Nestle project to boost coffee production
Eutacyus Muchiri harvests coffee at his Othaya home in Nyeri County yesterday. Coffee production in the country dropped due to poor weather. Photo/Wambugu Kanyi
Karatina offee farmers have been enrolled in a Nestlé’s Nescafe Plan project for technical assistance aimed at improving coffee production and quality. The inaugural Nestlé Nescafe PLAN project in Karatina, is targeting nine Farmer’s Cooperative Societies who run 27 coffee mills covering over 26,000 farming households in different coffee growing zones.
“The demand for coffee in the world market has shown a steady increase in the recent past and Nestlé, with its world famous coffee brands like Nescafé and Nespresso, is one of the buyers of world class coffee” said Nestle global Chief Executive, Paul Bulcke on a visit to Karatina Kenya is known globally as a source of high quality coffee, most of which is from small scale farmers and we want to work closely with key partners, to provide ready market for their raw materials.”
In 2010, Nestlé announced that it would double the amount of coffee bought directly from farmers to 180,000 tonnes over the next five years. Currently, the company sources its coffee directly from its markets in South East Asia, while in Africa, Nestlé sources coffee from Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. Nescafe Plan, was launched in Kenya in March 2012, in partnership with Coffee Management Services with an initial investment of Sh35 million.