You’ve probably seen it: a small green frog on a bag of coffee, a bar of chocolate, or box of tea. But what does it actually stand for?
The frog logo, found across 155 countries, is the Rainforest Alliance’s official seal of approval. It represents a global movement that connects farms, forests and consumers. In a world of greenwashing buzzwords – sustainability, going green, eco-friendly, ethically-sourced – it can be easy to dismiss such do-good statements, but this frog, and indeed the Rainforest Alliance, means business.
Co-founded in 1987 by Daniel Katz, the Rainforest Alliance (RA) is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to restoring the balance between people and nature, particularly focusing on the practices in the farming and forestry industries.
Initially, the organisation was focused on deforestation, but this scope expanded over the decades to account for the complexities in protecting environments alongside supporting local communities tied to these environments. At its core, the organisation builds networks of farms, forests, companies and consumers to ensure and promote ethical sourcing.
Rooted in Indonesia
Indonesia is one of the world’s richest biodiversity hotspots, and also one of its most important origins for coffee, cocoa, and tea. These crops don’t grow in factories; they grow in living, breathing ecosystems. But the people who grow them are often the same ones expected to protect those landscapes, while simultaneously trying to make a living.
This means ‘protecting the environment’ requires accounting for the multiple layers: social, commercial and ecological. Coffee, a forest crop by nature, is grown in places where the air thins: in the cool highlands, or deep in the valleys, where mountain waters run through the land and footprints cross through the same soil that holds your morning brew. Cocoa too, belongs to the forest, thriving in the shade, often on the edges, or inside conservation corridors.
So, whilst the forest communities must make their living some such groups, it means they are the ones who must shoulder the burden of global sustainability. Who is reaping the benefits in this? Rainforest Alliance aims to share this responsibility with everyone, not just those on the ‘frontlines’. This is not just ecological protection, but also climate justice.
The organisation targets specific pressure points – small, strategic interventions – that are the key to broader sustainability, and indeed systemic healing. Support must reach those at the very tip of the needle: the farmers, forest stewards and rural communities who live closest to the land and take on the greatest risk.
This means supporting regenerative agriculture: farming systems and methods that are able to provide a positive impact, rather than being extractive or exploitative. This is not necessarily a method, but a philosophy about giving more back to the land than we take, bolstering against climate instability, degrading soils, biodiversity loss and fragile farmer income. In 2024 alone, the Rainforest Alliance partnered with 7.9 million farmers and workers on certified farms.
The Frog: A Symbol of the Work
The RA frog seal is a both a badge of honour and an invitation. For the producers, buyers, traders and brands who have earned their right to use the seal, it means they have proven themselves.
RA’s rigorous checks include independent audits, verification of origins, tracking of sources, soil health measured, working conditions audited, and deforestation maps reviewed. So, if a product is being labelled deforestation-free, it genuinely checks out; it means someone has been to the farms and forests and double-checked everything is as advertised.
The frog seal represents a system that’s trying to shift that equation, from extractive to regenerative, from empty claims to shared responsibility. From the misty coffee slopes of Latin America, to the cocoa villages of West Africa, to the tea gardens and forest edges of Indonesia, the objective is to protect nature, improve farmer livelihoods, and help communities adapt to the climate crisis, not in theory, but in practice.
Making Informed Choices
Whether living, working or just travelling in Indonesia, everyone is part of the solution. Where can we make choices that follow this philosophy of regeneration?
For consumers, it can start simply by becoming more curious about sourcing: where did this come from, who grew or made it, how did it get to where I am? Or for those working in the industry, consider how your supply choices are made: can your hotel stock certified coffee in each room, does your furniture support local crafts people, is the chocolate in your restaurant’s dish deforestation-free? Traceability, transparency, and trust are no longer niche. They’re the new standard for conscious brands and travellers.
All of our choices, be it as a consumer or curator, can carry weight – the frog makes these decisions easier. It means people don’t have to do the due diligence themselves because it’s been done, checked, audited and verified by Rainforest Alliance.
