Nestlé to keep supporting coffee farmers

Global food company, Nestlé, has reaffirmed its commitment to continue offering technical support to over 26,000 coffee farmers, to help them increase their yields and also improve the quality of the product.

“Kenya is known globally as a source of high quality coffee, most of which is from small scale farmers. We want to work closely with key partners, including farmers in Kenya, to provide ready market for their raw materials.” Said the company’s global CEO, Mr Paul Bulcke while visiting the inaugural Nestlé NESCAFÉ PLAN project in Karatina, which targets nine Farmer’s Cooperative Societies (FCS), with 27 wet mills and over 26,000 farming households in several coffee growing zones.

Nestlé announced in 2010 that it would double the amount of coffee bought directly from farmers to 180,000 tonnes over the next five years.

Currently, the company imports its coffee directly from its markets in South East Asia such as Thailand, China, Indonesia and the Philippines.

It is also buys coffee directly from farmers in Brazil, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire and Mexico.  In Africa, Nestlé sources coffee from Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.