Summary
This report, the third in what is now an annual update on the state of sustainable markets, presents the latest data on area, production volume and producers for 14 major standard-setting organizations. The 2018 report is based on a global survey on voluntary sustainability standards. The data presented here cover the year 2016, where available, as well as earlier years. The report offers a comprehensive snapshot of significant growth in the adoption of global sustainability standards across nine sectors: bananas, cocoa, coffee, cotton, palm oil, soybeans, cane sugar, tea, and forestry. It provides market and statistical data on the nine sectors as well as at-a-glance tables on products and standards by country. Overall, the rising share of total area and production volume covered by VSS suggests there is significant potential for continued growth. The current market context shows: continued growth, albeit not at the same pace as in previous years; an expanding share of agricultural land, which surpasses the 20% mark in some commodities and dominance of single-sector standards in some sectors.