{"id":22458,"date":"2017-11-14T16:09:15","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T21:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/the-bottomless-cup-nespressos-bid-to-save-coffee-from-climate-change\/"},"modified":"2017-11-14T16:09:15","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T21:09:15","slug":"the-bottomless-cup-nespressos-bid-to-save-coffee-from-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/the-bottomless-cup-nespressos-bid-to-save-coffee-from-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bottomless Cup: Nespresso\u2019s Bid to Save Coffee From Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nespresso (the widely-known brand name of Nestl\u00e9 Nespresso, S.A<\/em>.), is a business unit under Switzerland\u2019s Nestl\u00e9 Group that sources, processes, and sells coffee in single-serving aluminum pods for its proprietary espresso brewers. Unlike its Keurig competitor, which accepts an array of plastic pods containing coffees and teas sold in grocery stores, Nespresso\u2019s utilizes proprietary aluminum-encapsulated coffee pods. The pods are only available from Nespresso boutiques, the Nespresso website, or from a select few online vendors in the US (third-party coffee offerings are available in Europe).<\/p>\n

Nespresso devotes considerable effort to providing an exceptional coffee experience, and enjoys a strong reputation in the coffee community for sourcing quality coffee\u2014especially for a buyer of their scale.[1] As the owner and manager of a closed coffee sourcing ecosystem, Nespresso faces significant supply chain risk from the impending effects of climate change. This risk manifests in two forms: climatological threats to the small coffee farms responsible for 85% of production, and the potential for significant impairment of its materials supply chain due to climate legislation.[2],[3]<\/p>\n

To address these threats, Nespresso has undertaken several proactive measures. The most significant of these is the Nespresso AAA Sustainability Program<\/em>. Started in 2003, the program seeks to safeguard the production of its high-quality coffees through a comprehensive effort to combat the effects of climate change at the farm level. Upon entry into the AAA Sustainability Program, farmers receive technical training and hands-on assistance via two key subprograms: Resilient Farming Communities<\/em>\u00a0(RFC) and Coffee Landscape Conservation<\/em>. The RFC initiative focuses on securing overall farm yield and economic stability, with intergenerational succession planning and local climate adaptation efforts.[4] Coffee Landscape Conservation<\/em> promotes reforestation on farms\u2014termed \u201cagroforestry\u201d\u2014along with biodiversity assessments and water stewardship planning.<\/p>\n

As climate change alters rainfall patterns, the AAA <\/em>efforts have focused heavily on innovating how farmers use their water supplies. In 2012, Nespresso extended the program from its base in Latin America to East Africa in a bid to safeguard its coffee supply chain in Ethiopia\u2019s Sidama region. There, Nespresso helped renovate the Bokasso wetmill, allowing local producers to separate coffee pulp from wastewater. The resulting process reduced the pollution burden on the adjacent wetlands and allows the mill to recycle 40-60% of its water.[5] The Bokasso wetmill echoed a similar 2011 effort in Colombia, where the creation of a centralized processing mill unburdened farmers from processing their own harvest and reduced the annual crop loss of 50-53% to near zero.[6]<\/p>\n

In concert with efforts to insulate the coffee supply against climate change, management is also taking steps to protect the capsule supply chain and move the total production process to carbon neutrality. Accordingly, Nespresso helped form the Aluminum Stewardship Initiative<\/em> (ASI), a voluntary legal entity focused on aluminum sustainability. By 2008 estimates, 54% of the greenhouse gas emissions in aluminum production result from raw aluminum smelting.[7] Through ASI and management\u2019s internal goal of 100% pod recycling capacity and sustainable aluminum sourcing by 2020, Nespresso hopes to weather any future legislation against greenhouse-intensive bauxite[8] mining and production.[9]<\/p>\n

Over the next five to ten years, Nespresso\u2019s management should focus on deepening the reserves of sustainable coffee varieties within their ecosystem by partnering to create genetically-modified and microbially-enhanced coffee plants that can thrive in higher temperatures and reduced rainfall levels. This, combined with continued emphasis on water management at the producer and processor level, stands as the single best hedge against climate-based disruption to the global coffee supply chain.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Nespresso cannot afford to ignore the human element, especially in places like Ethiopia where climate change will demand that current coffees be grown at higher altitudes.[10] This presents the problem of limited mountaintop land rights and arable acreage in a country where coffee production is one of the few consistent economic opportunities, and yet coffee-suitable land could be reduced by 60% by next century. Current initiatives in education, agronomics, and retraining will be vital to attracting a new generation of innovative farmers into coffee production as agricultural challenges mount and new economic opportunities arise elsewhere.[11]<\/p>\n

