How the Nescafé Plan Is Transforming the Global Coffee Supply Chain
Whether your preferred coffee is a creamy macchiato, a refreshing cold brew or a traditional cup of black coffee, conversations about quality often begin with the bean, the roast or the brewing method. But the foundation of good coffee starts much earlier—in the soil.
Soil is a complex and living ecosystem that plays a critical role in determining the health, productivity and resilience of crops. Its condition directly influences how plants access nutrients, retain water and withstand environmental stresses. For coffee growers, healthy soil is therefore much more than an environmental concern. It is an essential part of maintaining reliable production, protecting farmer livelihoods and ensuring the long-term quality and availability of coffee.
At Nestlé, the principle is straightforward: good food ultimately begins with good soil. Yet many of the world’s major coffee-growing regions are facing increasing pressure on their land. Years of intensive cultivation, combined with changing weather patterns and farming practices, have contributed to soil degradation in areas where coffee is grown.
Coffee is naturally well suited to cooler, shaded and often cloud-forest environments. When farming systems move away from these conditions without adequate soil and ecosystem management, land can lose valuable organic matter. This can weaken microbial activity, reduce nutrient availability, limit water retention and increase vulnerability to erosion. Over time, these challenges can affect both crop productivity and farmers’ ability to maintain consistent yields.
Restoring Soil Health and Strengthening Coffee Production
The consequences of soil degradation are becoming increasingly visible across agricultural systems. Farmers may face greater yield variability, higher input costs and declining resilience to drought, excessive rainfall, disease and other climate-related disruptions.
The global scale of the problem is significant. UNESCO has warned that as much as 90% of the world’s soils could become degraded by 2050 if current trends continue. The United Nations has also estimated that approximately 3.2 billion people live in areas affected by land degradation, highlighting the broader economic and social implications of declining soil health.
For coffee-producing communities, improving soil health can provide a practical pathway toward greater resilience.
In Vietnam, one of the world’s leading coffee-producing countries, Nestlé is working with farmers through the Nescafé Plan to encourage regenerative agriculture practices. These approaches are designed to restore soil health while helping farmers maintain productive and economically viable farms.
One example is intercropping, where farmers introduce additional trees or crops alongside coffee plants. Shade trees can help moderate temperatures around coffee plants while supporting biodiversity and protecting the soil. They can also provide farmers with additional sources of income, helping diversify their agricultural businesses.
Ground cover and mulching are other important practices. Keeping the soil covered can help reduce erosion, retain moisture and return organic material to the ground as plant matter decomposes. These practices can contribute to a healthier biological system beneath the surface while reducing the pressure placed on agricultural inputs.
The scale of farmer engagement is also expanding. As part of the Nescafé Plan, Nestlé agronomists and field experts trained more than 100,000 farmers across 15 countries in regenerative agriculture practices during 2025.
Combining Regenerative Practices With Better Coffee Plants
Restoring soil is only one part of building a more resilient coffee supply chain. Coffee plants themselves must also be capable of performing under changing environmental conditions.
Nestlé is therefore working with local scientists and agricultural organizations to develop and distribute improved coffee plantlets. These plants are intended to help farmers replace aging coffee trees while maintaining productivity and improving resilience against diseases and other challenges.
In Vietnam, Nestlé has a longstanding partnership with the Western Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute, known as WASI. The collaboration focuses on supporting farmers with new coffee plantlets that have been specially selected and bred for improved yields and greater disease resilience.
Replacing older plants with stronger varieties can help farmers protect future productivity while complementing regenerative practices carried out across their farms. Together, healthier soils and more resilient plants can provide a stronger foundation for long-term coffee production.
Improving Yields, Farmer Resilience and Incomes
Regenerative agriculture is not simply about environmental restoration. Its potential economic benefits are equally important.
Healthier soils can improve the efficiency with which crops use water and nutrients, while better farm management can help reduce unnecessary fertilizer and chemical inputs. Practices such as cover cropping, mulching and improved irrigation can contribute to more efficient resource use and stronger agricultural productivity.
Diversification can also play a role. Farmers who introduce additional crops, trees or livestock can create alternative income streams, reducing their dependence on a single crop and providing greater protection against fluctuations in coffee prices or production.
In Vietnam, some farmers participating in regenerative agriculture initiatives have reported substantial improvements in income. This illustrates a central principle of the Nescafé Plan: the resilience of farmers and the resilience of the coffee business are closely connected.
For a global coffee supply chain, farmers who can maintain healthy land, productive plants and reliable harvests are essential. Supporting them therefore represents an investment in the long-term stability of coffee production.
Measuring Progress Across the Coffee Supply Chain
The Nescafé Plan has now expanded across hundreds of thousands of hectares of coffee farms worldwide. More than 400,000 hectares are covered by the initiative globally, demonstrating the scale at which regenerative approaches are being introduced into coffee production.
The program is also linked to measurable environmental progress. According to Nestlé’s 2025 Nescafé Plan progress reporting, greenhouse gas emissions associated with green coffee grown under the program have been reduced by 18.3% compared with the 2018 baseline.
These results demonstrate how changes at farm level can contribute to broader sustainability objectives. Improving soil health, optimizing fertilizer use, supporting biodiversity and using water more efficiently can collectively reduce environmental impacts while strengthening agricultural resilience.
Taking Regenerative Agriculture to Scale
A coffee supply chain dependent on continually degrading soil cannot remain resilient indefinitely. As soil quality declines, farmers may require more inputs to achieve the same productivity, while crops become increasingly vulnerable to climate and environmental pressures.
Regenerative agriculture offers a different approach—one that aims to improve the condition of farmland over time while maintaining agricultural productivity.
Nestlé has set an ambition to source 50% of key ingredients from farmers adopting regenerative agriculture practices by 2030. The Nescafé Plan has already surpassed its coffee-specific target, with 53% of green coffee sourced in 2025 coming from farmers adopting regenerative agriculture practices.
This progress suggests that regenerative farming is moving beyond a long-term aspiration and becoming an increasingly important component of agricultural supply chains.
For coffee, the stakes are particularly high. Climate change, soil degradation, disease pressure and changing growing conditions all present challenges to future production. Addressing these challenges requires action across the entire value chain, from agricultural research and plant development to farmer training and improved land management.
Ultimately, the future of coffee does not begin at the roasting facility or inside the coffee shop. It begins in the field, beneath the coffee plants, where healthy soil provides the foundation for productive farms.
Regenerative agriculture provides farmers with practical tools to restore that foundation while supporting productivity, biodiversity, resource efficiency and economic resilience. By combining healthier soils with stronger coffee varieties and farmer education, initiatives such as the Nescafé Plan are working to create a coffee supply chain capable of adapting to a changing climate.
The message is increasingly clear: protecting the future of coffee means protecting the land that produces it. And building that future starts from the ground up.
Source Link:https://www.nestle.com/
