Nestle to invest U$350 million in sustainable coffee production

Nestle, the world leader in food industry, will invest U$350 million in phytotechnology projects to improve the sustainable production of coffee in the next ten years. Some of the resources should be applied in Brazil.

Phytotechnology is an emerging technology that uses various types of plants to degrade, extract, contain, or immobilize contaminants in soil and water. The company is one of the world’s biggest coffee buyers.

Today, 10% of grains used to produce Nescafé are obtained with direct purchases from producers, and the goal is to double this share to 20% by 2015. One of Nestlé’s flagship products is Nespresso, which achieved a growth of 28% this year and is close to reach U$3 billion in sales.

Petraea Heynike, company’s vice-president, said there are investments in the improvement of Brazilian coffee and operations will continue to help farmers achieve better productivity. In addition, Nestlé will invest U$110 million in the same type of initiative in the production of cocoa.

She argued that the shortage of cocoa increased the price to its highest level in almost three years – production increased by 14%, while consumption has doubled in the last two decades. Sales of Nestlé’s chocolate products rose 4% as of September 2009.

Source : FoodBizDaily