Nestlé supports government coffee growing initiatives

Manila, Philippines - Nestlé Philippines, Inc. said it supports efforts of the government and private sectors such as tax incentives and financing schemes that promote investments in the coffee industry to meet the increasing local demand.

During the 1st Philippine Coffee Investors Forum hosted by the The Department of Agriculture (DA) and Nestlé, the DA said its High-Value Crops Development Program extends production, irrigation, post harvest, and regulatory support to coffee growers.

It also said that Landbank provides agricultural production loans and rediscounting lines and BDO Unibank offers loans and other credit facilities.

As part of its investment priorities plan for 2011, the Board of Investments said it gives exemptions from payment of tariff, duties, and taxes on the importation of coffee genes to those who will qualify under the BOI program.

“Nestlé backs these initiatives. There is growing demand for coffee from the Filipino consumer and as a crop it is ideally suited to the climate and geography of the country, as such it represents a good opportunity for the farming community” said Nestlé Philippines CEO John Martin Miller. For its part, he said Nestlé is providing technical training and technology transfer programs to thousands of existing coffee farmers. This initiative gave coffee farmers the opportunity to learn more about proper coffee growing. He said the local demand for coffee has been increasing every year, especially for the Robusta variety which is the type consumed by most Filipinos. Further, he said the Philippines is an ideal location for coffee growing owing to its location, climate, and soil.

In addition, Nestlé has the widest network of coffee buying stations set up across key coffee-producing areas throughout the Philippines. Since 1986, the buying stations have helped nurture and build our partnership with the coffee farmers of the Philippines. These Filipino coffee farmers have the opportunity to sell their crops at prevailing world market prices.

Annual demand for coffee beans in the Philippines is placed at 64,000 metric tons (MT), valued at P2.5 billion. It is growing at three to five percent yearly.