Innocent Drinks has quietly removed Rainforest Alliance-certified bananas from its UK smoothie range, ending a partnership that lasted at least 20 years, The Grocer can reveal.
The final lines were dropped from its children’s smoothies range last month. The “one-third of a mashed banana” in each carton of its Oranges, Mangoes & Pineapples and Strawberries, Raspberries & Apples smoothies is no longer certified. Certified bananas were dropped from further smoothies earlier this year.
Innocent’s page on the Rainforest Alliance website was also updated in October to state that its certified bananas are now available in drinks sold in Denmark and France.
Rainforest Alliance certification requires that farms meet the organisation’s sustainable agriculture standard, which prohibits deforestation, bans certain pesticides, conserves biodiversity and ensures farmers are paid a legal minimum wage with progress toward a living wage. Rainforest Alliance bananas are currently sold by Asda, Lidl, Tesco, Dole and Fyffes.
An Innocent spokeswoman said it uses different schemes to meet its social and environmental standards.
The spokeswoman said: “For 26 years we’ve been working hard on our responsible sourcing strategy, to buy fruit that tastes great whilst complying with our social and environmental standards. During this time, we’ve valued our relationship with the Rainforest Alliance especially when sourcing key ingredients like banana and pineapple, and we believe it’s an effective and valuable certification.
“Our fruit comes from all over the world – large plantations, co-operative groups, family farms – and there isn’t a single scheme that covers it all. We use independent certification schemes that are appropriate for each ingredient and are working hard to make sure that, irrespective of certification scheme, every single one of our farmers is following the required social and environmental practices, with the majority being silver or gold level in line with the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative’s Farm Sustainability Assessment (SAI FSA).”
Innocent Drinks had exclusively sourced Rainforest Alliance-certified bananas for at least 20 years.
In 2021 it launched its Farmer Innovation Fund to support innovative projects that champion regenerative agriculture.
The move comes as the Rainforest Alliance prepares to launch its first new seal in decades – the Regenerative Agriculture Certification, which raises the bar on standards set by its current scheme.
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