Regenerative agriculture

Our Net Zero Roadmap (pdf, 16Mb) shows that nearly two-thirds of our greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, so addressing these is essential for achieving our objectives.

Our aim is to make regenerative agriculture practices the standard in the food industry – addressing environmental and social aspects holistically. Reforming the way the world grows food will take time. That’s why we’re investing heavily in supporting agricultural communities for the long term.

We work closely with suppliers and farmers to encourage them to take up these ways of working, which is also expected to help us reach net zero and deliver benefits to nature and communities.

What is regenerative agriculture?

In line with the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform, Nestlé defines regenerative agriculture as an approach to farming which aims to conserve and restore natural resources, primarily soil, as well as water and biodiversity, while capturing carbon in soils and plant biomass, and to support farmers’ livelihoods. Examples of regenerative agriculture practices include reduced tillage and agroforestry.

Our Nestlé Agriculture Framework sets out in detail our regenerative agriculture approach through five pillars: biodiversity; water; soil health; diverse cropping systems and livestock integration, and collective and landscape action.

We measure the effectiveness of our Nestlé Agriculture Framework by reference to the level of adoption of regenerative agriculture practices by farmers in our supply chains.

We are working closely with suppliers, – equipping farmers with the tools and knowledge to implement regenerative agriculture practices in key ingredients supply chains.

Toward more regenerative agriculture practices on farms

Adoption of regenerative agriculture practices

To assess the maturity level of regenerative agriculture implementation, we created the Farm Assessment Tool (FAT). The tool consist of a set of regenerative agriculture practices and outcomes related to soil health, biodiversity, water, livestock and farm management. The approach has been tailored with crop‑specific tools.

Each tool allows us to classify the maturity level of regenerative agriculture practices as implementation in the farms assessed:

• Engaged in transition toward regenerative agriculture (Level 1)
• Advanced (Level 2)
• Leading (Level 3)

Farmers at the center of our model

Regenerative agriculture puts farmers at the center, supporting solutions that are right for their regions and crops. Shifting from traditional practices to new ways of farming can be difficult, which is why we follow a holistic approach that includes finance and incentives, training, and creating market demand for ingredients grown on farms that have adopted regenerative agriculture practices. This is especially important for smallholder farmers who may not have the financial resources to make these investments. We cannot do this alone. We need policymakers to work with the private sector to build strong ecosystems to encourage the adoption of regenerative agriculture.

For example, to help smallholder farmers in the coffee supply chain tackle the impact of climate change, and ensure coffee growing for future generations, Nestlé has been harnessing its agricultural science capabilities. By using traditional breeding methods, our plant scientists and agronomists have developed ‘Star 4’ a novel Arabica coffee variety which protects against issues like leaf rust, while still offering the traditional characteristics of Brazilian coffee that buyers value.

In Côte d’Ivoire, our income accelerator program is enabling cocoa farming families to raise their incomes, keep children in school and benefit the local environment. Working with smallholder farmers to build skills and knowledge, they are using techniques that help improve the quality of soils while developing new revenue streams by growing a wider variety of crops. We also help farmers by giving them access to novel techniques to get more yield from cocoa fruit, such as leveraging underused parts of the cocoa pod (the pulp and placenta) to produce chocolate flakes – unlocking more value from each fruit. This helps farmers get more yield, as well as value, from their cocoa harvests.

In Indonesia, we are piloting a weather insurance program for more than 800 smallholder coffee farmers that supply coffee to the Nescafé brand. The insurance scheme, in collaboration with Blue Marble, a specialist in climate insurance, provides financial protection to help farmers cope with unpredictable weather patterns of rainfall and severe drought.

Working towards a harmonized approach

In 2023, Nestlé joined industry leaders, farmer associations and communities to explore a new harmonized and outcomes-based approach to regenerative agriculture.

Convened by the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, Regenerating Together encompasses a holistic approach to farming, inspired by agroecological principles. It supports the three key agricultural resources – soil, water, and biodiversity – and aims to benefit farming communities.

Regenerative agriculture in action

Collaborating to implement regenerative agriculture practices

Nestlé France is working with different stakeholders to accelerate sourcing of key ingredients from farms transitioning to regenerative agriculture. The consortium – including Earthworm Foundation, Kermap, Inrae and Agro-transfer, as well as local suppliers and cooperatives – is helping to implement regenerative agriculture practices, such as cover crops, crop rotation and reduced soil tillage. The project aims to increase the organic matter in soils, which increases fertility and yields.

Nestlé has launched two projects with Cargill and ETG | Beyond Beans to reduce carbon emissions in our cocoa supply chains. The initiatives promote agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, and reforestation, aiming to distribute over two million shade trees in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. These efforts, involving close collaboration with local communities, are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while enhancing biodiversity and supporting farmers.

Farmers get behind dairy transition

The Nature por Ninho program in Brazil reward farmers for adopting regenerative agriculture practices. The program’s 100+ farmers, who have reached Advanced (Level 2) status of our Nestlé Agriculture Framework (pdf, 19Mb), are reporting improvements in soil health and biodiversity, and a positive impact on water resources.

In the UK, Nestlé has worked with First Milk - a 700-member dairy co-operative - for more than two decades and have together implemented the Regenerative Milk Plan, an initiative grounded in soil health, biodiversity, and carbon reduction. Around 75 First Milk farmers, supplying milk for Nestlé’s chocolate and coffee products, are now operating under regenerative principles such as rotational grazing, growing diverse species in pasture, reducing artificial fertilizers, integrating trees and hedgerows, and prioritizing animal welfare.