BRAZIL |While global coffee demand has continued to rise, recent climate change modelling has suggested that land suitable for growing Arabica coffee might be reduced by over 50 percent by 2050.
To mitigate the impact of these changes on the coffee supply chain and to ensure that sustainably grown coffee is available to future generations, Nestlé has harnessed its agricultural sciences capabilities.
Nestlé's team of plant scientists and agronomists have achieved a significant milestone with the development of Star 4, a unique high-yielding Arabica coffee variety. This novel variety, selected in Brazil for its resilience, has maintained the characteristic taste of Brazilian coffee and offered a larger bean size and resistance to coffee leaf rust, setting it apart from other varieties.
"We are proud to make another important step towards resilient coffee supply chains, ensuring that consumers can continue to enjoy great coffee in the future. The new variety is characterised by its larger bean size and coffee leaf rust resistance,” said Jeroen Dijkman, Head of Nestlé’s Institute of Agricultural Sciences.
“Our field trials have demonstrated that using similar inputs, the yields of Star 4 are substantially higher than the two most used Brazilian local varieties, which reduces its carbon footprint.”
Improved plant productivity and farming methods have been attributed to reduced GHG emissions from higher coffee yields. Marcelo Burity, Nestlé’s Head of Green Coffee Development, said that optimising cultivation practices has remained vital as they are the primary factor contributing to the environmental impact of a cup of coffee.
Developing locally relevant solutions such as Star 4 also contributed to Nestlé’s Agriculture Framework, promoting sustainable farming practices and responsible sourcing. The first plants were tested in São Paulo and Minas Gerais, two traditional coffee regions in Brazil.
In partnership with the Brazilian foundation Procafé, Nestlé successfully registered the novel Arabica variety in Brazil. Beyond the development of Star 4, Nestlé previously developed two Robusta varieties, Roubi 1 and 2, which are being rolled out in Mexico.
