BUSINESS STRATEGY

Nespresso investing millions in DRC to revive coffee production

By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2024

Swiss brand has pledged US$20-million of its own money and will help raise another $20-million to boost Kivu region of Congo.

The Nespresso coffee brand, which is part of Swiss-based Nestlé, is investing US$20–million into reviving specialty coffee production in the Democratic Republic of Congo by 2026.

Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric from Pexels

This will cover coffee purchases, price premiums, technical assistance, community projects, and assistance to local DRC coffee farmers to gain access to global markets.

In addition, Nespresso wants to help raise another $20-million to support coffee-growing communities in Kivu in the DRC.

Kivu is a generic name for an area considered to have the right conditions to produce high-quality coffee. However, this capability has never been fully realised due to ongoing instability.

“Kivu has the potential to be among the world’s great coffee regions, but has faced extremely challenging conditions in recent years,” says Nespresso CEO, Cuillaume Le Cunff.

Part of the Nespresso Reviving Origins programme

The initiative is part of the Nespresso Reviving Origins programme, created 10 years ago to help restore coffee production in regions under threat.

“We have joined forces with several partners, including the Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI)/ASILI, TechnoServe, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), The Global Environment Facility (GEF), Clarmondial, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Virunga Coffee to restore and revitalise Kivu as a leading source of high-quality, exceptional Arabica coffee,” adds Le Cunff.

Says William Warshauer, CEO of TechnoServe, an international non-profit that promotes business solutions to poverty in the developing world: “Nespresso’s commitment is creating lasting change. Equipping farmers with knowledge and market connections is having a transformative impact.”

Headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nespresso operates in 93 markets and has 14,000 employees. In 2023, it operated a global retail network of 791 boutiques.

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