Kenco’s Coffee vs Gangs Campaign

UK-based coffee brand Kenco – owned by Mondelez International – has launched a social project in Honduras. Coffee vs Gangs will provide 20 young Hondurans with 11 months' training on coffee growing and business ownership, offering an alternative to a life of crime.

Central to spreading the word is a striking TV and cinema ad by JWT London. It follows a young man who chooses a career as a coffee farmer over getting involved in urban gang activity. The narrative is illustrated by animating the tattoos on the young man's body – an intrinsic part of gang culture in Honduras – to reflect his future.

The actors were street-cast on location. Honduran rapper Socio adds further authenticity by providing the soundtrack in his first commercial co-operation.

Coffee vs Gangs is part of Mondelez International's larger Coffee Made Happy project, running across its coffee businesses. The $200m initiative aims to "make coffee farming a sustainable, productive and respected profession". The company hopes to achieve this chiefly through giving smallholder farmers – who currently provide 80% of the global coffee supply, according to the UK's Fairtrade Foundation – access to skills and improved infrastructure.

You can follow the latest news on Coffee vs Gangs from September 5. For more on how sustainable production and distribution efforts impact consumers' brand attitudes, see our reports Sustainable Dining and Packaging Futures: Sustainability.