CEO of Nestlé Vietnam, Binu Jacob.

For over 13 years, the NESCAFÉ Plan has been a transformative initiative in Việt Nam, dedicated to fostering a regenerative food system, enhancing farmers' livelihoods and reducing greenhouse gas emissions - all while working towards a sustainable, greener future.

At the Green Economy Forum and Exhibition (GEFE) 2024, CEO of Nestlé Vietnam, Binu Jacob, discussed the programme's impactful contributions and Nestlé's ongoing commitment to building a more sustainable Việt Nam.

The NESCAFÉ Plan has been implemented in the central highlands province for over 13 years. So what are Nestlé Vietnam plans for the upcoming years?

So far through the NESCAFÉ Plan, we have rejuvenated over 74,000 ha of coffee farms by distributing disease resistant plantlets, spreading good practices. In the coming years, we plan to continue this, but we want to take it one step further.

So we want to introduce traceability of these farms so that we now can track from which farms they come from and then take them straight to our factories. Another important thing we're going to do is expanding our processing capacities here, so we can add more value to the Vietnamese coffee and then exporting it out.

The NESCAFÉ Plan helps promote sustainable development in Việt Nam's coffee industry while improving the livelihoods of coffee farmers. Photo courtesy of Nestlé Vietnam

Apart from improving the quality of livelihood of coffee farmers and the coffee community, what is the reason for Nestlé focusing on transitioning to regenerative agriculture in coffee farming?

First and foremost, we are the world's largest food company and we commit to achieve net zero by 2050 and one of the best ways to get to net zero is through regenerative agriculture. Because if you do agriculture right, not only will it reduce greenhouse gases, but it actually can reverse it, because carbon can be sequestered by farmlands. So this is our objective. By doing this, we improve lives of farmers, but also improve the planet.

Việt Nam aims to increase its coffee exports to US$6 million by 2030 so what do you think about the role of Nestlé in the country's target?

So you know that today, Nestlé buys about 20 per cent of all the coffee that Vietnam produces. So we expect to continue this for multiple reasons. One, because we believe that the farmers in Việt Nam are a lot more productive compared to farmers outside. So from our point of view, not only are we helping Việt Nam, but also we help ourselves at the same time.

How do you assess the significance of today, in terms of the green economy, foreign and exhibitions this year?

So this year, very pleased to see that more number of companies, more number of countries are participating. It's the first time this year that Switzerland, our home country, is also represented and in a very big way. So it just shows the importance of GEFE and also the Deputy Prime Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn and HCM City People's Committee Chairman Phan Văn Mãi coming attending it, it shows the significance of this. And I think European companies here have a role to play, not only in committing to our net zero for ourselves, but also showing the way and being a lighthouse for all companies in Việt Nam to follow.

So Nestlé is the leading company in achieving green and sustainable development goals in Việt Nam. So what the initiative and key content does Nestlé bring to this policy?

I think this year, while we do green economy in multiple areas, this year, we decided to focus on regenerative agriculture, because this is an area that is highly underestimated today. Everybody talks about green energy, fossil fuels, automobiles, industries, buildings like this, but very few people actually have the capacity and the capability to talk about farming. Thirty-three per cent of Việt Nam's greenhouse gas comes from agriculture.

Unfortunately, in agriculture, there are no revolutionary technologies. Unlike wind, solar, EVs, hydrogen and other sectors, agriculture doesn't have rocket science technology, it requires back to the basics and that's our goal today, to spread the message that agriculture not only can reduce greenhouse but actually can reverse it.

How does regenerative agriculture help reduce emissions and promote sustainable development in coffee sector?

So in coffee farms, if you were to go back to Central Highlands 15 years ago, all the coffee farms were less sustainable farms, which means hundreds and hundreds of hectares of land that was just used to make coffee. But actually this is not the right way to do farming.

The right way to do farming is multi cropping, along with the coffee plants, grow forest trees, pepper, avocado, along with insects, conserving water using less pesticides, using the dried leaves from the coffee plants as mulch that then can become manure later. So this form of agricultural practice is relatively new. We have been spreading this a lot, and that's our objective, to continue to spread, regenerate the farming and help save the planet. — VNS