More than 4,500 Coffee Farmers in Central America Able to Benefit from Expanded Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality Program
San Jose, Costa Rica (ots)
- To access an accompanying photo, please go to http://www.presseportal.ch/de/story.htx?firmaid=100007465&lang=2 -
International Finance Corporation and Nestlé Nespresso to Invest $500,000 over two years to assist farmers in Central America
In conjunction with the 2006 Sintercafé conference, Nestlé Nespresso, the pioneer in premium portioned coffee, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, announced a partnership in which the two organisations will provide a total of $500,000 over two years to expand the NESPRESSO AAA SUSTAINABLE QUALITY PROGRAM in Central America, a critically important coffee-growing area.
The financing will be used so Nestlé Nespresso can expand the scope of its AAA PROGRAM and make improvements in the quality and sustainability farm practices in regions of three important Central American coffee-growing countries, including Costa Rica (La Giorgia and Orosi), Guatemala (Huehuetenango), and Mexico (Ixhuatlan).
The AAA PROGRAM is an innovative approach to ensuring that both consumers and farmers benefit from the quest of Nestlé Nespresso for highest quality at every step of the value chain.
Nestlé Nespresso will use the Tool for the Assessment of Sustainable Quality (TASQ), to conduct more than 4,500 farm assessments. This tool was specially created to gauge farm performance against sustainability and highest-quality farming practices. There will be no cost passed on to the farmers, which is a marked advantage especially for those smaller farms who do not typically have the monetary means to pay for assessments.
"We are delighted the IFC has recognised the quality of our AAA PROGRAM and the TASQ(tm) tool by agreeing to co-finance the expansion of the program in Central America," said Gerhard Berssenbrügge, CEO of Nestlé Nespresso. "We look forward to making a significant impact in the areas where we source our coffee in collaboration with our strategic partners ECOM and Rainforest Alliance."
"The new Nestlé Nespresso partnership with the IFC is a further development of the Nestlé Shared Value Creation approach," said Hans Jöhr, Corporate Head of Agriculture, Nestec SA. "It is part of a wider one million dollar public-private partnership between Nestlé and the Latin America and Caribbean Facility of the IFC with the objective of offering technical assistance to farmers throughout Central America."
Rainforest Alliance, a leading sustainable agriculture NGO and co-partner of the AAA PROGRAM, will use its team of agronomists based on the ground in these coffee-growing countries to consult with the farmers and provide independent verification of these farm assessments.
"We applaud the effort that Nestlé Nespresso has made in getting farms on the path toward sustainability and success," said Chris Wille, Chief of Sustainable Agriculture, Rainforest Alliance. "We welcome the opportunity to work with the IFC, which will allow us to bring the benefits of sustainable agriculture to many more farmers and rural communities while protecting the environment on which their future depends."
ECOM Agroindustrial Corporation, one of the leading international green coffee suppliers and a key collaborator of Nestlé Nespresso, has played a strategic role in developing the program and will continue its drive towards sourcing AAA coffees from the region.
Nestlé Nespresso
For more information on Nestlé SA Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and the report on "Creating Shared Value", visit www.nestle.com/Our_Responsibility/Responsibility.htm. For more information on the Nespresso AAA SUSTAINABLE QUALITY Program, visit www.nespresso-aaa-program.com.
International Finance Corporation For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
Rainforest Alliance For more information, visit www.rainforest-alliance.org
ECOM Agroindustrial Corp. Ltd. For more information, visit www.ecomtrading.com
For More Information: To access an accompanying photo, please go to http://www.presseportal.ch/de/story.htx?firmaid=100007465&lang=2
Contact:
Nestlé Nespresso
Hans-Joachim Richter
E-Mail: hans-joachim.richter@nespresso.com
Tel.: +41/21/796'96'96
Weber Shandwick
Christine Saunders
E-Mail: csaunders@webershandwick.com
Tel.: +41/78/718'18'03