Agro Perspectiva

Nestlé launches CHF 500 million global plan for sustainable coffee

30.08.2010 12:32 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) — Nestlé, which purchases around 780,000 tonnes of green coffee a year or 10% of the world’s supply, unveiled the Nescafé Plan in Mexico City today. The Nescafé Plan is a global initiative and builds on the CHF 200 million the Company has already invested in the coffee industry over the past 10 years. The Rainforest Alliance, an international non-governmental organization, will support Nestlé together with other partners of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) and the coffee association, 4C, in meeting the Nescafé Plan objectives related to farming. Under the Plan, Nestlé will: Double the amount of coffee Nestlé buys directly from farmers to 180,000 tonnes over the next five years. In addition 90,000 tonnes of Nescafé coffee will be sourced according to the Rainforest Alliance and Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) principles by 2020. Deliver 220 million high yielding, disease-resistant plants to farmers over the next 10 years. Ensure all directly purchased green coffee will meet 4C sustainability standards by 2015. Reduce the environmental footprint of its coffee producing factories around the world. Increase the number of agronomists from 24 to 96 and field technicians to 350 who will provide technical assistance and advice on farming and harvesting to 10,000 coffee farmers a year. Establish 300 demonstration farms showing best practices. Tensie Whelan, the President of the Rainforest Alliance, welcomed the initiative and said the Rainforest Alliance looked forward to working with Nestlé to implement the Nescafé Plan. Ms Whelan said: «The Nescafé Plan is about looking ahead, to the future of coffee farming. We see this collaboration as an exciting opportunity to bring sustainability tools to thousands of farmers, including many who have not had the benefit of training and technical assistance.» Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke who announced the plan in Mexico City said: «We are proud that Nescafé, the world’s leading coffee brand, gives its name to this global initiative which creates value across the supply chain, from farmers to consumers, to us. Creating Shared Value is an integral part of our business strategy. For a company to be successful in the long term, it needs to create value at the same time for its shareholders and the communities in which it operates.» The Nescafé Plan comes on top of Nestlé’s Cocoa Plan, launched in October 2009, a CHF 110 million investment to improve the sustainability of the cocoa industry which includes the distribution of 38 million high-yield disease resistant cocoa plantlets over the next 10 years.