Nestle to Spend $487M on Sustainable Coffee Supply Chain

Nestle will invest CHF 500 million (approximately $487 million) to address responsible farming, sourcing and consumption across its coffee supply chain. Nestle purchases around 780,000 tons of green coffee a year or 10 percent of the world’s supply.

Nestle’s Nescafé Plan is a global initiative that builds on the CHF 200 million (approximately $195 million) the company has already invested in the coffee industry over the past 10 years.

Under the plan, Nestle will double the amount of coffee it buys directly from farmers to 180,000 tons over the next five years. In addition, 90,000 tons of Nescafé coffee will be sourced according to the Rainforest Alliance and Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) principles by 2020. It also will ensure that all directly purchased green coffee will meet 4C sustainability standards by 2015.

The company also commits to deliver 220 million high yielding, disease-resistant plants to farmers over the next 10 years as well as establish 300 demonstration farms showing best practices. It will also 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.

The company also will reduce the environmental footprint of its coffee producing factories around the world, although targets or goals weren’t provided.

The Rainforest Alliance, the Sustainable Agriculture Network, and the coffee association, 4C, will help support Nestle’s Nescafé Plan objectives related to farming.

The Nescafé Plan is similar to Nestle’s Cocoa Plan, launched in October 2009, which called for a CHF 110 million investment to improve the sustainability of the cocoa industry.

Nestle recently announced it will stop buying palm oil from suppliers linked to deforestation after a two month campaign by Greenpeace.