science

UTZ Certified

UTZ Certified is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand UTZ Certified rather than just read about it. In short: UTZ, formerly called UTZ Certified, is a program and a label for sustainable farming. The organization was founded as a non-profit in the Netherlands in 2002.

Key takeaways

UTZ Certified belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect UTZ Certified to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of UTZ Certified from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

UTZ, formerly called UTZ Certified, is a program and a label for sustainable farming. The organization was founded as a non-profit in the Netherlands in 2002. The UTZ label is featured on more than 10,000 product packages in over 116 countries. In 2014, UTZ was reported to be the largest program for sustainable farming of coffee and cocoa in the world. The UTZ program addresses agricultural practices, social and living conditions, farm management, and the environment. In January 2018, UTZ officially merged with the Rainforest Alliance in response to the increasing challenges of deforestation, climate change, systemic poverty, and social inequity.

History UTZ was launched in 2002 as Utz Kapeh, meaning 'Good Coffee' in the Mayan language Quiché. It was founded by Nick Bocklandt, a Belgian-Guatemalan coffee grower, and Ward de Groote, a Dutch coffee roaster, with the goal of implementing sustainability on a large scale in the worldwide market. The Solidaridad Network was another co-initiator of UTZ and assisted UTZ in becoming a global standard through financial support and field implementation. On 7 March 2007, the Utz Kapeh Foundation officially changed its name and logo to UTZ Certified and, on 1 January 2016, shortened their name to UTZ, meaning 'Good' in the Mayan language Quiché. In June 2017, the Rainforest Alliance and UTZ announced the intention to merge, and in January 2018, the merger was legally closed and completed. The merged organization goes by the name Rainforest Alliance. The two organizations' certification programs run in parallel but from July 2021 a new certification program based on the 2020 Sustainable Agriculture Standard will be in place. Transition rules will allow holders with certification under the 2015 UTZ Certification Program to progress to be certified under the new program.

Products

Coffee UTZ is the second largest sustainability program in the world for coffee, after 4C (The Common Code for the Coffee Community). 870,102 metric tonnes of coffee was UTZ certified in 2016.

Cocoa

On 10 October 2007, the Cocoa Program was launched. UTZ cooperated with Ahold, Cargill, Heinz Benelux, Mars, Nestlé, and ECOM Agroindustrial to set up a new certification and traceability system for sustainable cocoa. Solidaridad and Oxfam Novib also supported the initiative from the beginning. In 2009 the first UTZ cocoa products reached the market. As of 2014, UTZ became the largest sustainability program for cocoa in the world, and over 336,300 cocoa farmers from 16 countries were affiliated with UTZ. In 2012, 13% of the cocoa produced in the world was UTZ (535,000 T, out of global production of 2,889,000 T). By 2017, Utz was certifying "1.5 million tons of cocoa, or about two-thirds of the world's supply of certified cocoa." In 2019, "significant problems" had emerged with respect to with four of the auditing organizations working in the Ivory Coast.

Tea The UTZ program for tea and rooibos was launched in 2007.

Hazelnuts UTZ launched its hazelnut program in 2014 to explore the possibilities for sustainability in this sector as well. The program was originally piloted in Turkey, but since then it has gone global and expanded to Georgia, Azerbaijan, Italy, Spain, and other countries.

Code of Conduct

Summary The UTZ certification program is based on the UTZ Code of Conduct: a set of social and environmental criteria for responsible growing practices and efficient farm management. Coffee, cocoa and tea producers who are UTZ certified comply with this code. The Code of Conduct version 2014 is based on the international ILO Conventions and the expertise of many stakeholders, including the farmers who use it. The Code has been developed in a broad stakeholder process and therefore widely accepted. A core code is applicable to all farmers, and there are also additional requirements in product specific modules for coffee, cocoa and tea. The certification system is based on a model of continuous improvement. Producers have to comply with core safety and quality standards from year one. Additional control points are added in the following years.

Categories The criteria of the UTZ Code of Conduct fall into four categories:

Farm management Measures to optimize the yield Internal Management System for groups, with responsibilities including: Arranging annual internal inspections Record keeping Risk assessments Training and awareness raising Recording of volumes in the UTZ traceability system

Farming practices Choice of suitable planting variety Farm maintenance Soil fertility management Diversification of production, to support ecological diversity and economic resilience Integrated pest management Responsible and appropriate choice and use of agro-chemicals and fertilizers, and records of application Irrigation Product handling during and after the harvest

Social and living conditions Application of national laws and ILO conventions regarding wages and working hours, including the living wage concept for individual farms No forced labor or child labour Freedom of association and collective bargaining Safe and healthy working conditions, including: Protective clothing for work with chemicals Safety training of workers in their own language Gender equality No discrimination Freedom of cultural expression Access to education for children Access to decent housing, clean drinking water, and health care for workers and their families

Environment Efficient use of water and energy Waste management Promotion of ecological diversity Protection of nature No deforestation of primary forests Respect for protected areas Protection of endangered species Reduction and prevention of soil erosion Measures to adapt to climate change

Product-Specific modules

Coffee Correct fermentation and handling of coffee after harvest Treatment of waste water from processing

Cocoa Use of shade trees Correct drying and fermentation

Tea Harvest carried out at the appropriate time Correct handling of harvested leaves Quality control Energy and waste water management

Rooibos Crop rotation Harvest carried out at the appropriate time Correct post-harvest handling Bush fire prevention Identification and protection of wild rooibos areas

Chain of custody

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with UTZ Certified

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what UTZ Certified claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to UTZ Certified before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about UTZ Certified ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of UTZ Certified

In research: UTZ Certified appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses UTZ Certified in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: UTZ Certified is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2002 establishments in the Netherlands, Agricultural organisations based in the Netherlands, Coffee in Europe, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for UTZ Certified outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study UTZ Certified in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what UTZ Certified means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain UTZ Certified out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is UTZ Certified in simple terms?

UTZ, formerly called UTZ Certified, is a program and a label for sustainable farming. The organization was founded as a non-profit in the Netherlands in 2002.

Why does UTZ Certified matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study UTZ Certified?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on UTZ Certified.