Nescafé, Nestlé’s largest coffee brand, outlined its extensive plan to help make coffee farming more sustainable: the Nescafé 2030 Plan. The brand is working with coffee farmers to help them transition to regenerative agriculture while accelerating his decade of work under the Nescafé Plan.
The brand is investing more than one billion Swiss francs by 2030 in the Nescafé 2030 Plan. This investment builds on the existing Nescafé Plan as the brand expands its sustainability work. It is supported by Nestlé regenerative agriculture funding following the Group’s commitment to accelerate the transition to a regenerative food system and ambition to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
“Climate change is putting pressure on coffee growing areas,” David Rennie, head of Nestlé Coffee Brands, said in the announcement. “Building on the 10-year experience of the Nescafé Plan, we are accelerating our work to help tackle climate change and address social and economic challenges in Nescafé value chains.”
Philipp Navratil, Head of Nestlé’s Coffee Strategic Business Unit, added in the announcement: “As the world’s leading coffee brand, Nescafé aims to make a real impact on coffee farming globally. coffee farmers prosper as much as we want coffee to have a positive impact on the environment. Our actions can help drive change throughout the coffee industry.”
Supporting coffee farmers’ transition to regenerative coffee farming
Regenerative agriculture is an approach to agriculture that aims to improve soil health and fertility, as well as protect water resources and biodiversity. Healthier soils are more resilient to the impacts of climate change and can increase yields, helping improve farmers’ livelihoods.
Nescafé will provide farmers with training, technical assistance and high-yielding coffee seedlings to help them transition to regenerative coffee farming practices. Some examples of regenerative agriculture practices include the following:
- Planting cover crops helps protect the soil. It also helps add biomass to the soil, which can increase soil organic matter and thus soil carbon sequestration.
- The incorporation of organic fertilizers contributes to soil fertility, which is essential for good soil health.
- Increasing the use of agroforestry and intercropping contributes to the preservation of biodiversity.
- Pruning existing coffee trees or replacing them with varieties resistant to disease and climate change will help rejuvenate coffee plots and increase yields for farmers.
Focusing on the origins where Nescafé sources 90% of its coffee
Nescafé will work with coffee farmers to test, learn and evaluate the effectiveness of multiple regenerative agriculture practices. This will be done with a focus on seven key origins, from where the brand sources 90% of its coffee: Brazil, Vietnam, Mexico, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Indonesia and Honduras.
Nescafé aims to achieve:
- 100% responsibly sourced coffee by 2025.
- 20% of coffee sourced from regenerative farming methods by 2025 and 50% by 2030 as part of Nestlé’s ambition for its key ingredients.
Pilot test of a financial support plan in Mexico, Ivory Coast and Indonesia to accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture
Nescafé is committed to supporting farmers who bear the risks and costs associated with moving to regenerative agriculture. It will provide programs that aim to help farmers improve their income as a result of that transition. In Mexico, Ivory Coast and Indonesia, Nescafé will pilot a financial support scheme to help farmers speed up the transition to regenerative agriculture. Through this scheme, Nescafé, together with coffee farmers, will test and learn the best approach in each country. These could include measures such as:
Conditional cash incentives for adopting regenerative agriculture practices.
- Income protection through weather insurance.
- Increased access to lines of credit for farmers.
Nescafé will track the progress and evaluate the results of its field programs with coffee farmers through its Monitoring and Evaluation partnership with the Rainforest Alliance. Its efforts will be complemented by new and experience-focused partnerships, such as the one it has with the Sustainable Food Lab for topics related to revenue assessment, strategy, and tracking farmers’ progress.
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well by capturing and storing more carbon in the soil.
Regenerative agriculture also contributes to extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is 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 net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. It will work with farmers, suppliers and partners to help protect agricultural land, enhance biodiversity and help prevent deforestation. The brand intends to help farmers plant more than 20 million trees on or near their coffee farms.