through Mars Drinks’ expanding and varied catalog of beverages, each certification moves them closer to not only achieving their own corporate sustainability goals but that of their customers as well.