For twenty years, we have been working in close partnership with farmers through the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program. Their ongoing commitment is rewarded through the payment of premium prices and a mutual trust is built between farmers and our agronomists on the ground.
Now, in partnership with social impact start-up, OpenSC, we are building on these relationships to achieve new levels of technology-enabled transparency, while offering consumers an illuminating window into their coffee’s journey along the supply chain.
DATA DRIVEN TOOLS TO ENHANCE CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT
Harnessing the power of OpenSC technology and the Ethereum public blockchain, every bag of coffee is now tracked securely and digitally from the 1,184 smallholder farmers within the AMKA cooperative, in the Congolese region of South Kivu.
By simply scanning a QR code on the coffee sleeve, Nespresso consumers can trace their coffee – from the individual farmer that produced it right through to their cup. And importantly, this same OpenSC technology is being used to automatically track and verify premium payments – ensuring each farmer receives fair reward for their work.
8 STAGES OF THE COFFEE JOURNEY
A digital record of the complete supply chain pinpoints exactly where, when and by whom the coffee was grown, collected, processed, and shipped.
HOW DOES THE OPENSC PLATFORM WORK?
Using smartphones, supply chain documents are digitised at source to extract data such as coffee weight, farmer names and price paid at each location.
Once washed and dried, each bag of coffee then receives its own individual QR code label, recording when, where and by whom it was produced, processed and then shipped.
Blockchain technology is used to immediately create a tamper-proof record of the data at each step of the process.
At the end of the growing season, the OpenSC platform verifies that each farmer has received the Nespresso AAA premium. This premium is paid via mobile phone or cash – in addition to the initial price received for the coffee – further rewarding farmers for the high-quality coffee they’ve produced.
Markus MUTZ, CEO, OpenSC“OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH NESPRESSO SHOWS THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY TO DRIVE NEW LEVELS OF TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY INTO THE FURTHEST REACHES OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN, AND IMPORTANTLY TO ENSURE THE SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN DR CONGO ARE PAID FAIRLY FOR THE HIGH-QUALITY COFFEE THEY PRODUCE.”
Jerome Perez, Global Head of Sustainability, Nespresso“TRANSPARENCY AND TRACEABILITY TO THE GROWING COMMUNITIES AND FARMS HAS BEEN A FUNDAMENTAL PART OF OUR AAA SOURCING FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS, AND THE COLLABORATION WITH OPENSC IS BRINGING NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY TO FACILITATE THIS. THE EXCITING PROGRAM ALLOWS OUR CUSTOMERS, FOR THE FIRST TIME, TO FOLLOW THE JOURNEY OF THEIR COFFEE AND EXPLORE THE IMPACT THAT IT IS HAVING.”
DIGITAL PAYMENT CONTRIBUTES TO FINANCIAL INCLUSION
We’re also realising further benefits by encouraging the transition to digital payments for farmers, which are more easily verifable. Using female role models to run mobile money awareness sessions dedicated to women, has provided a safe space for women farmers to ask questions in relation to mobile money, as well as learning how it can be used to gain easy access to other financial services, such as micro credit.
Already, we are seeing a positive increase in the uptake of mobile money within South Kivu’s farming communities.
Georgette, Female role model, Minova, South Kivu“I AM HAPPY TO USE MOBILE MONEY BECAUSE I RECEIVED MY MONEY WITHOUT TRAVELING AND SAVED THE TRANSPORT COSTS.”
Our partnership with OpenSC in the DR Congo is creating new ways to engage with our consumers. And it offers an intriguing look into a future where global supply chain transparency can be leveraged in real time via the blockchain.
Article published in: January 2022
