[[{“value”:”Image: Nestlé
Global coffee production is set to plummet by 2050 if current predictions are correct. GCR discovers how Nestlé is using agricultural science to develop new varietals that can withstand the shifting climate.
As some of the world’s largest coffee roasters, Nestlé has skin in the game when it comes to the future of the coffee-farming industry. Each year, the parent company purchases around 13 million bags of green coffee from 20 countries for its brands Nescafé, Nespresso, and Starbucks Coffee at Home, sourcing from and working alongside hundreds of thousands of smallholder coffee farmers. It’s presence is so big that it reports one in every seven cups of coffee consumed in the world is Nescafé.
Despite global demand for coffee continuing to rise, the future of these farmers, Nestlé’s coffee brands, and the industry at large is under threat due to the effects of climate change. According to a 2022 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, by 2050 the land suitable to grow Arabica coffee could be reduced by up to 50 per cent. What’s more, it’s not just the future of coffee that’s at stake: producers around the world are already feeling the effects of our warming climate.
To future-proof its coffee businesses, Nestlé has turned to agricultural science to look for sustainable solutions that can mitigate impacts on the supply chain and ensure coffee is available to all those who want to drink it. In 2023, it opened the Nestlé Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Switzerland to help progress its work in advancing sustainable food systems.
“Our goal is to identify the most promising solutions to promote the production of nutritious raw materials while minimising their environmental impact. We take a holistic approach and look at several factors including impact on yield, carbon footprint, food safety, and cost, as well as the viability of scale-up,” says Jeroen Dijkman, Head of Nestlé Institute of Agricultural Sciences.
One such project has been the development of a new, high-yielding Arabica coffee variant, which Nestlé’s team of scientists believe is an important step towards creating resilient supply chains.
“The main challenges for coffee growing today are low yields, pest and diseases, and adaptation to a changing climate,” says Juan Carlos Herrera, Senior Coffee Breeder at Nestlé Research & Development.
“Nestlé works on all these aspects for the selection of new, high performing varieties.”
Image: Nestlé
The process of creating a new coffee plant variety starts in the lab, where an interdisciplinary team of research and development specialists, scientists, and agronomists explores the potential of existing genetic resources.
“The process starts with harnessing the natural genetic variety of coffee trees, making conventional crossings between trees harbouring the desired traits. For example, this could be crossing a variety with high yield that is susceptible to diseases with a variety with lower yield that is disease resistant,” says Herrera.
“After the crossing follows a selection process among the progenies to identify the trees carrying the combined desired traits.”
The traits the Nestlé team are focusing on are high yield, resistance to diseases such as coffee leaf rust, and resistance to drought, all of which can help coffee plants thrive in a more unpredictable climate. They also look for high-quality beans and sensory attributes.
“The selected trees are then tested in experimental plots, first at small scale on our experimental farms and later at larger scale in producing countries. Only the best performing trees will then be selected for local registration and distribution to farmers,” he says.
Trialling the trees in different producing countries, each with its own unique climate, elevation, and farming traditions, enables the scientists and agronomists to monitor the trees’ stability in different environments. This is another contributing factor to the success of the tree and whether it will be rolled out.
Following their most recent research project, Herrera and the Nestlé team have developed Star 4, a novel high-yielding Arabica coffee variety selected in Brazil for its resilience. They believe it shows a good cup quality close to Brazilian coffees, but with reduced environmental impact and higher yields.
“Star 4 was selected for its overall robustness and results in field trials where various key performance indicators were measured, including yield. The preliminary results are promising and are to be confirmed when we deploy the variety at a larger scale,” he says.
The hope is that Star 4 will not only be more resilient to the changing climate but will also contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions in the coffee industry. For example, if it is successful, the higher yield of the variety in comparison to traditional Arabica plants will reduce its carbon footprint because using the same fertilisation inputs could produce more coffee.
“Our calculations show a 50 per cent increase in yield will result in a 30 per cent reduction of the carbon footprint of green coffee after harvest,” says Herrera.
Image: Nestlé
Growing coffee varieties such as Star 4 with increased resistance to disease requires fewer pesticides, which also has a lower impact on the environment. Furthermore, varieties that are more tolerant to drought require less water and reduced irrigation during the dry season.
While Star 4 was selected for Brazilian conditions, it could also perform well in other coffee producing countries. However, Herrera stresses this might not be the case.
“It is difficult to extrapolate results in one region or country to others, mostly because the performance of a variety depends on variable factors such as climate, soil, presence of diseases, and farming practices,” he says.
According to Nestlé, reduced green- house-gas emissions from higher coffee yields are also attributed to improved plant productivity and farming methods.
“Optimising cultivation practices remains vital as they are the primary factor contributing to the environmental impact of a cup of coffee,” says Marcelo Burity, Nestlé Head of Green Coffee Development.
The company’s drive to develop new, resistant coffee varieties goes hand in hand with its focus on regenerative agriculture, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and improving farmers’ livelihoods. As part of its Nescafé Plan 2030, the company has pledged to make coffee farming more sustainable and is investing more than CHF 1 billion (around US$1.1 billion) in the project.
“Beyond its work on plants, Nestlé is engaged in agronomy and farming practices to reduce the environmental impact of coffee culture,” says Herrera.
“In 2023, our teams reached 277,000 farmers in 27 origins. The coffee growers took part in training on the principles of regenerative agriculture and more than 21 million coffee plantlets were distributed
to support renovation of their coffee farms. They also planted three million forest and fruit trees to help increase local biodiversity and build the natural resilience of their farms.”
One of the company’s ultimate goals within this plan is to achieve 100 per cent sustainably sourced coffee by 2025, an increase from 75 per cent achieved in 2020. According to Nescafé, responsible sourcing means: “making sure our coffee meets sustainability standards and that programs are checked by external bodies to bring benefits throughout the value chain and support the future supply of higher quality coffee”.
This article was first published in the September/October 2024 edition of Global Coffee Report. Read more HERE.
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