BeanScene discovers what drives Nestlé and its dedicated foodservice division, Nestlé Professional, towards creating a more sustainable future for the coffee industry, and for its customers.
While Nestlé has expressed the ambition to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, at the heart of its goals lies the aim to inspire collective action in its customers and end consumers. In this way, as the world’s largest food and beverage company, Nestlé has a unique opportunity to address the issue of climate change.
“Climate change is one of the biggest threats we face as a society. It is also one of the greatest risks to the future of our business,” Nestlé Professional General Manager Scott Stuckmann says. “Deploying Nestlé’s resources and industry know-how, we know we can make a difference at a significant scale, both globally and locally.”
Nestlé’s holistic approach to sustainability builds on more than a decade of work culminating in its Net Zero Roadmap, released in 2020. This identified science-based carbon emission targets of 20 per cent by 2025, 50 per cent by 2030, and net zero by 2050.
“We have created a three-stage plan which will see us first accelerate our sustainable sourcing, manufacturing, and packaging efforts, moving more of our brands to become carbon neutral by 2025. Our next step will involve us globally investing in new technologies and making fundamental changes to our products and businesses by 2030. We’re also taking steps to achieve a regenerative food system at scale with advanced agricultural techniques,” says Scott.
As part of Nestlé’s Net Zero Roadmap, Nestlé has made the commitment to have 100 per cent of its coffee responsibly sourced by 2025. This means that the coffee can be traced back to an identified farmer group and verified or certified by independent organisations.
“From the plants to our cup, we put a lot of love into our coffee. We aim to reduce carbon emissions where we source coffee and throughout our operations. We are also addressing our coffee’s packaging materials and taking many steps to help reach Nestlé’s commitment to making our packaging 100 per cent recyclable or reusable by 2025,” says Scott.
Nestlé’s sustainability focus is evident across the entire value chain. “We roast all of our whole coffee bean range locally in Gympie in Queensland. More than 80 per cent of the total energy at our Gympie factory is renewable energy, sourced from 100 per cent renewable electricity and other renewable sources, including used coffee grounds. This kind of circular innovation is a great example of sustainability in action,” says Scott.
At the other end of the value chain, Nestlé Professional is also working with its customers to encourage more sustainable purchasing and consumption.
Unsustainable coffee production can have an adverse impact on people and the environment. With an ever-increasing number of end consumers searching for a sustainably sourced brew, the impetus is being placed on cafés and restaurants to identify and use sustainable coffee beans in their establishments.
“Sustainability has become increasingly important to today’s consumer, and they are more interested than ever in supporting sustainable products and businesses who can reduce the impact of climate change,” Scott says.
Nestlé Professional works with the Rainforest Alliance for certification, validating that the coffee has been produced using methods that support their three pillars of sustainability: environmental, economic, and social. The company plans to source all blends under its The Roaster Guy brand from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms by 2023. Already, its Brazilian beans in this range are completely sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms, while 35 per cent of the beans featured in the Merchant’s Vice, Traveller’s Pick and Wanderer’s Brew blends have become Rainforest Alliance Certified.
By ensuring coffee meets sustainability standards, Scott says benefits can be felt throughout the whole value chain and the future supply of high-quality coffee can be secured.
As organisations like the Rainforest Alliance create an easier route towards sourcing more sustainably, cafés and restaurants can aspire and search for other ways to incorporate more sustainable practices into their businesses. Examples of this might be as simple as participating in recycling programs for single-use coffee cups or promoting the use of reusable coffee cups.
“I think if we all do our part, we can achieve real change both within our business and our supply chain. Supporting our customers goes beyond supplying more sustainably sourced and produced coffee, we want to help educate and inspire them to operate more sustainably and in doing so, be part of the climate change solution,” says Scott.
For more information, visit https://nestleprofessionalbeverages.com.au/.
This article appears in the June 2022 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
