Corporate Partnerships
The Coca-Cola Company Partnership
Seventy percent of the world's water is used for agriculture
Sugarcane is among the world's thirstiest crops
© WWF-Canon/Martin Harvey
The Coca-Cola Company is a major purchaser of crops such as sugarcane, citrus and coffee -- ingredients used in the company's products, and major users of water. Though the company does not have direct control over farm practices, its purchasing power can influence the entire industry.
Sugarcane
Sugarcane is among the group of crops (along with rice and cotton) noted for their substantial water consumption. It is grown in over 120 countries, with a large presence in freshwater basins. Sugarcane has arguably had the greatest impact on the environment of any single crop. Unsustainable or irresponsible sugarcane production can have a negative impact on wildlife, soil, water and air.
The Coca-Cola Company is one of the largest purchasers of the approximately 145 million tons of sugar produced worldwide each year. Because of its buying power, the company has the opportunity to develop and encourage more sustainable production practices. WWF and The Coca-Cola Company are working with the Better Sugarcane Initiative, a collaboration of sugar retailers, investors, traders, producers and NGOs, to ensure that sugarcane is produced sustainably. This benefits suppliers, customers and consumers as well as the company, which relies on the health of agricultural crops for its products.
Oranges and Corn
In 2010, our partnership expanded its sustainable agriculture work to two additional crops: oranges and corn. These crops are two of Coca-Cola’s high volume agricultural ingredients. Both oranges and corn are used in the company’s beverages.
The addition of these crops provides an opportunity to address the environmental impacts associated with their production, such as habitat conversion, soil degradation, greenhouse gas emissions, and other effects of current production practices.
Like sugarcane, the production of oranges and corn can have large impacts on freshwater ecosystems. An important component of our partnership work with these crops will be to engage producers to adopt better management practices that will measurably reduce the impacts of production. These efforts will further reduce the environmental impacts of Coca-Cola’s supply chain while helping to conserve some of WWF’s priority ecoregions.
