SWITZERLAND – Nestle-owned global coffee brand Nescafé has announced that it expects to have 100% responsibly sourced coffee by 2025, as it steps up its efforts to create a more sustainable coffee sector.
Sustainable sourcing means that the coffee can be traced back to an identified farmer group and verified or certified by independent organisations.
The company’s target is up from its current achievement of 75% of coffee for Nescafé products being responsibly sourced.
Nescafé has also committed to reduce and remove carbon emissions where it sources coffee and throughout its operations.
The company says it will also use environmentally-friendly packaging as it looks to meet Nestlé’s 2025 packaging commitment and most recently its 2050 net-zero ambition.
The pledge builds on Nescafé’s progress over the past decade since the launch of its Nescafé Plan which aims to help improve farmers’ incomes, reduce the environmental impact of coffee farms and factories and in countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Kenya and the Philippines.
Since its implementation in 2010, Nestlé has invested a total of CHF 350 million (US$395 million) in the plan and distributed 235 million high-yielding and disease-resistant coffee plantlets.
It has also contributed to the renovation of nearly 120,000 hectares of coffee farms worldwide.
“Together with our partners and 230 Nescafé agronomists, we improved efficiency and agricultural practices on farms, enabling farmers to command a premium price for coffee grown sustainably.”
Philipp Navratil, senior vice president, head of beverages strategic business unit
“We diversified sources of farmer income to reduce their dependence on monocultures and to make them more resilient,” Navratil added.
As part of its achievements, the company claims to have delivered more than 900,000 farmer training sessions on good agricultural practices and empowered more than 10,000 women and young farmers through leadership programmes.
“We will not stop here. Our programmes will evolve toward better social conditions in and around coffee farms. We will double down our efforts on labour rights, child protection, youth and women empowerment,” Navratil added.
Liked this article? Subscribe to Food Business Africa News, our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s food and agro industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE