Nescaf Plan underway in Colombia

Nescaf Plan underway in Colombia

COFFEE GROWERS TO BENEFIT: Nestl will double the amount of coffee it buys directly from farmers and their associations over the next five years.

Nestl today announced that Colombia will be the next coffee producing country to benefit from the Nescaf Plan.

Launched last August in Mexico City, the Nescaf Plan is a ten-year, CHF 350 million investment that brings together Nestl s commitments on coffee farming, production and consumption.

It will see Nestl double the amount of coffee it buys directly from farmers and their associations over the next five years, eventually purchasing 180,000 tonnes of coffee from around 170,000 farmers per year.

In the first step in Colombia, the Nescaf Plan will directly impact around 1,200 coffee farmers. As well as expert training, they will receive thousands of high-yielding, disease-resistant coffee plantlets.

The plantlets will be used to renew around 700 hectares of farmland during 2011. A total of 50 million plantlets will be distributed in Colombia by 2020.

Manuel Andres, President of Nestl Colombia, outlined the aim of the Nescaf Plan at a press conference in Bogot .

He said: We are proud to launch the Nescaf Plan in Colombia as part of our Creating Shared Value approach to business. For a company to be successful in the long-term, it needs to create value for its shareholders at the same time as creating value for the communities in which it operates.

To carry out the plan, Nestl Colombia will work in partnership with the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC), which represents more than 500,000 producers.

Fiona Kendrick, Senior Vice President of Nestl s Beverage Strategic Business Unit explained the alliance.

She said: This is a new approach between a world-famous brand such as Nescaf , and a representative organisation of farmers such as the FNC, which seeks to deliver a better quality of life to its members.

Luis Genaro Mu oz Ortega, General Manager of the FNC added: Nestl s commitment to buying coffee directly from farmers, without intermediaries, adds worth to the entire value chain.

Nestl is already the largest direct coffee buyer in Colombia, accounting for the livelihoods of around 400,000 coffee growers and their families.

The initial stage of the Nescaf Plan in Colombia will focus on four municipalities in the region of Valle del Cauca: Andaluc a, Bugalagrande, Sevilla and Tul a.

The Nescaf Plan

DISEASE-RESISTANT COFFEE: By 2020, Nestl and the FNC will distribute 50 million high-yielding, disease-resistant coffee plantlets to Colombian farmers.

The Nescaf Plan is part of a wider, CHF 500 million investment by Nestl in coffee projects by 2020, including a CHF 150 million investment for Nespresso.

Nestl will be assisted in meeting the Nescaf Plan s farming objectives by the international non-governmental organisation Rainforest Alliance, partners of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), and the coffee association, 4C.

With their support, all green coffee directly purchased by Nestl will conform to internationally recognised 4C sustainability principles by 2015.

In addition, Nestl will source 90,000 tonnes of Nescaf coffee in line with the principles of the Rainforest Alliance and Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) by 2020.

Also by 2020, Nestl will distribute 220 million high-yielding and disease-resistant coffee plantlets, which will allow farmers to rejuvenate their crops, multiply yield and increase their income.

This will be done through partnerships with public and private institutions in countries including Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, where Nestl has already distributed over 16 million coffee plantlets in the past ten years.

Tensie Whelan, President of the Rainforest Alliance, welcomed the Nescaf Plan at its launch in Mexico City, describing it as an exciting opportunity to bring sustainability tools to thousands of farmers, including many who have not had the benefit of training and technical assistance .

The Nescaf Plan follows Nestl s Cocoa Plan, launched in October 2009, a CHF 110 million investment to improve the sustainability of the cocoa industry which includes the distribution of 38 million high-yield disease resistant cocoa plantlets over the next 10 years.

Related information:
Nescaf Plan global launch
The Nescaf Plan website
Film: The Nescaf Plan - Beyond the Cup
High resolution images on Flickr