Nestlé helps to enhance 4C implementation of coffee bean growers in Yunnan

Nestlé finished the second round of 4C (Common Code for the Coffee Community) training on Monday. Two groups of all together 483 coffee bean growers and manufacturers have passed audit by international third parties and got the certification. Nestlé has helped to improve the ability of coffee bean growers and manufacturers to implement 4C.

4C is the worldaccepted principles concerning the sustainable development of coffee planting, manufacturing, processing and marketing. Its goal is to promote the sustainable progress of coffee manufacturing, processing and trading. More and more international coffee purchasers require the coffee they buy to meet 4C or other standards of the same level.

To help coffee planting business in Yunnan keep up with international trends, and to help coffee bean growers to connect to the international market, experts from Nestlé, with the support of local government and partners, started training of 4C for coffee bean growers and manufacturers that have long term partnership with the company since 2012. All trainings are free of charge. Six groups of all together 2894 partners have passed primary certification of 4C. The trainings have benefited 31,000 coffee bean growers, covering planting area 230,000 mu. Since 2014-2015 procurement season, all coffee beans purchased by Nestlé in Yunnan were certified by 4C, and were exported to international market.

Passing 4C approval is not once and for all. The certification shall be renewed every three years. Implementing 4C is a sustainable process. 4C requires every link of coffee supply, from the farm to consumers' desks, is traceable and sustainable. The requirements are also closely related to Nestlé's good agricultural practices. Based on previous experiences, the latest round of training focused more on post harvest practices aimed to make more efficient the water usage and to preserve the quality of green coffee.

Mr. Gonzalo, Nestlé agricultural service department manager expressed that recertification of 4C is stricter than first time approval because 4C requirespartners to make progress in the three-year period. If any partner stops improving itself or lowersproduction quality, it will be failed by recertification. Nestlé Pu'eragronomic service team invested huge time and energy to visit and train coffee bean growers. They've tried their best to uplift coffee bean growers and manufacturers' concept about and ability of coffee planting. By doing so, on one hand they help them to discover production potential, upgrade the quality of coffee and increase their income. On the other hand, it's conducive for coffee planting industry to ameliorate primary management from social, environmental and financial aspects in the 4C principles.

As the first multinational enterprise to invest in agricultureindustry in the south west region of China, Nestlé has always stuck to the company motto ofCreating Shared Value, devoted to promote industrialization of coffee business with the support of related Yunnan governmental organizations. After 27 years of effort, Nestlé's input for Yunnan has created profound influence for local coffee business and economic development. Yunnan is becoming a vigorous, profiting and world famous place of producing quality Arabica coffee bean. Nestlé's coffee development project in Yunnan has won recognition from different walks of society as it has received UN "2012 World Business and Development Award" and UN's "2012 Global Compact China Best Practice". A Nestlé Center combining the functions of training, experiments and storage will be completed in March 2016.