Why coffee is at risk of extinction
Managing Director of coffee at Nestlé UK&I and Erinch Sahan of Doughnut Economics Action Lab share their approaches to tackling the major issues facing the coffee industry.
Jane Aldridge, Managing Director of Coffee at Nestlé UK & IE
Jane leads the Retail Coffee Business for Nestlé UK & IE, including the No1 Coffee Brand, NESCAFÉ. For the past 25 years, Jane has developed brands and categories across Nestlé’s coffee, confectionery, and dairy businesses. She is proud to have helped activate the first Nescafé Plan in 2011 and positively champions the latest brand blueprint for the future of coffee – the Nescafé Plan 2030.
Erinch Sahan, Business and Enterprise Lead at Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL)
Before DEAL, Erinch was the Chief Executive of the World Fair Trade Organization and previously spent 7 years at Oxfam leading campaign initiatives and founded Oxfam’s Future of Business Initiative.
Erinch is a board member of the Social Enterprise World Forum and teaches sustainable value chains at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
Conversation summary
- Jane provides an overview of the Nescafé Plan 2030 which includes (among other goals):
- reducing the impact of greenhouse gases involve
- growing farmers’ and communities’ incomes and livelihoods
- investing 1 billion Swiss francs in invested regenerative agriculture
- Farmers are experiencing growing inequality in ecological problems.
- Erinch advocates a new system where corporate models support social and planetary goals and profit margins are flexible to allow for regenerative practices. He views this as the solution for the transformative change that is needed.
- Erinch advocates a new system where corporate models support social and planetary goals and profit margins are flexible to allow for regenerative practices. He views this as the solution for the transformative change that is needed.
- John talks of Cafédirect’s approach: paying a high price for coffee and buying Fairtrade and largely organic, and working with Producers Direct who support the farmer as a whole enterprise to diversify their income and increase it.
- Erinch explains how farmers are living in poverty despite shareholders earning more from coffee and that a focus on the bottom line is holding back progress on regenerative agriculture and new greener ideas.
- Jane speaks of the consideration of product price where consumers’ money is becoming more precious and that Nescafé focuses on the short-term where they have the most influence.
- Erinch argues that the price of coffee paid and stable contracts are linked to social and ecological outcomes which should be a focus for long-term change, rather than short-term programmes.
- John talks of Cafédirect’s approach: paying a high price for coffee and buying Fairtrade and largely organic, and working with Producers Direct who support the farmer as a whole enterprise to diversify their income and increase.
- Erinch explains how farmers are living in poverty despite shareholders earning more from coffee and that a focus on the bottom line is holding back progress on regenerative agriculture and new greener ideas.
- Jane speaks of the consideration of product price where consumers’ money is becoming more precious and that Nescafé focuses on the short-term where they have the most influence.
- Erinch argues that the price of coffee paid and stable contracts are linked to social and ecological outcomes which should be a focus for long-term change, rather than short-term programmes.
References
Doughnut Economics: Seven ways to think like a 21st Century Economist. Kate Raworth – the book