SUSTAIN-
ABILITY
As part of the Touton Group, our deep roots in sourcing tropical products strengthens our global expertise of coffee value chains. We are driven by a vision of sustainability that integrates responsible practices and meaningful impact. Through the Positive Agri Culture (PACT), we promote a model that unites quality, traceability, and a strong commitment to coffee-growing communities.
Touton Specialties central vision is to foster lasting relationships based on transparency and quality in the origin countries and with our customers. We strive to put the people along the value chain at the center of our actions and provide them with innovative solutions to create added value from the origin to final customers.
Through regular trips to the origin countries, we have been able to build valuable relationships with producers and farmers on the ground in recent years. Thanks to these direct producer relationships, we can better understand and respond to their needs.
As a crucial link between producers and processors, from the fields to the factories, the Touton Group has been managing responsible supply chains for cocoa, coffee, vanilla, and spices since 1848.
Engaged at every level of the value chain, we leverage our 175 years of experience working closely with producer communities and tropical ecosystems to drive our vision and collective action plan for a more sustainable and responsible agro-industry.
Coffee Project with the Asociación Café del Futuro
Together, we support coffee-growing families of the Asociación Café del Futuro in securing long-term food stability, creating additional income sources beyond coffee, and strengthening the soil for healthier, more productive crops. Founded in 2007, the cooperative is known for high-quality, certified coffee cultivation. Since 2019, we have maintained a close partnership, which led to our first joint project in 2021.
Would you like to learn how you can be part of this positive change?
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
We are very proud to present the Touton Group's Sustainability Report 2023/24 and invite you to explore our strategies for a more sustainable future in coffee and cocoa.
The Sustainability Report highlights how our combined expertise as traders and supply chain managers of tropical commodities has enabled us to successfully overcome significant market challenges. Despite a volatile market, we remain committed to transforming our operations, ensuring compliance and driving sustainable growth.
EUDR (EU Deforestation Regulation)
Deforestation and forest degradation are among the leading drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss - two of the biggest global environmental crises of our time. The new EU Deforestation Regulation aims to combat this trend.
But what does this mean in practice, and what changes will the regulation bring? Find out all the key details here.
CERTIFICATIONS
Sustainable certifications can be a valuable recognition and verification of good agricultural and labor practices.
RAINFOREST ALLIANCE
The Rainforest Alliance is committed to creating a more sustainable world—both socially and economically — by protecting nature and improving the livelihoods of agricultural and forestry producers. At the heart of its mission are forest and biodiversity conservation, climate protection, the defense of human rights, and the enhancement of rural livelihoods.
The Rainforest Alliance certificate represents a better future for both people and nature, upheld by rigorous standards based on three key pillars: environmental, economic, and social criteria. Its initiatives include the development and implementation of long-term conservation and community programs, training in best practices for landscape management, and providing access to sustainable financing and new markets to expand economic opportunities. Additionally, the Rainforest Alliance calls on governments and businesses to take concrete action against deforestation and human rights violations while collaborating with labor unions to protect workers' rights.
Since 2018, UTZ has been part of the Rainforest Alliance.
FAIRTRADE
Fairtrade connects consumers, businesses, and producer organizations, transforming global trade by ensuring fair prices for smallholder farming families and decent working conditions for plantation workers. Its standards are built on three key pillars—social, ecological, and economic criteria—designed to promote the sustainable development of producer communities.
Social impact includes empowering small farmers and workers by organizing them into democratic cooperatives, supporting unionization, improving working conditions, and strictly prohibiting exploitative child labor.
Environmental sustainability focuses on eco-friendly farming practices, the conservation of natural resources, and the ban of hazardous pesticides to protect both people and the planet.
Economic stability is reinforced through the Fairtrade minimum price, which guarantees coffee producers a price that covers the cost of sustainable production. Additionally, an extra Fairtrade premium is provided, which is reinvested in social or economic development projects within farming communities.
As an officially registered Fairtrade traders on the Fairtrade Germany website, we enable smaller roasters—who may find it challenging to obtain their own Fairtrade certification—to partner with us. This allows them to promote the Fairtrade-certified coffee they source from us.
ORGANIC
Organic farming is a sustainable agricultural approach that prioritizes working in balance with nature. The organic seal stands for ecological responsibility, ensuring biodiversity conservation, soil fertility, and animal welfare while strictly avoiding chemical and synthetic inputs. It also guarantees transparency, giving consumers confidence in the integrity of their food.
SUSTAINABLE VANILLA INITIATIVE
The Sustainable vanilla Initiative (SVI) is an industry initiative aimed at promoting a long-term, stable supply of high-quality, natural vanilla produced in a socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable manner. The SVI is organized by IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative, in collaboration with the US-based Sustainable Food Lab (SFL), and works closely with vanilla exporters, producers, industry organizations, and public authorities worldwide to address issues of traceability, labor rights, and technical support for farming associations.
POSITIVE AGRI CULTURE by TOUTON (PACT)
Acting as a true link between growers and processors, from the field to the factory, the Touton group manages responsible supply chains for cocoa, coffee, vanilla and spices since 1848. As field players, we are involved at every level of the value chain. Our vision for a more sustainable and responsible agro-industry builds on our 175 years of experience working alongside producers’ communities and tropical ecoystems. We call it the POSITIVE AGRI CULTURE by TOUTON (PACT)
PACT STANDARD is a sustainable sourcing tool to create traceable, transparent and responsible supply chains for tropical ingredients. Specifically designed to anticipate and proactively address social, environmental and economical issues in an evolving agri-food sector landscape, PACT STANDARD generates positive impact on farming communities and consumers in a long-term perspective.
