Nespresso eyes 80,000 RA coffee farms by 2013

By Marcy Nicholson

NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Nestle Nespresso (NESN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) aims to buy coffee from 80,000 Rainforest Alliance Certified farms by 2013, as the company takes steps toward ensuring its product's long-term availability and high quality, a company spokesman told Reuters.

Nespresso currently buys coffee from 25,000 farms which are part of its AAA Sustainable Quality Program, developed together with Rainforest Alliance, that will account for 40 percent of the total purchases in 2009.

By 2013, 80 percent of Nespresso's coffee purchases will be from AAA Program farms certified by Rainforest Alliance in Central America, South America, Africa and India.

"We have to more than triple the amount of farms," said Guillaume Le Cunff, International Marketing and Strategy director for Nestle Nespresso SA.

"We are convinced at Nespresso that creating long-term value for the farmers is definitely the best way to say we have a long-term supply of the highest quality coffee," Le Cunff said.

Le Cunff, who is based in Paudex, Switzerland, spoke to Reuters on the phone from Boston, at the Third Nestle Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality Coffee Forum.

Nespresso sells coffee in packaged capsules that people make at home with machines that shoot hot water through the capsules to brew individual cups of espresso and coffee.