All Wagtail Organic coffee beans are Australian Certified Organic (ACO) which is certification by the Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA).  The ACO logo with a certification number (also known as the BUD logo) is the only way you can prove if the product and the processes used are genuinely certified and traceable to organic standards. 

Initially formed to progress the interests of farmers and processors who wished to promote and protect the message of organics, including the setting of organic standards, the BFA moved on to develop its certification program to independently verify that farmers and processors were producing in accord with those standards.

The BFA has both biodynamic (a specific form of organic production) and organic farmers and hence the name biological farmers was defined to promote a simple message that such farmers were using natural methods, not synthetic or unnatural methods to produce their foods for consumers.

The BFA was registered as a co-operative in 1988, following some key community and industry meetings across the country.  Its head office resides in Brisbane, Queensland.  The BUD logo itself was initially designed by Rosemary Dunn of South Australia, one of BFA’s early and still loyal members and represents everything that BFA is about.   It is a registered mark with IP Australia and is the oldest Australian organic certification mark in the country still currently in use.  Australian Certified Organic Pty Ltd (ACO) is BFA’s independent subsidiary which looks after certification of organic foods and fibres and was set up in 2001 to distinctly separate the task of certifying and regulating organic products from that of promotion of the industry and representing the industry’s interests to government.

To be ACO accredited, the beans must be grown under stringent conditions without the use of synthesised fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or fumigation.  The farmer must operate a balanced eco-system for 3 years prior to certification and tested annually. The beans are also stored, roasted and packaged according to both BFA regulations.  Above is the BUD logo for our organic products including the roaster’s certification number.

To find out more about organic certification go to:

http://www.australianorganic.com.au/