SWITZERLAND – Nescafé, Nestlé’s largest coffee brand and one of the world’s favorite coffees, is investing over one billion Swiss francs (US$1.01bn) by 2030 in the Nescafé Plan 2030, an extensive plan to help make coffee farming more sustainable.

This investment, according to the brand, builds on the existing Nescafé Plan as the brand expands its sustainability work.

Since the launch of its global sustainability initiative: the Nescafé Plan in 2010, Nescafé said it has made significant progress to date, including sourcing 75% of our coffee responsibly, and also reduced operations’ carbon emissions by 46% and water withdrawal by 53%.

The brand is working with coffee farmers to help them transition to regenerative agriculture while also accelerating its decade of work under the sustainability plan.

Every year, Nescafé noted that it supports around 100,000 coffee farmers and buys more than 800,000 metric tons of green coffee – more than 13 million bags, from more than 20 countries.

The coffee brand is supported by Nestlé’s regenerative agriculture financing following the Group’s commitment to accelerate the transition to a regenerative food system and ambition to achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions.

Rising temperatures is putting coffee-growing areas under pressure, thus will reduce the area suitable for growing coffee by up to 50% by 2050, Nescafé highlighted.

 At the same time, around 125 million people depend on coffee for their livelihoods2 and an estimated 80% of coffee-farming families live at or below the poverty line. Action is needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of coffee, the brand added.

David Rennie, Head of Nestlé Coffee Brands stated: “Building on 10 years of experience of the Nescafé Plan, we’re accelerating our work to help tackle climate change and address social and economic challenges in the Nescafé value chains.”

In the regenerative agriculture approach, Nescafé will provide farmers with training, technical assistance, and high-yielding coffee plantlets to help them transition to regenerative coffee farming practices.

Regenerative agriculture also contributes to drawing down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which is why it is a key part of Nestlé’s Zero Net roadmaps.

Nescafé is committed to supporting farmers who take on the risks and costs associated with the move to regenerative agriculture through programs that aim to help farmers improve their income as a result of that transition.

Focusing on origins from where Nescafé sources 90% of its coffee, it is going to test, learn and assess the effectiveness of multiple regenerative agriculture practices. The brand plans to majorly focus on Brazil, Vietnam, Mexico, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Indonesia, and Honduras.

In Mexico, Côte d’Ivoire, and Indonesia, Nescafé will pilot a financial support scheme to help farmers accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture.

Nescafé will track the progress and assess the results of its field programs with coffee farmers through its Monitoring and Evaluation partnership with the Rainforest Alliance.

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