CAMBRIDGE, Mass.
and BURLINGTON, Mass. and PLANO,
Texas, Dec. 15, 2020
/PRNewswire/ -- Root Capital today announced the launch of the
Partnership for Sustainable Supply Chains (the Partnership) in
collaboration with Keurig Dr Pepper, U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) and Ezrah Charitable Trust. COVID-19 has
exacerbated the complex challenges faced by farmers of agricultural
crops relied on by the food and beverage industries. The
Partnership will provide financial support and advisory
services to agricultural businesses, including coffee, representing
150,000 farmers in 12 countries across Africa, Latin
America and Indonesia,
helping them to withstand the current pandemic, and building their
resiliency for years to come.
"With the onset of COVID-19, the ability of small and growing
businesses in the agriculture sector to provide critical
employment, continued income generation, protection of vulnerable
ecosystems and essential services to rural communities has never
been more vital," said Willy Foote,
Founder and CEO of Root Capital. "From Peru to the Democratic Republic of Congo, these
enterprises are under enormous strain. Yet, with support, they have
met the challenge head-on—not only maintaining their business
operations, but also protecting both the lives and livelihoods of
their farmers and employees."
Over the next three years, the Partnership will focus on helping
smallholder farm businesses withstand the immediate COVID-19
crisis, recover in the medium-term and re-imagine their strategies
for growth and success in the long-term "new normal." Together, the
Partnership will expand upon existing COVID-19 response efforts to
strengthen smallholder farmer resilience through:
- tailored advisory services that respond to the most urgent
challenges of smallholder farm businesses, adapted to this era of
remote service delivery
- small grants to address cash flow constraints and meet the
emergency needs of rural communities, and
- flexible credit via patient loan terms, interest rate relief
and debt forgiveness for enterprises most at risk.
The Partnership for Sustainable Supply Chains will be
complemented by a $35 million loan
guarantee from the U.S. International Development Finance
Corporation (DFC). This improves Root Capital's lending capacity by
mitigating the perceived risk associated with lending to these
agricultural businesses.
"By leveraging our longstanding partnership with Root Capital,
we were able to quickly pivot to support those in our supply chain
most vulnerable to the threats of COVID-19 and ongoing challenges
such as climate change and food insecurity," said Monique Oxender, Chief Sustainability Officer
for Keurig Dr Pepper. "Our contribution to the Partnership
for Sustainable Supply Chains is an extension of our deep-rooted
commitment to partnering with our coffee growing communities to
improve livelihoods and safeguard the future of coffee and will
help to support business continuity and resiliency for our coffee
suppliers in countries across Latin
America, Africa and
Indonesia."
The Partnership for Sustainable Supply Chains builds on the
progress and lessons learned from the Partnership for Sustainable
Coffee, a three-year collaboration in which Keurig Dr Pepper, Root
Capital and USAID reached 183 farmer businesses through Root
Capital's lending and advisory services, supporting sustainable
livelihoods for 330,000 smallholder coffee farmers and their
families. These projects have contributed to Keurig Dr Pepper's
achievement of its goal to engage one million people in the
company's supply chain to significantly improve their lives by the
end of 2020.
For more information, contact:
Kristin Williams, Root Capital,
kwilliams@rootcapital.org
Sarah Holland, Keurig Dr Pepper,
Sarah.Holland@kdrp.com
About Root Capital
Root Capital invests in the growth
of agricultural enterprises so they can transform rural
communities. These businesses purchase crops such as coffee, cocoa,
or grains from smallholder farmers. With growth, they become
engines of impact that can raise incomes, create jobs, empower
women and young people, sustain peace, and preserve vulnerable
ecosystems. We supply these businesses with vital resources: access
to capital, trade and technical partners, financial training and
conservation practices. We work in hard-to-serve geographies where
others don't. To date, we've distributed $1.5 billion to improve the lives of nine million
people in farming communities.
About Keurig Dr Pepper
Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) is a
leading beverage company in North America, with annual revenue
in excess of $11 billion and nearly 26,000 employees. KDP
holds leadership positions in soft drinks, specialty coffee and
tea, water, juice and juice drinks and mixers, and markets the #1
single serve coffee brewing system in the U.S. and Canada. The
Company's portfolio of more than 125 owned, licensed and partner
brands is designed to satisfy virtually any consumer need, any
time, and includes Keurig®, Dr Pepper®, Green Mountain Coffee
Roasters®, Canada Dry®, Snapple®, Bai®, Mott's®, CORE® and The
Original Donut Shop®. Through its powerful sales and distribution
network, KDP can deliver its portfolio of hot and cold beverages to
nearly every point of purchase for consumers. The Company is
committed to sourcing, producing and distributing its beverages
responsibly through its Drink Well. Do
Good. corporate responsibility platform, including efforts
around circular packaging, efficient natural resource use and
supply chain sustainability. For more information,
visit, www.keurigdrpepper.com.
About Ezrah Charitable Trust
Ezrah Charitable Trust is
a North Carolina based,
Africa-focused private foundation
that is privileged to fund high quality implementing organizations,
such as Root Capital, and to support their passionate, intelligent,
creative, nimble, and humble service to and partnership with the
world's most disadvantaged people, in order to deliver real
solutions to real problems at scale.
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SOURCE Keurig Dr Pepper