Sustainability

Founded in 1851, Volcafe is one of the top three coffee merchants sourcing 12% of the world’s export of market. Specialists in worldwide green coffee procurement, we provide beans for 80 billion cups of coffee a year

We founded Volcafe Way in 2014 as a unique global approach to sourcing high-quality coffees sustainably, largely focused on generating sustainable profitability for producers and helping them manage the social and environmental challenges they face.

Donors/Partners:

In this program we cooperate commercially with many roasters. Additionally, we have also partnered with the NGO Fundación Paraguaya to pilot their ground-breaking multi-dimensional poverty index assessment technology, the Poverty Stoplight (Semaforo de Pobreza).

Key activities:

Through Volcafe Way and its 250 agronomists and technicians we:

• provide direct technical assistance to farmers, helping them to continually improve their coffee quality, farm productivity and yields;
• train farmers in sustainable production and good agronomy;
• help producers manage social and environmental challenges and risks, gather data and focus on measurable results that green-buyer customers can monitor and verify;
• create business-model farms: learning hubs in which surrounding communities can exchange best practices

Our focus on farm profitability is at the core of our Theory of Change. Therefore, we focus on:

• Intervention at the farm level;
• Consistent farm profitability;
• Close working relationships between producers and Farmer Support Organization (FSO) teams;
• Business and agronomy advice that’s informed by detailed cost-of-production data derived and analysed on a farm-by-farm basis;
• Connecting producers and roasters in direct, long-term sourcing relationships.

Signature projects/tools:

• Our Volcafe Way experts have developed an app that allows us to capture and analyze all field-related data and track the sustainable profitability ‘progress’ made by our coffee families.
• For information on projects, please check the Volcafe Way website: www.volcafeway.com.

Priority countries and corresponding areas of activities

Volcafe Way is now active in ten countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America: Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Tanzania and Uganda.

To fulfil the promise to consumers, Nespresso depends on a reliable source of the highest quality coffee. Working closely with farmers, cooperatives and other partners is the only way to strengthen the resilience of coffee producing regions and communities – especially to economic uncertainties, social inclusion and climate change. The Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program has been designed and launched in 2003 in collaboration with the Rainforest alliance.  Through long-standing partnerships with farmers, coffee suppliers, and cooperatives, and with support from NGOs, it promotes the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices on the farm and landscape levels as well as improves the productivity and quality of harvests. Since 2014, the program has also aimed at innovating solutions for broader systemic challenges faced by the farming communities, such as climate change and price volatility. The benefits for producers are multiple: technical assistance, training, premium on quality, and inclusion in co-financed projects such as retirement savings plans and agroforestry. Thanks to the network of more than 400 agronomists, the program covers more than 110,000 producers in 16 countries. In 2019, around 40 MCHF have been invested in the program (technical assistance, premium and interventions).

Donors/Partners:

Over the past 10 years we have worked with several donors like World Bank/IFC, USAID, IDH, Colombian and Dutch governments.

The Program is implemented together with a range of partners amongst others: Rainforest Alliance, FairTrade International, Fairtrade USA, IUCN, Pur Project, Fair Labor Association, Farmers associations and cooperatives, academics. It has been included in many multistakeholder initiatives (Manos al agua in Colombia, Cerrado das Aguas in Brazil, Verité COFFEE project, …)

Key activities:

Activities are designed to deliver farmers’ resilience, assets and better manage the drivers of income.

• Sourcing and physical/financial traceability of the coffee purchase: Farmers engaged in the AAA Program receive a premium for the volume of coffee sold at quality
• Training and Technical Assistance for the adoption of sustainable agriculture practices (Economic, Social, Environmental), as well as quality – Productivity
• Interventions: Additional investment into projects initiatives to drive transformational changes such as the transition of coffee farms into Agroforestry models, water stewardship and water potabilization, gender equality initiative, …

Signature projects/tools:

• Reach: the program covers 16 countries, more than 110,000 farmers and 300,000 ha of land
• 95% of Nespresso coffee volume is sourced via the AAA Program, 56% comes from certified farms
• 4.5 million trees planted (timber, fruit and shade trees) on farm or in the surrounding landscape as part of the Agroforestry initiative
• Investments into reviving origins, origins exposed to political unrest or climatic disaster: Zimbabwe, Congo, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Caqueta (peace process in Colombia)
• Social initiatives: The farmer retirement savings plan launched in Colombia together with Fairtrade and the Colombian government, the crop insurance scheme piloted in Colombia, the Gender Equality program launched with an agronomist training curriculum in partnership with KIT

Priority countries and corresponding areas of activities

In 2020, the program covers 16 countries: Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Puerto Rico, Cuba.

