UTZ CERTIFIED is a certification program for coffee commodities that has experienced the fastest development among other certification programs. This certification, first drafted in 1997 by Guatemalan coffee producer and Dutch coffee processing company, Ahold Coffee Company under the name UTZ Kapeh (UTZ means ‘good’ in Mayan). Within five years, UTZ CERTIFIED succeeded in becoming the largest coffee certification program in Latin America, Asia and Africa.
In March 2007, Utz Kapeh officially changed its name to UTZ CERTIFIED “Good inside”. The new name combines a model of trust and pride in product traceability that can be communicated more clearly in international markets. In the same year, UTZ CERTIFIED began collaborating with key stakeholders from various industrial sectors, government and society in an effort to develop certification standards for other commodities, such as cocoa, palm oil and tea. In the cocoa sector, UTZ CERTIFIED works with Ahold, Cargill, Heinz Benelux, Mars, Nestle and ECOM to develop and implement a sustainable certification system. For the tea sector, UTZ CERTIFIED collaborates with Solidaridad and Sara Lee. Meanwhile in the palm oil sector, UTZ CERTIFIED formed a team with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to implement rules that reflect the need for sustainable production into the supply chain.
The advantage offered by UTZ CERTIFIED is the ability to trace the production process which can show that a product with this certification has gone through a series of good farming practices, and concern to social and environmental issues, food safety and quality improvement. UTZ CERTIFIED appeared as a response to global demand (Europe, America, Australia and Japan) who were starting to realize the importance of the products they consume, not only in taste, quality and price, but also where these products come from and how they are produced.
With UTZ CERTIFIED, product brand holders can know with certainty where the product is sourced from and prove that the product has been produced hygienically and professionally with high and sustainable standards, as well as care and responsibility for workers, the local community and the environment. More specifically, the flow of UTZ CERTIFIED products from producers to consumers can be monitored with the sales announcement system available on the UTZ website. Meanwhile, the flow of products from factories to consumers can be monitored with a trace-n-tell system. With a trace-n-tell system, consumers can trace the purchased product to the manufacturer. Even consumers can see how the tea garden is managed, the tea production process and the people who produce it.
UTZ CERTIFIED covers a number of certification standards GAP (Good Agriculture Practices), ISO (ISO 9000, 14000 and 22000), HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point), ETP (Ethical Tea Partnership) and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices). With the implementation of UTZ CERTIFIED, producers’ attention to the Triple Bottom Line (profit, people and planet) is bigger and more focused. Unfortunately, not all industries can adopt this certification, because it is still limited to plantation products, namely coffee, tea, cocoa and palm oil.
Adoption of UTZ CERTIFIED
UTZ CERTIFIED is adopted by independent certification bodies (Independent Certifiers) accredited with ISO-65. This auditor has received permission from the UTZ CERTIFIED organization headquartered in the Netherlands. In 2007, UTZ CERTIFIED expanded its certification network by increasing the number of certification bodies (CBs) worldwide and focusing on quality inspections. The number of these certification bodies increased from 14 certification bodies with offices in 25 countries to 18 certification bodies with offices in 31 countries. This encourages increased competition among certification bodies, which already have a positive image with producers. In order to improve supervision and assessment of the activities of certification bodies, UTZ CERTIFIED has developed an online certification management area for certification bodies through the member portal. This area allows each certification body to carry out UTZ certification of producers and report this clearly. This portal was launched in 2008. Several independent certification bodies that have been approved by UTZ CERTIFIED are Bureau Veritas, Cafe Control, IMO, Control Union, OIA, CERES, and SGS.
The concept of UTZ Certified is an ongoing partnership where the implementation of UTZ Certified applies throughout the supply chain, namely producers/producer groups, processing industries, exporters, importers and retailers. UTZ CERTIFIED which is a collection of Code of Conduct can be adopted by applicants for certification (farmers/farmer groups/entrepreneurs) by fulfilling major and minor criteria. The major category must be fulfilled 100% while the minor category must be fulfilled 95%. After carrying out the UTZ CERTIFIED certification, producers will get several benefits, including:
Good business practices, including:
• Good farming practices
• Record keeping and traceability (data base)
• Supervision of business processes
• Training of workers
• Safety in food products
• Efficiency, transparency and accountability of the production process
• Extensive market access
• Better prices
Social
• Creation of worker safety and health
• Adequate housing for workers
• Affordable education and health facilities
Environment
• Control and reduce the use of chemicals
• Control of water use and prevention of pollution
• Prohibition of deforestation
• Erosion prevention
Due to the many criteria that must be met in the implementation of this certification, some of the obstacles that may be faced include non-realization of commitment and inconsistency of stakeholders (producers and processing industries), lack of resource capacity (human, financial and infrastructure resources) and lack of compliance with standards.
UTZ CERTIFIED in Indonesia
In its development program, UTZ CERTIFIED for tea chose Malawi and Indonesia as pilot projects. The Indonesian tea producer who is the pilot project is PT. Nusantara Plantation (PTPN) VIII. On 16 April 2009, three PTPN VIII estates, namely Gunung Mas (Cianjur), Gedeh (Cianjur) and Cianten (Sukabumi) estates with a total area of 2,119 hectares have succeeded in obtaining UTZ certification. The three estates have carried out a series of activities in the UTZ Certification implementation program since July 2008. The series of activities implemented are sustainable business practices in economic, social and environmental aspects. By achieving the UTZ certification by PTPN VIII, it shows that Indonesia is the first country to obtain UTZ certification for the tea commodity.
In the handing over of UTZ certification which took place at the Horison Bandung hotel, Agus Supriadi, Director of Tea Commodity PTPN VIII hopes that the price of UTZ certified tea can increase to a minimum of US$ 0.18 per kg. In fact, currently the highest price for PTPN VIII tea in the export market is US$ 0.16 per kg (Bisnis Indonesia, 17/04/2009). It is also hoped that the increase in the price of premium tea products will boost PTPN VIII’s tea revenue which is targeted at IDR 955 billion, an increase of 19.4% compared to the previous year’s revenue, which was IDR 800 billion. In 2009, PTPN VIII targeted production in a plantation area of 26,000 hectares to reach 63,000 tons. Because, as much as 70% of PTPN VIII’s tea production is an export product with the highest market share in Europe which reaches 45%, followed by the United States 20% and others 5%.
Responding to Agus Supriadi’s statement, Stefanie Miltenburg, Director of the Douwe Egberts (DE) Foundation as the manager of Sara Lee’s CSR funds, admitted that she could not directly confirm the amount of the increase in tea prices after PTPN VIII received UTZ CERTIFIED. Stefanie can only provide an overview of the coffee commodity whose price has increased after having the UTZ certificate. Sara Lee, as one of the largest consumer goods manufacturers in the world, has imported around 10,000 tons of tea raw materials per year. As much as 25% of the tea imported comes from Indonesia where around 80% of it is in the peco type from West Java.
Since 2018, the UTZ certification program has become part of the Rainforest Alliance.
