The Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Mr. José Maria Pereira Neves, on Monday, March 31, 2014, paid a visit to the Nescafé plant in Abidjan to acquaint himself with our coffee production processes.
Mr Neves, who is on an official visit to Côte d'Ivoire, was accompanied by the Ivorian Minister of Industry and Mines, Mr. Jean Claude Brou, as well as the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Communities of Cape Verde.
He was received by the Country Manager for Côte d’Ivoire, Patricio Astolfi, and the Factory Manager, Le Thang.
The tour afforded Mr Neves an opportunity to experience at first hand the soluble coffee production process as Cape Verde, a coffee bean exporter, wishes to establish local manufacturing units in that country.
It enabled him to grasp the working of the coffee value chain from the farm to the factory, offering glimpses into issues ranging from quality assurance to sustainability.
The Abidjan Nescafé Factory, with over fifty years of experience in the field of coffee processing, is considered a reference facility in the industry.
The Nestlé Team led the visiting Prime Minister as he toured the Nescafé supply store, the coffee roasting unit, the pilot line for the improved packaging unit, as well as the new eco-boiler, which will be inaugurated by the end of the year.
Nescafé Plan
Nescafé PlanThe visiting dignitaries were also given a briefing on the ‘The Nescafé Plan’, the company’s sustainable procurement program of green coffee, which aims at supporting the revival of the coffee sector in Côte d'Ivoire.
Under the Plan, Nestlé committed to provide Ivorian farmers with over 27 million high-yielding disease-resistant plantlets, which will be developed by Nestlé Research and Development Center in Abidjan by 2020. The company is also helping coffee farmers by offering them training and technical assistance. Over 16, 000 Ivorian farmers in 50 cooperatives are expected to benefit from this program by the end of 2014.
Sharing our expertise
Speaking on the visit, Country Manager for Côte d’Ivoire, Patricio Astolfi, stated: “Nestlé is committed to producing quality coffee, according to international standards, and to ensure sustainability in terms of the environment, supply and impact on the lives of coffee-growing communities. Since the plant opened in 1962, we have continuously refined the process of soluble coffee manufacturing and improved the environmental performance of the plant. We have invested more than 35 million Swiss francs for this purpose since 2009. We are very pleased and honored to share our experience and expertise in this area with the Prime Minister of Cape Verde”.
The plant in Abidjan processes green coffee into Nescafé soluble coffee and sells a portion of its output in Côte d'Ivoire (14%), with the rest sold in Africa (53%) and Europe (33%).
100% of the processed coffee comes from farmers in Côte d'Ivoire, with 90% of the produce purchased directly from growers and cooperatives in four shopping centers spread across the country: Duékoué, Daloa, Abengourou, and Abidjan.
Related information:
A coffee farmer’s story in Côte d’Ivoire