The Philippines, a partner of Nestlé in growing and producing world-class coffee beans, will benefit from the 1 billion Swiss francs that Nestlé Global plans to invest to push forward the company’s ambitious sustainable goal for Nescafé Plan 2030.
Nescafé, Nestlé’s largest coffee brand and one of the world’s favorite coffees, outlined an extensive plan to render coffee farming more sustainable by working with coffee farmers to help them transition to regenerative agriculture while accelerating its decade of work under the Nescafé Plan.
The investment builds on the existing Nescafé Plan as the brand expands its sustainability work. Supported by Nestlé’s regenerative agriculture financing, the brand committed to accelerate the transition to a regenerative food system and ambition to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions.
“Climate change is putting coffee-growing areas under pressure. Building on 10 years’ experience of the NescaféPlan, we’re accelerating our work to help tackle climate change and address social and economic challenges in the Nescafé value chains,” said Nestlé global head of Nestlé coffee brands David Rennie during the program launch on Oct. 4.
Citing an Inter-American Development Bank study, the firm believes that rising temperatures will reduce the area suitable for growing coffee by up to 50 percent by 2050, while around 125 million people will depend on coffee for their livelihood.
An estimated 80 percent of coffee-farming families live at or below the poverty line, prompting the multinational firm to take action to ensure the long-term sustainability of coffee as a source of livelihood and as a business platform.
“As the world’s leading coffee brand, Nescafé aims to have a real impact on coffee farming globally. We want coffee farmers to thrive as much as we want coffee to have a positive impact on the environment. Our actions can help drive change throughout the coffee industry,” said Nestlé global head of Nestlé’s coffee strategic business unit Philipp Navratil.
Nescafé will provide farmers with training, technical assistance, and high-yielding coffee plantlets to help them transition to regenerative coffee farming practices.
Regenerative agriculture is an approach to farming that aims to improve soil health and fertility as well as protect water resources and biodiversity. Healthier soils are more resilient to the impact of climate change and can increase yields, helping improve farmers’ livelihood.
Nescafé will work with coffee farmers to test, learn and assess the effectiveness of multiple regenerative agriculture practices focusing on seven key origins, from where the brand sources 90 percent of its coffee: Brazil, Vietnam, Mexico, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia, and Honduras.
By the year 2025, the plan aims to sustainably produce 100 percent of its coffee output, in partnership with coffee-producing partners. Of this, 20 percent of coffee will be sourced from regenerative agricultural methods by and 50 percent by 2030.
Regenerative agriculture also contributes to drawing down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a key why regenerative agriculture is a key part of Nestlé’s Zero Net roadmap.
Nescafé aims to contribute to Nestlé’s Zero Net commitment to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reach zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
It will work with farmers, suppliers and partners to help protect agricultural lands, enhance biodiversity and help prevent deforestation. The brand intends to help farmers plant more than 20 million trees at or near their coffee farms.
