Bird-friendly coffee gains in sales, Smithsonian says

The National Zoo’s Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center announced yesterday that sales of organic, shade-grown coffee grown to the center's Bird Friendly standards increased to almost $3.5 million in 2008. Robert Rice, a geographer at SMBC, wrote "The Global Market for Bird Friendly Coffee: 2008" and reported that most of the Bird Friendly coffee roasted was consumed in the United States (61 percent), followed by Japan (36 percent) and Canada (3 percent).

“Consumers increasingly want to know that the food they eat and coffee they drink are grown and processed in ways that are healthy for farmers and the environment,” said Rice, who coordinates the Bird Friendly certification program at the SMBC.

Bird Friendly standards offer certification to organic coffee produced on farms with a shade cover, which provides habitat for migratory and resident birds in tropical landscapes. According to SMBC, "the Bird Friendly criteria are the world’s most stringent standards for shade-grown coffee production."