Nescafé, Nestlé’s largest coffee brand and one of the world’s favorite coffees, has recently published its second Nescafé Plan 2030 progress report which shows the increased adoption of regenerative agriculture practices, contributing to improved farm yield, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In 2023, over 20% of Nescafé’s coffee was sourced from farmers implementing regenerative agriculture practices. This data is based on the monitoring and impact assessment provided by the Rainforest Alliance, across farmer groups in 11 coffee origins, from where Nescafé sources its coffee. As a result, farmers in countries such as Honduras, India, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam achieved a 5% to 25% increase in coffee productivity per hectare compared to 2022. Key practices that contributed to this increase included optimized fertilization and mulching. The implementation of these practices also led to a reduction in GHG emissions per kilogram of coffee, ranging from 15% to 30%. In 2023, the Nescafé plan distributed 21 million coffee plantlets to farmers to help renovate and rejuvenate coffee plots and improve productivity, in coffee origin countries.
Philipp Navratil, Head of Nestlé’s Coffee Strategic Business Unit, stated: “The Nescafé Plan embodies our unwavering commitment to help secure the future of coffee. This is at the heart of Nescafé. This second progress report is a testimony to the work we do every day on the ground with our partners, suppliers, and farmers, in the regions from where we source our coffee, and it motivates us even more to continue our efforts.”
Prioritizing knowledge transfer and expertise building is essential to increase the uptake on regenerative agriculture. In 2023, more than 140 000 coffee farmers across 16 coffee origins received comprehensive training in regenerative agriculture practices as well as technical assistance. In Honduras, for example, 12 000 younger generation coffee farmers received training on entrepreneurship, quality, and regenerative agriculture, supporting the next generation of farmers to manage their farms more productively.
Recognizing the importance of peer-to-peer learning, the Nescafé Plan launched an innovative online platform called Agrinest. This platform aims to connect farmers from around the world, facilitating knowledge sharing and collaboration. Currently, more than 1 600 farmers in Vietnam and 240 farmers in Indonesia are actively using Agrinest, with a growing trend of participation expected in the coming years.
Nestlé has also contributed to the Regenerative Agriculture for Low-Carbon and Resilient Coffee Farms – A Practical Guidebook. This guidebook, created in collaboration with the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), provides field agronomists, trainers and professionals working with coffee farmers with a set of best practices that they can use and adapt to different farming contexts, helping farmers transition to regenerative agriculture. The guidebook is publicly available to the coffee sector.
The Nescafe plan 2030 aims to issue a progress report every year to update on the brand’s work in helping coffee farming communities transition to regenerative agriculture practices and, as a result, to help improve their livelihoods. This the second Progress Report issued since the launch of the Nescafé Plan 2030.