Nespresso is to announce its 2020 sustainability strategy based on a new CHF500 million (EUR414 million) investment to improve farmer welfare and drive environmental sustainability in coffee sourcing and consumption.
The new initiative, The Positive Cup, builds upon the steps that Nespresso has already taken over the past five years. Over the next six, Nespresso will source 100% of its permanent range of Nespresso Grand Cru coffees sustainably, through its Nespresso AAA Program, investing over CHF15 million in three African coffee-producing countries - Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan.
The AAA Program, launched in collaboration with The Rainforest Alliance in 2003, aims to protect the future of the highest quality coffees and secure the livelihoods of the farmers that grow them.
Nespresso will also become 100% carbon neutral, planting trees to compensate for its carbon footprint.
Nespresso also pledges to expand its capacity to collect used aluminium capsules to 100%, wherever the companies does business, and to recycle these used capsules into new ones in countries such as the UK and France.
It will announce a goal of sourcing 100% of aluminium capsule material compliant with the new Aluminium Stewardship Initiative standard being developed under the leadership of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The announcements will be made at the company’s second annual meeting of the Nespresso Sustainability Advisory Board, in Italy’s financial capital, Milan.
"The investment by Nespresso and TechnoServe in South Sudan’s coffee sector even while the conflict is ongoing, is providing much-needed income for hundreds of farmers and their families" George Clooney, Nespresso brand ambassador
"The development of even more innovative programmes with our partners demonstrates our commitment to generating positive impacts for all stakeholders across the entire value chain," said Nestlé Nespresso CEO Jean-Marc Duvoisin.
The new strategy is backed by the company’s Sustainability Board, including NGOs the Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade International, the IUCN, and Nespresso brand ambassador George Clooney.
Mr Clooney said the involvement of Nespresso and its partner, Technoserve, in South Sudan was also an investment in future prospects for the country’s peace and economic development.
Nespresso, the first major coffee company to re-enter South Sudan in 2011, has so far invested CHF700,000 in the region.
"The investment by Nespresso and TechnoServe in South Sudan’s coffee sector even while the conflict is ongoing, is providing much-needed income for hundreds of farmers and their families," Mr Clooney said.
Tensie Whelan, President of the Rainforest Alliance, said the Nespresso commitment to increase the amount of Rainforest Alliance certified coffee it buys to 50% from the 30% it currently uses, is an important step.
"It will provide further assurances to consumers that the coffee they are buying is having a positive impact,” she added. “We are proud of our long-standing relationship with Nespresso."
In March, Nespresso announced plans to set up a pilot retirement fund for AAA coffee farmers in Colombia.
"Farmers selling to Nespresso now have the option to invest Fairtrade Premiums in this first-of-its-kind retirement fund. It’s good news for the farmers," said Harriet Lamb, Chief Executive of Fairtrade International.
