Nestle Malaysia has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the South Kelantan Development Authority (Kesedar) to expand its Nescafe Grown Respectfully programme to Gua Musang, Kelantan.
This will be the third state in Malaysia for the Nescafe Grown Respectfully programme, with existing sites in Gerik and Kuala Kangsar, Perak and Sik, Kedah.
Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd chief executive officer Juan Aranols said the expansion of the sustainable coffee farming initiative strengthens the company’s continued commitment to support local farming communities and improving their livelihoods, while adopting sustainable farming practices.
“Nestle Malaysia has been engaging with local farmers since 1985 through our Farmer Connect programmes focused on chilli, rice and paddy farmers, and since 2019, coffee.
“As we join hands with Kesedar, we look forward to continue reviving the local coffee farming sector and putting Malaysia on the global coffee map.
“Our efforts here are also well-aligned with Nestlé’s global Nescafe Plan 2030, which aims to make coffee farming more sustainable and help coffee farmers transition to regenerative agriculture,” he said.
As part of the partnership, Kesedar will be demarcating 60 hectares in Gua Musang for coffee planting under the Nescafe Grown Respectfully programme.
This includes the set-up of a 2.5-acre mother plant nursery and 10-acre demo farm.
Using eight clones of high-quality Robusta coffee plants sourced from the Nescafe Grown Respectfully programme in Kedah, Nestle will provide 200 seedlings for the demo farm and 800 seedlings as mother plants for the nursery, which will be used as a self-sustaining source of planting materials across the 200-acre land.
Through this collaboration, Nescafe Grown Respectfully will support Kesedar farmers throughout the coffee farming process by providing technical support, training and knowledge-sharing.
With the 200 acres of coffee planting targeted to be completed by 2025 and the ongoing progressive expansion of the activity in Kedah, Nestle Malaysia aspires to grow the harvest of coffee beans to some 1000 tonnes by end of the decade.
This will create a sustained supply of green coffee beans that meet Nestlé’s stringent quality requirements, to be procured by Nescafe from Kesedar.
Aranols said the company aims to establish a solid foundation for coffee farming in Kelantan with Kesedar by providing planting materials produced through Nescafe Grown Respectfully to smallholder farmers.
“In this way, Nescafe Grown Respectfully will be able to uplift local farming communities by providing an opportunity for trade diversification, to help strengthen their resilience.
“By developing a more diversified local farming ecosystem, Nestle Malaysia will contribute to Malaysia’s food security while reducing the carbon footprint of the company’s operations.
“Who knows, we may also develop a Nescafe Kopi Kelate when these trees provide us their first harvest of coffee beans,” Aranols added.