Launched in 2010, the Nescafé Plan is how we Create Shared Value (CSV) in the coffee sector for farmers, communities and our planet and our commitment to continuously support responsible and increasingly sustainable value chains. It accelerated and expanded the work we had been doing for many decades to assist in ensuring the long-term supply of quality green coffee. It focuses on making coffee farming a more attractive activity for the present and future generations of coffee farmers, as well as improving the environmental footprint of both coffee farming and our own operations.

Donors/Partners:

Over the past 10 years we have worked with several donors like GIZ, SDC, USAID, IDH and RVO.

There are several partners with different roles, in responsible sourcing (4C, Rainforest Alliance, FairTrade among others), Farmer programs (FNC, EDE, Fundación Cohonducafe, Kahawatu, among others) and a global impact assessment partnership with the Rainforest Alliance.

Key activities:

The Nescafe Plan activities focus on responsible sourcing, improving farmer livelihoods and tackling climate change.

In responsible sourcing, to know where the coffee came from and how it was grown, we are significantly expanding our supplies of responsibly sourced coffee every year. We are already the largest single buyer of responsibly sourced coffee and look to reach 100% over the coming years.

For improving farmer livelihoods, we have farmer programs active in 15 countries, Arabica and Robusta across Latin America, Africa and Asia, reaching nearly 100’000 farmers every year with focus on improving farm economics as well as tailored social programs for women, youth and farmer business knowledge.

As for improving the environmental footprint of coffee farming, we have tailored programs for water conservation, optimized fertilization, agroforestry and intercropping.

Signature projects/tools:

• 530k MT of Responsibly Sourced coffee in 2019 (65% of total supplies)
• Farmer programs in 15 countries, reaching nearly 100’000 farmers every year
• 225 mio coffee plantlets distributed to farmers since 2010
• More than 700’000 farmer trainings since 2010
• 10 Arabica and 5 Robusta new and improved varieties from our breeding program released across 5 origin countries
• 45% factory GHG emissions reduction per MT of soluble coffee vs. 2010
• 52% factory direct water withdrawal reduction per MT of soluble coffee vs. 2010

Priority countries and corresponding areas of activities

We have active farmer programs in (alphabetical order): Brazil, China, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Thailand and Vietnam.

At EFICO, green coffee specialist since 1926, contributing to a positive impact and coffee legacy is key. Our sustainable sourcing commitment goes hand in hand with investment in a sustainable coffee future through our EFICO Foundation.

COFFEE FOR PEOPLE, PEOPLE FOR COFFEE

Established as a private foundation in 2003 by Patrick F. Installé, late member of EFICO’s founding family and Michel Germanès, Managing Director, the EFICO Foundation’s goal is to positively impact coffee farmers’ livelihoods, prosperity and environment. The multi-stakeholder approach adopted is unique and is a dynamic tool to foster partnerships. The EFICO Foundation is about PEOPLE – from coffee farmers, their families and local communities to coffee roasters and coffee lovers.

Donors/Partners:

Innovative and scalable projects are supported in coffee producing countries, along with the coffee roasting community and institutional partners.

Key activities:

Foster partnership building, quality education, knowledge transfer, actively work to adapt to and mitigate negative effects of climate change & sustainable income increase for coffee farmers

Signature projects/tools:

• Colombia ∙ A new generation of coffee entrepreneurs  
• DR Congo ∙ Strengthening of two smallholder coffee cooperatives beyond their break-even towards full financial autonomy
• Ethiopia ∙ Improve quality education in primary schools of coffee producing communities
• Guatemala & Honduras ∙ World Coffee Research Global Coffee Monitoring Program
• Guatemala ∙ Knowledge transfer and quality education as a driver for women smallholder coffee producers and youth
• Guatemala ∙ First climate-friendly coffee worldwide: Promoting climate-friendly practices in coffee, pilot project 
  and replication : Implementing climate-friendly coffee farming in Central America

Priority Countries and corresponding areas of activities:

Since 2003, the EFICO Foundation reports back and shares learnings on more than 70 projects in 17 producing countries. This fits within a larger framework of our commitment to the principles of the United Nations Global Compact and Sustainable Development Goals.