As Nespresso moves forward with its comprehensive sustainability plan, three pressing questions come to the fore. First, how should Nespresso address total packaging waste, given that 100% capsule recycling capacity<\/em> is no guarantee that customers won\u2019t opt for the convenience of the trash can? Secondly, how can Nespresso protect the price and variety of select coffees as climate change strains agriculture in food-constrained countries where that coffee is produced? Thirdly, what (if any) involvement should Nespresso have in combating the spread of the Coffee Berry Borer and Coffee Rust, two natural enemies of coffee plants whose footprint will expand as the climate warms?[12]<\/p>\n

(775 words)<\/p>\n

[1] Anne Costello Johnson, interview by Thomas Root, July 4, 2017.<\/p>\n

[2] Nespresso, S.A., 2017 Positive Cup CSV Report, p. 59, https:\/\/www.nestle-nespresso.com\/asset-library\/documents\/nespresso-positive-cup-csv-report-interactive.pdf, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[3] Charlie Mitchell, \u201cThe Coffee Bean Belt: Climate Change Map,\u201d Financial Times, September 24, 2017. https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/a3b5748e-51c8-11e7-a1f2-db19572361bb, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[4] Nespresso, S.A., 2017 Positive Cup CSV Report, p. 27, https:\/\/www.nestle-nespresso.com\/asset-library\/documents\/nespresso-positive-cup-csv-report-interactive.pdf, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[5] Nespresso, \u201cThe Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality program in Ethiopia,\u201d Youtube, published May 15, 2017. https:\/\/youtu.be\/8KyizEtfZR8, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[6] Nespresso, \u201cCentral Mill \u2013 Jard\u00edn, Colombia,\u201d Youtube, published November 16, 2015. https:\/\/youtu.be\/4xhoVOIVBLM, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[7] Nico Tyabji and William Nelson, \u201cMitigating Emissions from Aluminum,\u201d Columbia University Climate Center Website, April, 2012, http:\/\/climate.columbia.edu\/files\/2012\/04\/GNCS-Aluminum-Factsheet.pdf accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[8] Bauxite is the raw ore mined to produce aluminum.<\/p>\n

[9] Nespresso, S.A., 2017 Positive Cup CSV Report, p. 55, https:\/\/www.nestle-nespresso.com\/asset-library\/documents\/nespresso-positive-cup-csv-report-interactive.pdf, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[10] Courtney Columbus, \u201cEthiopia\u2019s Coffee Farmers Are \u2018On the Front Lines of Climate Change,\u2019\u201d NPR News, June 9 2017. https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thesalt\/2017\/06\/19\/533538555\/ethiopias-coffee-farmers-are- on-the-front-lines-of-climate-change, accessed November 2017.<\/p>\n

[11] Nancy Coleman, \u201cClimate Change Could Lower the Quality of Your Coffee,\u201d CNN, June 21, 2017. http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/06\/21\/world\/coffee-climate-change-trnd\/index.html, accessed November, 2017.<\/p>\n

[12] The Coffee Berry Borer is a destructive insect and Coffee Rust is a destructive fungus. Both are becoming more widespread as cooler mountain temperatures that once kept them at bay are changing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nespresso is racing to save coffee from climate change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10043,"featured_media":22459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[3470,3487,3251,1218,614,1454,1453,2451,1991],"class_list":["post-22458","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agroforestry","category-agronomics","category-climate-adaptation","category-climate-change","category-coffee","category-coffee-borer","category-coffee-rust","category-farming-for-the-future","category-sustainable-agriculture","hck-taxonomy-organization-nespresso","hck-taxonomy-industry-food-and-beverage","hck-taxonomy-country-ethiopia"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/rc-tom-challenge-2017\/","yoast_head":"\nThe Bottomless Cup: Nespresso\u2019s Bid to Save Coffee From Climate Change - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/the-bottomless-cup-nespressos-bid-to-save-coffee-from-climate-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Bottomless Cup: Nespresso\u2019s Bid to Save Coffee From Climate Change - 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