Nestlé brings out highest quality of Vietnam’s coffee

William Mackereth, supply chain director of Nestlé Vietnam

HOW CAN NESCAFÉ PLAN IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF COFFEE PRODUCTION IN VIETNAM, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME HELPING FARMERS GET A BETTER LIFE?

In late 2011, Nestlé announced the implementation of the Nescafé Plan in Vietnam. Helping Vietnamese farmers with their crops is among the most important aspect of our Nescafé Plan. Our Nescafé agronomists provide training and technical assistance on good agriculture practices to farmers. We have invested in technology that helps farmers track and record their entire farming process, which includes managing pests and diseases, concentrating on post-harvest quality, and ensuring the clean storage of the beans. We have seen a huge improvement in farming practices and coffee quality and we are very proud of the achievements so far. The Nescafé Plan has proven to have a strong impact on farmers’ livelihoods, the communities in which these farmers work, and the environment. We want to increase farms’ commitment to sustainability, which is evident through our use of the 4C certification scheme within our “Grown Respectfully” approach. Every part in the coffee supply chain is closely interconnected. First, we help farmers respect the 4C scheme and if anyone is found to be violating these standards, they are removed from Nescafé Plan until they remedy the problem. Second, besides farming, our certification scheme encompasses storage and coffee bean handling, thus not only the farmer but also the Collector is 4C certified. This shows that not only Nescafé Plan farmers are 4C compliant, but other parties in the value-chain are also fully integrated into the scheme. Finally, 4C certification gives our customers and consumers confidence in the Coffee supply chain as the standards are independently audited & verified by a third party. These standards are fully maintained in our world-class processing and packing factories. Overall, our end-to-end value stream comes together to ensure the highest quality of coffee and the consistency of taste. We want to provide consumers anywhere with the Nescafé taste that they love.

Nestlé brings out highest quality of Vietnam’s coffee

WHAT ELSE ARE YOU DOING TO PROMOTE VIETNAMESE COFFEE TO THE WORLD AND STRENGTHEN YOUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT?

Nescafé itself is a global brand that does not have one specific origin. However, our local brand called Nescafé CaféViet is a Vietnamese brand using coffee produced here. It is intended for both exports and domestic consumption. Our exports of Nescafé CaféViet go around the world and we are continually looking for opportunities to further grow this brand. Most recently, for example, we have sent several containers to the Eastern US and are hoping that this will be the start of a regular new business.

We consider our collaboration with the Vietnamese government to go in parallel with what we have been doing with the Nescafé Plan. A highlight is our participation and leadership in the Grow Asia public-private partnership (PPP) programme, developed by the World Economic Forum. We also work with WASI (the Western Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute), to support both our Nescafé Plan and the PPP, in developing the best plants, ideally suited for Vietnam’s specific conditions.

DO YOU HAVE ANY INTENTION TO GROW ARABICA COFFEE IN VIETNAM? HOW ABOUT ORGANIC PLANTATIONS?

Our Nescafé products for both exports and/or local consumption are made with the high quality Robusta coffee beans produced here in the Central Highlands. There is an opportunity in the future to expand into Arabica. Once our Nescafé Dolce Gusto brand (capsule for coffee making machines) grows and enjoys commercial success, it will give us the opportunity to work with Arabica growers here in Vietnam. On the Organic subject, we have already done some organic coffee bean processing in Vietnam.

The Coffee Decaffeination facility installed in our state-of-the-art Nescafé Tri An factory in the southern province Dong Nai, has been certified as organic, as we use only water to wash the caffeine from the coffee beans so it is an entirely organic compliant process. With this in mind, it will be great if we can expand the organic opportunity in Vietnam, but for the time being, the commercially available amount of organic coffee here is very small and we need to see some growth in both consumer demand and production for it to be economically viable. Once this happens, we are ready to respond quickly and run production of great tasting organic Nescafé products here in Vietnam.