Nestlé Cocoa Plan Extends to Indonesia

The Cocoa Plan was launched at a cocoa workshop event in Makassar, where various topics discussed included objectives for Indonesian sustainable cocoa development; and opportunities and challenges to strengthen Indonesian competitiveness as a cocoa producing country.

Aug 1 2011 --- Nestlé gains momentum in its commitment to sustainable cocoa production with the launch of The Cocoa Plan in Indonesia.

Aiming to impact on the lives of 10,000 Indonesian cocoa farmers and their communities by 2015, the Plan also seeks to increase cocoa productivity at farmer level by 30%.

As the third largest cocoa producing country in the world after Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, Indonesia will benefit from the Plan’s investment of over CHF 3.4 million (USD 4 million) over four years to train farmers, provide plant expertise, and support supply chain transparency.

In addition, it aims to improve livelihoods by focusing on projects related to nutrition education, water, and rural development, while also supporting the Company’s commitment to the environment.

Led by Nestlé Indonesia and supported by the Nestlé Research and Development Center in Tours, France, the official launch is in collaboration with the provincial Government of West Sulawesi and South Sulawesi in Indonesia, Armajaro, Petra Foods Ltd, and the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute (ICCRI).

The Cocoa Plan was launched at a cocoa workshop event in Makassar, where various topics discussed included objectives for Indonesian sustainable cocoa development; and opportunities and challenges to strengthen Indonesian competitiveness as a cocoa producing country.

Pierre Broun, Head of the Nestlé Research and Development Center in Tours; Hans Joehr, Corporate Head of Agriculture at Nestlé; and Michael Ulrich, Operations Manager of Nestlé Confectionery, also provided an insight into the Company’s global commitment on responsible sourcing of raw material and its approach to business with regards to Creating Shared Value.

Nestlé’s Cocoa Plan – launched in 2009 – aims to create a sustainable supply chain for the cocoa industry.  By improving the quality and quantity of yields, this will provide better quality cocoa and, in turn, also benefit cocoa farmers and their communities by providing them with long-term security and training expertise. 

Under The Cocoa Plan, Nestlé has provided an incentive of over CHF 880,000 (around CFA 500 million) to 20 cooperatives for successfully supplying the Company with high-quality cocoa beans, and to continue the impact of the programme in the country.

Nestlé aims to boost the Plan by distributing 600,000 high-yield and disease resistant plantlets from the Research and Development Center in Abidjan this year.  This builds on the 135,000 plantlets provided in 2010 to raise the quality of cocoa in the region.

Furthermore, around 5,000 farmers will be offered training in good agricultural practices in 2011.

To illustrate the Plan’s impact, the L’Union des Coopératives de Gagnoa (UCDG) in Côte d’Ivoire has reaped the benefits since its implementation.

Benefiting from Nestlé’s training and high quality plantlets, UCDG has become UTZ Certified and delivered over 1,200 tonnes of UTZ Certified cocoa beans since 2010.  This UTZ Code of Conduct sets stringent requirements for the farmers when it comes to the sustainable growing of coffee, cocoa and tea.

And in recognition for producing export-quality dried cocoa at its cooperative site, Nestlé provided a nursery of 30,000 plantlets to UCDG to help renew plantations.

In addition to its work in Côte d’Ivoire, The Cocoa Plan has helped over 1,500 farmers and 27 cooperatives in Ecuador through the implementation of its training expertise and distribution of plantlets.

To date, over 2,250 tonnes of cocoa beans under the Plan have been produced, including nearly a third which were UTZ Certified.

Further boosting Nestlé’s sustainable cocoa production, four cooperatives have achieved UTZ Certification since 2010, with two more cooperatives due to receive such official recognition.

Each month since May 2011, quantities of UTZ Certified cocoa liquor have been shipped to Nestlé Australia for the production of four-fingered chocolate wafer Kit Kat bars and Kit Kat Chunky 3 bars.

Nestlé’s achievements on The Cocoa Plan were recently praised after Nestlé Professional United Kingdom was crowned winner of the Sustainable Sourcing category in the Foodservice Footprint Awards in the UK.

Neil Stephens, Managing Director of Nestlé Professional UK and Ireland, who received the prize on behalf of the Company at the awards event in May 2011, said: “The Cocoa Plan helps Nestlé secure a long-term source of cocoa.  This will ensure foodservice operators and consumers will continue to enjoy and benefit from chocolate confectionery, such as the Out-of-Home market’s biggest brand, Kit Kat.

“The Awards are a fundamental way for the whole industry to help share best practice.  It is for this reason that we are delighted to have our own work and commitment recognised by this award win.”

Backed by an investment of CHF 110 million over the next decade, The Cocoa Plan aims to help address the key issues facing the cocoa farming communities.

Although the Plan is not a quick fix for the challenging cocoa situation, it is an important and significant part of broad, collaborative efforts to improve the quality of cocoa supply chain and the lives of cocoa farmers and communities.

This includes improving the quantity and quality of yields by providing 12 million stronger productive plantlets, to produce higher-quality cocoa beans.  This in turn will lead to farmers benefiting from greater income security and training in good agricultural practices.