Nestlé in society Creating Shared Value and meeting our commitments 2015

Nestlé in society:
Creating Shared Value
Nutrition, health
and wellness
Rural development
Water
Environmental
sustainability
Human rights
and compliance
Our
people
G4-EC7, Procurement practices G4-DMA, Supplier environmental assessment G4-DMA, G4-EN33, Supplier assessment for labor practices G4-DMA, G4-LA15,
G4-HR10, Local communities G4-DMA, G4-SO9, G4-SO10
The performance requirements (economic, environmental
and social) apply to producers of all sizes, from individual
smallholders to large estates, and are based on the Code of
Conduct of the 4C Association.
The 4C Code of Conduct
The Common Code for Coffee Community (4C) is a
multi-stakeholder association composed of producers,
civil society, traders and industry, designed to improve
efficiency, profitability, transparency and sustainability in
the production, processing and trading of coffee through
training and verification. The 4C Code of Conduct,
defined and maintained by the 4C Association, is the
baseline for sustainability in the coffee sector. The code
comprises 28 social, environmental and economic
principles, covering the sustainable production,
processing and trading of green coffee. For each
principle, criteria are categorised green, yellow or red
according to their level of sustainability. Green practices
are desirable; yellow practices require improvement; and
red practices must be discontinued. Producers can sell
4C-compliant coffee only if its practices meet a minimum
average of yellow, as confirmed by independent
verification. The 4C code also includes a list of 10
Unacceptable Practices. All 4C members and producer
groups must eliminate these before they can claim their
coffee is 4C compliant.
Farmer Connect for the Nescafé Plan
Direct sourcing through Farmer Connect represents around
26% of our total coffee purchases. Through Farmer Connect,
we source green coffee from 211 400 farmers/supply chain
beneficiaries. Farmer Connect brings us closer to farming
communities through direct relationships with farmers and
co-operatives, or through partner intermediaries, so that we
develop shorter, more efficient and more sustainable supply
chains and drive positive change.
In addition, our sourcing staff provide value-added
contribution services, including free technical assistance and
training to improve efficiencies and quality, as well as
mitigating environmental and social footprints, based on the
Nescafé Better Farming Practices (NBFP).
Locally available, high-quality green coffee is vital to our
coffee businesses. Many Nescafé factories are close neighbours
to the coffee farmers on whom our production depends.
Purchasing green coffee locally in an efficient way through
Farmer Connect programmes helps us develop local supplies for
our factories, and to work with growers to make improvements
at a farm level to improve their livelihoods. It also means we
keep the value-added activities in the countries of origin.
Total volume of green coffee sourced through Farmer
Connect (tonnes)
2015 225 600
2014 186 750
2013 148 198
Coffee Centre of Excellence
in Nicaragua
Nicaragua has more than 44 000 coffee producers, 97% of
whom are smallholders with farms of 5 hectares or smaller.
Coffee production represents over 18% of the country’s exports,
generating around 300 000 jobs, but yields are low, at 1200 kg
per hectare. The industry also faces repeated occurrences of
fungus-related diseases such as leaf rust, anthracnose and leaf
spot, and pests such as the coffee berry borer. These problems
jeopardise the profitability of coffee production.
The Nescafé Plan established a Coffee Centre of Excellence
at Matagalpa in 2013, which aims to increase productivity by
optimising the supply chain and providing technical assistance
to growers.
The centre runs the Coffee Excellence Course, held weekly for
five months and covering theoretical and practical training in soil
health, setting up plantations, post-harvest work, quality and sales,
and farm management. Small farmers from the key coffeegrowing
areas Matagalpa and Jinotega are invited to attend, with
free food, accommodation and transport to help them.
Since 2014, the centre has run five Coffee Excellence
courses for 78 farmers, including 12 women. We follow up
with all the growers to ensure they are applying good
agricultural practices, provide updates on course modules, and
organise field visits for growers to share experiences. We now
aim to establish demonstration plots to measure production
increases, and to reach all the coffee producers – around 700
– who have a direct relationship with Nestlé. We are also
working to get the Coffee Centre of Excellence recognised by
the Government’s Technological Institute (INATEC).
Our objective
By 2015 – To improve the sustainability of the Nescafé
supply chain, source 180 000 tonnes of coffee from
Farmer Connect, all of which are compliant with the
Common Code for Coffee Community’s (4C) baseline
sustainability standard.
Volume of green coffee sourced through Farmer
Connect which is 4C verified (tonnes)
Goal: 180 000 tonnes by 2015
2015 191 700
2014 130 500
2013 71 443
We had committed to source 180 000 tonnes of green coffee
through Farmer Connect, all of which was to be 4C verified.
In fact, in 2015 Nescafé sourced around 225 600 tonnes of
Farmer Connect coffee, of which 191 700 tonnes were
Responsibly Sourced (4C verified), representing respectively
26% and 22% of the Group’s entire green coffee volume.
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