Common Grounds is JDE Peet's proprietary responsible-sourcing programme for coffee, tea and palm oil, assessing suppliers against the company's own responsible-sourcing requirements with third-party verification elements. As with other company-run programmes, it has no public multi-stakeholder standard-setting process and no consumer-facing certification label; its claims appear in JDE Peet's own reporting, with volumes described as "responsibly sourced" against internal definitions. For claim assessment, the operative questions are the programme's published criteria, verification arrangements and coverage figures — all company-defined. The programme is the successor to earlier JDE responsible-sourcing frameworks and applies across brands including Jacobs, Douwe Egberts, L'OR and Senseo. Its published coverage is reported as a percentage of green coffee responsibly sourced, so claim assessment turns on how that figure is defined and verified. JDE Peet's reports coverage and outcomes through its annual report and dedicated sourcing publications, including farmer-reach and verification percentages. As with all proprietary programmes, comparison with third-party-certified volumes requires care, since the underlying criteria and assurance depth differ by design. Alignment with these principles is a stated position, not a certification; it does not by itself demonstrate compliance or outcomes.
Conditional relationships
Claims it may support
A relationship does not mean that the standard proves or validates every use of a claim.