As one of the more than 1 billion people worldwide who drink coffee daily, did you know that climate change is reducing the amount of arable land that it's possible to grow coffee on, while water shortages are reducing yields significantly?
With global coffee demand rising fast, we need to ensure that great tasting, sustainably grown coffee is available for generations to come.
As with any food product, the objective is to minimize coffee's carbon footprint. In this context it is important to note that green coffee beans are responsible for a significant percentage of greenhouse gas emissions associated with every cup of coffee. So the question is, how can we grow more high-quality coffee sustainably to meet rising global demand, while significantly reducing coffee's carbon footprint, to support Nestlé's commitment to net zero emissions by 2050?
To address this challenge, Nestlé's plant scientists are working to breed coffee varieties with higher yields and a lower carbon footprint that are more resistant to disease and drought. We recently developed the higher yielding Star 4 arabica variety by using traditional breeding methods. The new variety is characterized by its larger bean size and coffee leaf rust resistance. We also developed two new Robusta varieties, Roubi 1 and Roubi 2, with potential yields up to 50% more than standard varieties. Because farmers can now grow more coffee using the same amount of land, fertilizer and energy, the result is an up to 30% reduction in the carbon footprint of green coffee beans. Since the green beans account for 40-80% of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions per cup of coffee, the impact is massive.
In Côte d’Ivoire, experts from the Nestlé Institute of Agricultural Sciences together with external partners are researching how planting a mix of six different high-performing Robusta varieties can increase yields by over 80% with the same inputs compared to traditional methods where only a single variety is planted.
Deep plant science expertise and large 'library' of coffee varieties
To explore how we developed these new varieties, we need to step inside our R&D Department of Plant Sciences in Tours, France, which is part of the Nestlé Institute of Agricultural Sciences and is a pioneer hub for coffee and cocoa research. Here, and on the company's experimental coffee farms, you'll find our comprehensive greenhouses of coffee varieties. With climate change threatening many varieties, this collection helps to safeguard the coffee plant's full biodiversity.
This biodiversity also allows us to identify traits such as higher bean yields and better drought and disease resistance, which are found individually across different trees, and then to breed new, improved coffee varieties that combine these benefits. To reach this stage we apply advanced sequencing techniques to characterize the genetic makeup of the trees, while also recording their 'phenotypical' or observable traits.
World-class knowledge of traditional coffee breeding
Having screened and identified promising 'parent' coffee trees, we apply our world-class knowledge of traditional, non-GMO plant breeding and propagation to grow several hundred offspring or 'plantlets' of a given new variety for testing on the experimental farms.
Through these farms, and Nestlé's wider agronomic network, our teams have the unrivalled ability to test new coffee varieties across the Americas, Asia and Africa – to compare the plants' traits and performance under different soil and climatic conditions.
Once we’ve identified the best-performing varieties, we work with official coffee research institutes worldwide, cooperatives and local farmers to test the new varieties further under real life conditions. If farmers favor the new plants, they are registered with the local authorities in question, and propagated for distribution to farmers, including those registered in the Nescafé Plan.
Regenerative farming practices and local agronomist support
Nestlé agronomists then support farmers to ensure that the coffee is grown as sustainably as possible. Our teams guide farmers concerning the best tree architecture, assessment of soil quality, disease diagnosis, pest control measures and appropriate use of fertilizers. They show them how to use less water and energy while encouraging regenerative agricultural practices such as multi-cropping.
How is our low carbon coffee performing in the field? Well, following a thorough selection process by our scientists, farmers are now testing Star 4 in Brazil, while our new Robusta varieties are now being distributed in Mexico.
Trialing next generation coffee varieties
Damien Drouet, Head of the Plant Science Department at Nestlé R&D, is proud of what his skilled team has achieved to date, including the development of the new low carbon coffee varieties. Nonetheless, he is keen to emphasize that this is only the start, in terms of the new varieties that Nestlé is developing, using only traditional, non-GMO methods.
"Reducing the carbon footprint of green coffee is vital – for the sake of our planet and to help Nestlé achieve net zero emissions by 2050 – so developing new higher yielding varieties with an even lower carbon footprint, plus disease- and drought-resistance, remains a top priority," Damien says.
"That said, millions of improved coffee plantlets have already been distributed to farmers globally through our Nescafé Plan. These new varieties have enabled them to significantly increase their yields, and improve their incomes, sustainably."
Reducing the carbon footprint of green coffee is vital – for the sake of our planet and to help Nestlé achieve net zero emissions by 2050Damien Drouet, Head of the Plant Science Department at Nestlé R&D
To help identify the next generation of resilient coffee varieties, Nestlé experts are leveraging data science and artificial intelligence. They developed a high quality arabica reference genome. The reference genome, which is in a publicly available digital database, makes it easier to analyze different traits of coffee varieties to identify specific traits such as better yield, coffee cherry size and greater resilience to disease or drought, as well as flavor or aroma characteristics.
This new reference is like a high-quality map of a big city that helps to identify key genetic markers in the arabica genome responsible for specific traits in adult plants. This will help our plant scientists and other experts to better identify, select and breed new and improved arabica coffee varieties.
Across every stage in the value chain, from breeding and growing coffee sustainably in the fields, roasting green beans to perfection and then grinding and brewing them to create the most delicious and aromatic cup, Nestlé low carbon coffee revolution is brewing. With its longstanding expertise in coffee plant science, Damien's team is helping to 'plant the seeds.'
