Nestlé and Cargill to create low-carbon fertilizer from cocoa shell waste

12 Sep 2023 --- Nestlé UK & Ireland and Cargill have unveiled a regenerative agriculture initiative to recycle cocoa shells from a confectionary site in York, UK, into a low-carbon fertilizer. A two-year trial, using a process from CCm Technologies, will determine the fertilizer’s performance on crop production, soil health and reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In the ongoing trial, the partners manufacture fertilizers for two UK farms that supply wheat to Nestlé factories producing breakfast cereals and pet food.

The initiative could produce up to 7,000 metric tons of low-carbon fertilizer in York for farmers in Nestlé’s UK wheat supply chain. This represents around 25% of Nestlé UK’s total fertilizer use for wheat. 

“Farmers often find themselves among the first groups to be exposed to global issues, and these risks are then borne by the food system we depend on. We have to find ways to build more resilience into the system, and optimizing our use of natural resources is a critical part of this,” says Matt Ryan, regeneration lead at Nestlé UK & Ireland.  

“This project is a small but meaningful step toward a net zero future, where farmers, local enterprises and nature all stand to benefit.”

KitKat to fertilizer  
Cargill will supply the cocoa shells for the initiative, which processes cocoa in York to produce ingredients for confectionery such as chocolate brands KitKat and Aero. 

“Cargill and Nestlé have been working together for more than 60 years building resilient supply chains across communities where we both operate,” says Sam Thompson, global engineering lead at Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate.

“We are excited to continue to build on this strong partnership through our innovative cocoa shell fertilizer trial. We hope to contribute to a more sustainable future for the British farming industry.” 

More than half of the current carbon footprint of wheat grown in the UK is related to fertilizer use, while the production and use of conventional fertilizer accounts for around 5% of global GHG emissions. 

Richard Ling, farm manager at Rookery Farm, and Matthew Ryan, regeneration lead at Nestlé UK and Ireland.Upcycling waste materials 
Recycling nutrients from waste streams within the food system provides an opportunity to create a lower emissions supply chain, note the partners. Farmers can offer a more sustainable product at a reliable price by scaling up low-carbon fertilizer production in the UK. 

“Moving to a more sustainable world involves creating partnerships that think about waste differently,” highlights Pawel Kisielewski, CEO of CCm Technologies.  

“CCm’s technology enables many of the biggest players across agriculture and the food sector to give waste generated from routine food manufacturing a second lease of life as valuable low-emission sustainable fertilizer. This benefits farmers, customers and the planet.” 

Testing it out  
The trials are on arable farms in Suffolk and Northamptonshire, UK. They are designed to investigate the performance of the fertilizer in terms of wheat yield and quality. Moreover, they will assess the impacts on soil biodiversity and GHG emissions compared to conventional products. 

“We have now finished harvesting, and we’ve successfully grown a Winter wheat crop using this new fertilizer,” highlights Richard Ling, farm manager at Rookery Farm, Wortham in Norfolk, who supplies wheat to Nestlé Purina. 

He adds that they compared two parts of the field, one using the cocoa shell fertilizer and the other using a conventional fertilizer. “There is no significant difference in the yield, so we can see that it works.”

“We are reassured with the results and are looking at running further trials,” he continues. “It’s a step change to be able to use a fertilizer made from a waste stream and see the same results as using a conventional product.”

“It’s an exciting and promising time, and we are pleased to participate in these trials to help reduce the carbon emissions from our farming.”   

In other developments across the field, Nestlé recently invested in regenerative agriculture practices for its US wheat supply and pizza ingredients. Also, Cargill previously told Food Ingredients First that it aims to reduce its GHG emissions by 10% by 2025 and, in 2030, 30% of its extended supply chain emissions per ton of product sold. 

Edited by Jolanda van Hal