JDE Peet’s and USDA with other partners initiate Avanza Café, a program to improve coffee farming in Central America
October 4 - 2024
Coffee Geography Magazine
In a major effort to enhance sustainable coffee production in Central America, coffee- and tea company JDE Peet’s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food for Progress Program, and international non-profit TechnoServe have launched a new initiative, Avanza Café. This program funded by a $15.3 million investment, will introduce regenerative agriculture techniques aimed at improving coffee farm productivity in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, while also reducing the carbon footprint of coffee production and strengthening climate resilience in coffee-growing communities.
Avanza Café builds on the USDA’s Maximizing Opportunities in Coffee and Cacao in the Americas (MOCCA) project, which is led by TechnoServe. Through MOCCA, more than 79,300 coffee farmers (40% of them women) in Central America and Peru have already received training in partnership with producer groups, exporters, lenders, and other stakeholders.
Gina Canales - Sustainability Manager, JDE Peet’s
“The future of coffee farming is deeply connected to the well-being of our planet,” says Gina Canales, Sustainability Manager for Latin America at JDE Peet’s. “Avanza Café aligns perfectly with our Common Grounds sustainability program, which is focused on Responsible Sourcing, Minimizing Footprint, and Connecting People. The program brings together the successful approach of MOCCA and JDE Peet’s expertise in sustainable sourcing and market access. We are very well positioned to reach more coffee producers and to support them in adopting regenerative practices. This will help to develop more sustainable and profitable coffee-growing communities.”
Avanza Café will train more than 35,000 small producers in regenerative agricultural practices, with the goal of increasing yields per hectare by 25%, reducing carbon emissions per metric ton of green coffee produced, and increasing household incomes by an average of 25%.
According to Ryan Bathrick, Director of the MOCCA project, “Central American coffee farmers have experienced the effects of climate change for many years. Phenomena like El Niño and La Niña generate significant losses, making the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices more urgent than ever. We appreciate the trust that USDA and JDE Peet’s are placing in TechnoServe to make a positive impact on the lives of farmers in the region.”
The Avanza Café program will provide training and technical assistance to small coffee producers that will allow them to improve their yields, reduce production costs, meet new market standards, and enhance coffee quality. The training will focus on regenerative practices, post-harvest management, and farming as a family business, and include topics such as soil and water management, integrated pest and disease management (IPM), and safe pesticide use, among other agricultural management practices.
“For example, our training in integrated pest and disease management demonstrates cost-effective, safe, and environmentally sustainable control methods. The correct use of fertilizers and the production of biofertilizers help reduce production costs, while our Topworking (coffee grafting) and renovation modules allow coffee farmers to improve productivity, reduce fertilization costs, and lower the carbon footprint per kilogram of coffee produced,” added Bathrick.
“The Avanza Café also represents an opportunity to address gender inequalities and promote youth leadership in rural areas,” stated JDE Peet’s Gina Canales. “We will incorporate workshops aimed at developing leadership skills in women, increasing their confidence, abilities, and positioning them as equal partners in their homes and agricultural businesses. To this end, we have committed to ensuring that 40% of the participants in Avanza Café are women and youth,” added Canales.
JDE Peet’s is a coffee and tea company, serving approximately 4,100 cups of coffee or tea per second. JDE Peet’s serves more than 100 markets, with a portfolio of over 50 brands including L’OR, Peet’s, Jacobs, Senseo, Tassimo, Douwe Egberts, OldTown, Super, Pickwick and Moccona. In 2023, JDE Peet’s generated total sales of EUR 8.2 billion and employed a global workforce of more than 21,000 employees.