NESCAFÉ PLAN supports coffee farmers in the country
Nestlé India today announced the implementation of the NESCAFÉ PLAN in India. NESCAFÉ PLAN is a global initiative by Nestlé S.A., brings under one umbrella the company’s commitment on coffee farming, production and consumption and will help Nestlé to further optimize its coffee supply chain.
To start the roll out of the NESCAFÉ PLAN in India, the first NESCAFÉ coffee demo farm and training centre was inaugurated in Bindhu Estate, Kodagu District, Karnataka by Shri Jawaid Akhtar, I.A.S, Chairman, Coffee Board of India, Mr. Nandu Nandkishore, Nestlé Executive Vice President and Zone Director for Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Middle East, and Mr. Antonio Helio Waszyk, Chairman & Managing Director, Nestlé India.
This first coffee ‘demonstration’ farm in India will help farmers improve quality, productivity and sustainability. The company is assisting coffee farmers in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu to develop their agricultural practices as demand for NESCAFÉ soluble coffee grows in the country. Furthermore, Nestlé research and development teams aim to provide farmers with high-yielding, disease resistant plantlets suitable for Indian conditions.
Through the initiative, the company seeks to source coffee sustainably by working closely with Indian coffee farmers and ensuring competitive prices, transparency and traceability.
Shri Jawaid Akhtar, I.A.S, Chairman of the Coffee Board of India, said: “I am happy that the NESCAFÉ PLAN is being launched in India. It will provide coffee farmers with technology and best practices for sustainable production of high quality coffee and also benefit them with improved access to markets.”
During the event the first group of 20 farmers who have been trained under the NESCAFÉ PLAN were felicitated. While formally releasing the training manual ‘NESCAFÉ Better Farming Practices’, Nandu Nandkishore, Nestlé Executive Vice President and Zone Director for Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Middle East, said: “NESCAFÉ is the world’s leading coffee brand. As a leader we have the responsibility to continue to supply good quality coffee to consumers, while ensuring that coffee farming remains attractive for farmers and is sustainable across the value chain.
The NESCAFÉ PLAN demonstrates our commitment to working with thousands of farmers around the world, including in India, to provide training and technical assistance. By working with farmers in this way, we know where the coffee comes from, and they know they have a partner who will give them competitive prices for high quality produce.
There is a mutual interest. If we want to be successful in the long term we need to create value for our shareholders at the same time as for the communities in which we operate”.
In recent years Nestlé India has been doing extensive work to improve penetration of its high quality NESCAFÉ instant coffee amongst consumers and expand the market. The NESCAFÉ PLAN is important to ensure that the business is sustainable and that the coffee farmers also benefit. It reflects Nestlé’s business philosophy that it must create value for its shareholders as well as the communities where it operates.
Mr. A. Helio Waszyk, Chairman and Managing Director, Nestlé India said: “Indian coffee is very good and currently amongst the best in the world and we would like to use our own expertise in coffee to help it retain its excellence in the future as well. In the NESCAFÉ PLAN our team will work with coffee farmers as well as other experts and the Nestlé R&D Centre in France to combine the traditional wisdom amongst the coffee farmers in India with the benefits of modern science to make coffee farming more successful and sustainable.”
Currently The Coffee Board of India assists in research, development, extension, quality checks, market information and the domestic and external promotion of coffee from India. Nestlé India agronomists will also work with coffee farmers and train them on how they can further improve the productivity and quality of coffee in a sustainable and efficient manner.
Related information:
Nestlé Website
Nescafé website
Nescafé India Facebook page
Nescafé Plan global launch
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