Nestlé Philippines said its local buying of robusta coffee beans for this crop year 2019-2020 increased by 27 percent over the previous crop year, higher than originally expected as local crop yields were better than forecast.
As the biggest local manufacturer in the Philippine coffee industry, Nestlé produces its Nescafe brand at its Cagayan de Oro factory.
Last year, Nestlé updated the criteria for its local procurement of coffee beans while preserving the quality of its brand. Nescafe Classic has one ingredient: green coffee. During its manufacturing process, only green coffee and water are used. With no additional ingredients, Nescafe Classic is 100 percent pure coffee.
Farmers selling coffee beans to Nestlé Philippines have said the new criteria are making it easier for them to sell their produce, and to provide greater volumes to the company.
Processing time has been cut down, increasing frequency of delivery. The workload of farmers likewise has been reduced, particularly in harvesting, drying, and sorting produce.
According to Nestlé Philippines chairman and chief executive officer Kais Marzouki, the company is constantly pursuing efforts to support Filipino coffee farmers who are in need of assistance from various stakeholders, especially consumers.
He said when consumers buy locally manufactured products with raw materials grown in the country, they are in fact helping Filipino coffee farmers.
Driven by a flagship education and training initiative of the Nescafe Plan called Project Coffee+, the yields and incomes of 1,500 beneficiary farmers in Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat have increased. On average, production by participating farmers has doubled, while incomes have tripled, as independently verified by the Rainforest Alliance.
Nestlé has been supporting Filipino farmers since 2008, providing various forms of technical assistance and training on Nescafe Better Farming Practices including Coffee Production Technology Training and modules from the global Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C). The company has trained an average of 7,000 Filipino farmers per year since 2012.
“We are buying as much coffee as we can locally, and are increasing our direct purchasing from farmers and cooperatives. As we help generate livelihood opportunities, we offer a ready market for robusta coffee farmers based on world market prices,” Marzouki said.
He added Nestle stands in solidarity with Filipino coffee farmers during this COVID-19 pandemic.
Under its Kasambuhay ng Pamilyang Pilipino program which has reached out to one million families impacted by the pandemic, Nestlé Philippines provided Kasambuhay Kits consisting of Nestlé products to 10,000 coffee farmers in Bukidnon and Sultan Kudarat.
