Nespresso Sustainability Advisory Board Advances Company’s Pioneering Approach to Farmer Welfare and Environmental Performance

July 16, 2013 /3BL Media/ - On 16 July 2013, global leaders in sustainability and long-time brand ambassador George Clooney joined, as part of the company’s first Sustainability Advisory Board, to announce major new initiatives in the areas of farmer welfare and environmental stewardship.

The Nespresso Sustainability Advisory Board (NSAB) is comprised of experts and thought leaders in the area of sustainability. It has been established to solicit views and provide insight and recommendations to enhance Nespresso's long term sustainability strategy and to serve as a base for additional partnerships on new initiatives. Its official formation coincides with the 10th anniversary of the company’s AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program.

“As we mark ten years of the AAA Program, I am proud to have the opportunity to work with these renowned leaders in environmental and social sustainability in order to strengthen our programs and develop new and impactful initiatives to create shared value for coffee farmers,” said Jean-Marc Duvoisin, CEO of Nestlé Nespresso. “While we have come a long way over the past ten years, we are driven by the need to continue to move forward. The insight and independent perspectives brought by these thought leaders will help advance our sustainability efforts and will ensure that we remain focused on initiatives that will have a positive overall impact on the environment and social aspects of our value chain.”

For 10 years, Nespresso has worked with the Rainforest Alliance and other key partners on the AAA Program, a unique approach that combines a focus on quality and sustainability to produce benefits for farmers and their communities.

The program is producing concrete results on the ground in coffee growing communities. A study performed by Colombian research institute CRECE, demonstrates significantly higher levels of environmental, economic and social performance for AAA farms versus non-AAA farms. The program is one part of the company’s overall approach to Creating Shared Value and establishes a strong model for collaborative partnerships to drive concrete impacts in sustainability.

Significant new partnerships to drive sustainability for coffee farmers

At the inaugural NSAB meeting in Lausanne, Mr. Duvoisin was joined by George Clooney and TechnoServe President and CEO, Bruce McNamer, to announce two major new initiatives in Africa: the expansion of the AAA Program in Ethiopia and Kenya and a program to re-establish coffee supply from South Sudan.

Expanding the AAA Program in Africa

In Ethiopia and Kenya, Nespresso will expand the AAA Program to include more cooperatives and smallholder farms and will partner with local governments and TechnoServe to improve coffee traceability to farm level. The company will also launch community development programs that address key socio-economic challenges in the coffee growing communities and support farmer welfare.

The partners expect to double the amount of coffee sourced from the region to 10,000 tons by 2020 through the extension of the program to small-holder farmers. This significant expansion of the AAA Program will build upon its strong success in Latin America and its recent expansion to India. Currently, over 56,000 farmers are part of the AAA Program and the company is sourcing approximately 80% of its coffee from AAA farms.

Reviving high quality coffee production in South Sudan

The South Sudan project, in cooperation with TechnoServe and George Clooney, will revive high quality coffee production in the country to contribute to economic development and create supply. It is expected that thousands of farmers will benefit from the initiative. As part of the program, Nespresso plans to be the first company to offer coffee from the country following its independence.

“I am excited for the opportunity to bring together my role as an ambassador for Nespresso and an advocate for a better future for the people of South Sudan,” said George Clooney. “This program will help farmers and their families secure their future by building new sources of sustainable business in this region. It will provide much-needed income and security for thousands of farmers and their families living in coffee communities and has the potential to play an important role in helping to diversify the economic base in the country.”

AAA Farmer Future Program with Fairtrade International and Colombian farmer cooperatives

Mr. Duvoisin also joined with Fairtrade International CEO Harriet Lamb and representatives of five Fairtrade certified cooperatives in Caldas, Colombia to announce the signing of an agreement to pilot the “AAA Farmer Future Program”. The program aims to introduce social welfare provisions to benefit farmers and their families, including health and accident coverage and retirement planning. As part of the initiative, Nespresso will market coffee from the AAA farmer cooperatives in the region and certified Fairtrade.

“We are excited to be joining together with Nespresso to address the very real issues and risks that coffee farmers face on a daily basis,” said Harriet Lamb, President of Fairtrade International. “Farmers are exposed to many risks, including low productivity, price volatility and fluctuations in exchange rates. These factors can severely impact their livelihoods. This unique pilot project will seek to provide the security farmers need to provide for their families and invest in their future.”

Reducing the carbon footprint of coffee farming

Nespresso also announced an expansion of its agro-forestry program, in partnership with the Rainforest Alliance and Pur Projet, to optimise the carbon footprint of coffee farming. Nespresso has reduced its carbon footprint per cup by 20% since 2009. Coffee agriculture remains an area of opportunity to further optimise carbon impacts. The program will help farmers step up their investment in agro-forestry and to seek to create carbon credits and drive new revenue streams.

“The AAA Program, built together with the Rainforest Alliance and the Sustainable Agriculture Network, is one of the most rigorous and comprehensive programmes in the coffee industry, with increased farmer net income and significantly improved water quality, waste management and reforestation,” said Tensie Whelan, President of the Rainforest Alliance. “We believe that the expansion of the coffee farming agro-forestry program will build on the strong results demonstrated by the AAA Program and will be an important new approach to supporting farmer livelihoods, protecting the natural resources on which they depend and safeguarding the planet for all of us.”