Coffee sourcing

From Nescafé to Nespresso, the beans we source from farmers around the world go into some of our most iconic brands and bring joy to millions of consumers every day.

We source most of our coffee from smallholder farmers, making them a key part of our global supply chain. With demand for coffee continuing to rise globally, coffee farming communities are often facing a range of complex economic, social and cultural challenges. That is why Nestlé is working to continuously improve our green coffee supply chain.

Our approach to improving our coffee supply

Nescafé plan

Through the Nescafé Plan 2030, we are accelerating an integrated action plan to support a more inclusive future for our coffee value chains. Regenerative agriculture is at the heart of the Plan: working with farmers to help them adopt regenerative agriculture practices that aim to contribute simultaneously to reducing carbon emissions, improving farmers’ income and creating better social conditions. Independent assessments measure the impacts of these programs and help to improve our understanding of best practices.

We also support and implement various types of training for farmers that support their economic resilience and build a body of knowledge around best practices.

The Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program

Launched in 2003 in collaboration with the Rainforest Alliance, the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program aims to enable Nespresso to offer high-quality coffee, while improving the livelihoods of farmers and their communities and protecting the environment.

Nespresso and its partners are aiming to plant 32 million trees in and around coffee farms in nine countries by 2030. This is an important part of Nespresso’s strategy to help coffee growers adapt to climate change, helping to deliver many important benefits, such as reduced soil erosion, water provision and temperature regulation.

Learn more about Nespresso’s ethical and environmental efforts.

Transparency in our coffee supply

Nestlé has made the commitment for 100% of our coffee to be responsibly sourced by 2025. We have a constant focus on the traceability of our coffee. Knowing where our beans come from is essential. We engage with suppliers and farmers to create positive change by supporting them to improve their practices.

Nespresso regularly publishes the Positive Cup report, which details work throughout its 18 AAA sourcing regions. In 2023, Nescafé published Nescafe Plan 2030 Progress Report, with plans to make that a yearly publication.

Enabling farmers with new skills and high-yield plantlets

We enlist the expertise of agronomists around the world to support coffee farmers in achieving high-yielding harvests. For more than a decade, we’ve supported farmer training on good agricultural practices to help improve efficiency and quality on their farms and diversify their crops. This helps reduce economic risk, improve biodiversity and reduce negative environmental impacts, for example through more efficient irrigation methods.

We also help renovate coffee farms by distributing superior coffee plantlets to farmers. We’re working closely with coffee farmers across the globe, in places like Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the Philippines and Vietnam. Since 2010, we’re proud to have distributed more than 235 million high-yielding and disease-resistant coffee plantlets to farmers, which has aided the renovation of more than 130 000 hectares-equivalent of coffee farms worldwide.

Developing new and superior coffee varieties is also a big part of our approach. To help increase productivity, resiliency and quality, our research and breeding program developed and released 15 new and high-performing arabica and robusta coffee varieties in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, the Philippines, and Thailand. In Mexico, new coffee varieties are delivering 50% higher yields, contributing to a potential 30% reduction in carbon footprint.

Regenerative farming and a just transition

Meeting increasing demand for coffee without being able to improve yields in existing coffee growing areas has the potential to negatively impact fragile ecosystems. New coffee planting can increase the risk of forest clearing, reducing regional biodiversity, harming habitats and amplifying the effects of climate change. Rather than simply expanding into more precious pristine landscapes, Nestlé is collaborating with coffee farmers to help them introduce regenerative practices to improve the efficiency of presently cultivated land. These include the optimization of fertilizer use, agroforestry and intercropping which support biodiversity, protect water sheds and increase yields for a lasting and just economic benefit for farmers.

We are helping farming communities implement regenerative agricultural practices across many countries, including the seven origins where Nescafé sources 90% of our coffee – Brazil, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico and Vietnam. As part of the Nescafé Plan 2030, supported by Nestle’s investments in regenerative agriculture and net zero, we are investing CHF 1 billion up to 2030 in an integrated strategy.

Bees for more coffee

In Colombia and Costa Rica, we have been working with bee experts to see if encouraging native bee colonies can help to increase the productivity of coffee plants. Start-up Ubees has a real-time system of monitoring hives and pollination rates which we have deployed in new hives established amongst coffee plants supplying Nespresso. The work has benefitted the health and productivity of the coffee plants as well as providing a secondary revenue stream in honey for the farmers.

Industry recognition for our responsibly sourced coffee

Nestlé ranked first in ‘coffee sustainability’ in the new 2023 Coffee Brew Index, featured in the 2023 Coffee Barometer report. The report cited our cohesive and comprehensive coffee sourcing strategy with policies, objectives and actions that incorporate the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of coffee production.

David Rennie, Nestlé’s Head of Coffee Brands, said, “This is recognition for our long-term commitment to responsible coffee sourcing. Through our flagship programs, the Nescafé Plan and the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program, we are working every day with coffee farmers to help ensure responsible coffee farming and production that is socially and economically inclusive. We are committed to continuously progress and bring new approaches to better coffee farming.”

Respecting the human rights of the people who grow our coffee

Nestlé is committed to addressing risks of adverse human rights impacts in our coffee supply chain, including forced and child labor risks, and other labor rights violations.

We are proud that Nespresso is the first brand within Nestlé to seek Fair Labor Accreditation (FLA) for its coffee sourcing program, the AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program. In partnership with FLA and our network of stakeholders from business, civil society, and academia, Nespresso has embarked on a comprehensive program with the goal of improving working conditions for all workers on coffee farms that grow Nespresso coffee.

FLA is a rigorous multi-year evaluation process with a simple goal: to better protect workers across global supply chains. Through our salient issue action plans we assess and identify opportunities to strengthen Nespresso’s Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) mechanisms and policies at a corporate level, and evaluate the implementation of those policies at the farm level, across all sourcing countries.

Empowering women in East Africa

Many of the farmers we work with are women. We aim to help them gain better access to credit and useful information. We also want to support female growers to diversify their incomes through vocational training. We have reached more than 15 000 women in East Africa over the past nine years, sharing knowledge on good farming practices, financial literacy, and leadership.

With their new skills, these women can improve their income. Greater financial independence not only empowers the women themselves, but it helps lead the way for girls and women in the future.

Enabling youth to build livelihoods in farming

As well as supporting established farmers, we’re passionate about future generations. Nestlé has made a commitment to help 10 million young people worldwide to access economic opportunities by 2030.

The Nescafé Youth initiative gives young people opportunities to learn more about coffee production, good agricultural practices and coffee quality. They also acquire digital skills, business acumen and self-confidence which could lead towards better job opportunities or the start of their own business.

All these actions aim to support us on our regenerative journey. By engaging with young people, we want to unlock their creativity and innovation, fostering the next generation of leaders in coffee communities.