Nestlé commits to regenerative coffee farming

Nestlé is launching a new plan to make coffee farming more sustainable. Its Nescafé Plan 2030 aims to improve the lives of coffee farmers but also to reduce their impact on the environment.

Coffee under pressure

Nescafé, Nestlé’s coffee brand, has developed a plan to make coffee growing more sustainable. Until 2030, the multinational will invest more than one billion Swiss francs to help coffee farmers switch to regenerative agriculture. This in turn should reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve farmers’ livelihoods.

As Fairtrade has also recently reported, climate change is putting coffee growing regions under pressure. According to David Rennie, Head of Nestlé Coffee Brands, action is needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of coffee. Rising temperatures will reduce the area available for coffee cultivation by 50% by 2050. In addition, about 125 million people depend on coffee for their livelihoods while an estimated 80% of coffee-producing families live at or below the poverty line.

Healthier lands

With regenerative agriculture, the soil becomes healthier and more fertile, which also increases yields. Nescafé therefore promises to provide farmers with training, technical assistance and high-yielding coffee plants to get them started. Together with the farmers, the company will test and evaluate the effectiveness of different regenerative farming practices. In Mexico, Ivory Coast and Indonesia, there will also be a financial support system.

The Nescafé 2030 plan is a continuation of the first plan in 2010. Since then, Nestlé claims to have reduced greenhouse gas emissions in its instant coffee factories by 46% and extracted 53% less water. However, Nescafé itself is not yet moving 100% to regenerative agriculture: only 20% of coffee is to come from regenerative farming methods by 2025 and 50% by 2030.