Nestlé set to boost coffee value chain in Central, West Africa
Thousands of people in Central and West Africa are currently benefiting from Nestlé’s efforts to boost sustainable coffee from bean to cup. These include coffee farmers to salespeople.
Reports have it that over 5,500 cups of Nescafé coffee are consumed per second worldwide resulting in the increasing demand for the brew. The company has therefore committed to provide sustainable farming, supply, production and consumption across its coffee supply chain.
Nestlé’s pledge is part of the Nescafé Plan which is a global initiative that is currently active in 11 countries worldwide, including Côte d’Ivoire. With the Nescafé Plan, farmers are encouraged to attended training sessions with other local farmers.
Nestlé agronomists also visit participants’ farms and teach them how to grow coffee more sustainably, based on Nescafé’s best farming practices.
As part of the plan, by 2020, the company is committed to provide farmers worldwide with over 27 million high-yielding, disease-resistant coffee plantlets, developed by the Nestlé Research and Development Centre in Abidjan.
No fewer than 147,000 coffee farmers across the globe taking part in the Nescafé Plan.
Speaking on the initiative, coffee farmer, Francois Dadi said: “The coffee crops our parents planted are now shrinking in production, so we need companies like Nestlé to teach us new methods to help replenish our farms,” he said.
Nestlé’s commitment to sustainable coffee is also helping to support Africans at consumer level.
As part of the ‘My Own Business’ (MYOWBU) street-vending programme, led by the company’s out-of-home business Nestlé Professional, young people and adults across Africa are provided with the skills and expertise they need to run their own successful small businesses.
It guides them to manage their own micro-enterprise and gives them training on sales, management, hygiene, safety and quality standards. They then recruit and employ eight to 10 street vendors to sell Nescafé coffee in busy public areas such as stadiums, open markets and bus stops.
Nestlé’s work and collaborations to boost sustainable coffee highlights the importance of International Coffee Day 2016 on September 28, a global celebration of coffee’s journey from farm to shop.
Meanwhile, Nestlé has been recognised as the leading food and beverage company in the Thomson Reuters Diversity and Inclusion Index (D&I), for its efforts in creating a diverse and inclusive workplace.
The index ranked Nestlé 13th overall out of more than 4,000 publically traded companies worldwide. Top on the ranking was Roche Holding AG. Other companies that made it to the ‘Top 25’ were Novartis AG, Johnson & Johnson, Colgate-Palmolive Co, Diageo PLC, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Accenture PLC, Procter & Gamble Co and Microsoft Corp.
Companies were assessed in four categories: diversity, people development, news controversies and inclusion.
Nestlé is dedicated to promoting a diverse and inclusive business culture with equal opportunities for all. For example, the company is committed to gender balance by 2018, by increasing the percentage of women managers and senior leaders.
Through its Rural Development Framework, Nestlé is also working to better understand the role of women in farming communities worldwide, and supporting them through income-generating activities and training.
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