Nestlé local coffee buying up 27% as NESCAFÉ Plan helps increase yields, incomes of assisted farmers

Nestlé Philippines reaffirms its commitment to assist thousands of the country’s coffee farmers as its local buying of Robusta coffee beans for this crop year (2019-2020) increased by 27 percent over the previous crop year, higher than originally expected as local crop yields have been better than forecast.

As the biggest local manufacturer in the Philippine coffee industry, Nestlé produces its NESCAFÉ brand at its Cagayan de Oro factory.

Through the NESCAFÉ Plan, Nestlé is engaged in long-term efforts to create a positive impact on the lives of the country’s Robusta coffee farmers by improving their yields and incomes.

Local coffee procurement, consumption in support of coffee farmers

Last year, the company updated the criteria for its local procurement of coffee beans while preserving the quality of its NESCAFÉ brand. NESCAFÉ CLASSIC has one ingredient: green coffee. During its manufacturing process, only green coffee and water are used. With no additional ingredients, NESCAFÉ CLASSIC is 100 percent pure coffee.

Farmers selling coffee beans to Nestlé Philippines have said the new criteria are making it easier for them to sell their produce, and to provide greater volumes to the company. Processing time has been cut down, increasing frequency of delivery. The workload of farmers likewise has been reduced, particularly in harvesting, drying, and sorting produce.

According to Nestlé Philippines Chairman and CEO Kais Marzouki, the company is constantly pursuing efforts to support Filipino coffee farmers who are in need of assistance from various stakeholders, especially consumers. He emphasized that when consumers buy locally manufactured products with raw materials grown in the country, they are in fact helping Filipino coffee farmers.

NESCAFÉ Plan focuses on helping coffee farmers

Driven by a flagship education and training initiative of the NESCAFÉ Plan called Project Coffee+, the yields and incomes of 1,500 beneficiary farmers in Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat have increased. On average, production by participating farmers has doubled, while incomes have tripled, as independently verified by the Rainforest Alliance.

Nestlé has been supporting Filipino farmers since 2008, providing various forms of technical assistance and trainingonNESCAFÉ Better Farming Practices including Coffee Production Technology Training and modules from the global Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C). The company has trained an average of 7,000Filipino farmers per year since 2012.

“With NESCAFÉ as the biggest domestically produced coffee brand in the Philippines, we are buying as much coffee as we can locally, and are increasing our direct purchasing from farmers and cooperatives. As we help generate livelihood opportunities, we offer a ready market for Robusta coffee farmersbased on world market prices.

“Through all kinds of times, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic, we stand in solidarity with Filipino coffee farmers. We look forward to continuing our partnership with them to uplift lives while improving coffee production in the country, in close cooperation with other stakeholders in the public and private sectors,” Mr. Marzouki said.

Under its Kasambuhay ng Pamilyang Pilipino program which has reached out to one million families impacted by the pandemic, Nestlé Philippines provided Kasambuhay Kits consisting of Nestlé products to 10,000 coffee farmers in Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat.