Nestlé Nespresso director addresses Colombian Coffee Growers on sustainability

Nestlé Nespresso SA director, Guillaume Le Cunff, addressed the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) on 2 December, citing sustainability as a key discerning factor in sourcing coffee. Le Cunff, Nespresso’s Director of International Marketing and Strategy, addressed the 76th National Congress of the FNC, with many growers following the speech from FNC offices around the country. He hailed the country for having “some of the highest quality coffees in the world”. In 2010, Nespresso sourced around 25 per cent of its green coffee from Colombia. The coffees were primarily sourced from farmers taking part in its AAA Sustainable Quality Program, with 36,000 farmers producing their coffee under those guidelines. The FNC’s CEO Luis G. Muñoz says that farmers taking part in the program have seen higher prices for their efforts, helping 130,000 people improve their quality of life. “Sustainable growth has to start with a commercially viable product,” Muñoz says. “That requires top quality coffee and a long-term commitment from producers and buyers.” In Colombia, more than 296,000 hectares were cultivated in 2010 according to the AAA sustainability guidelines, a 20-fold increase from 2005, when 15,000 hectares were part of such a program. In 2010 and 2011, more than 100 dedicated Nespresso and FNC agronomists, financed by Nespresso, have been working directly with coffee growers to improve quality and yield, and reduce environmental impact and waste. One of Nespresso’s offerings, Rosabaya de Colombia, was made exclusively of Colombian coffee, and is a result of direct work with the FNC. Rosabaya is sourced from two AAA clusters in the Cauca and Nariño regions, encompassing 27,000 Colombian coffee growers. Since Nespresso launched the Nespresso AAA Program with the Rainforest Alliance in 2003, it has been operating in five main regional districts, Cauca, Nariño, Caldas, Antioquia and Huila.