Nestlé’s premium portioned coffee brand will invest $10m a year for the next five years in the ‘Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality Programme’ in Colombia, adding to $30m already invested.
About three quarters of the money spent each year will be used to offer incentives to farmers to adopt the AAA programme’s sustainable quality practices.
The rest will be allocated to providing technical assistance and training to help farmers improve coffee quality, sustainability and productivity.
In Colombia, Nespresso works in partnership with the Colombian Coffee Growers’ Federation (FNC) to source sustainable, high quality coffee for consumers.
Nespresso buys coffee directly from more than 37,000 Colombian farmers through its AAA programme in collaboration with the FNC and its partners.
In 2011 Nespresso sourced about one quarter of its total coffee supply from Colombia.
The company has tripled the volume of coffee it sources through the programme in Colombia over the past six years. Farmers from five main regional districts of Colombia – Cauca, Nariño, Caldas, Antioquia and Huila – participate in the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality Programme.
They represent 80% of all farmers taking part in the programme worldwide. Nespresso has worked closely with its Colombian partners to produce a number of innovative ‘Grand Cru’ coffee varieties.
Nespresso launched its ‘AAA Sustainable Quality Programme’ in collaboration with international non-government organisation the Rainforest Alliance in 2003. Nespresso hopes to source 80% of its overall coffee supply through the AAA programme, with Rainforest Alliance certification, by 2013.
Source: Nestlé
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