Intending to improve the economic stability of the spice farmers, Nestlé Maggi has implemented a sustainable sourcing program for spices. Built on the pillars of traceability, this program aims to ensure transparency on origins and progressively deliver positive impacts for the farmer community, the environment and the business within its spices supply chain.
The key areas of intervention of the Maggi spice plan are: ensuring good soil health, reduction in water wastage, no pesticide residues, the economics of cultivation, and biodiversity enhancements through the spice farms.
Commenting on the thought behind this program, Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director, Nestlé India, said, “Spices are important for India, for Indians and hence for the Maggi portfolio. At Nestlé India, we have always aimed to create value for our stakeholders, especially for the communities in which we operate. The program is built on three aspects: planet, people and profits the farmers. Through this, Nestle wishes to contribute to improving the livelihood of spice farmers by introducing farmers to the best practices that are sustainable and will help them grow the best produce while ensuring safe living and working conditions for them.”
The first pillar focuses on traceability of seven spices – chilli, turmeric, coriander, cumin, aniseed, fenugreek, nutmeg – used in Maggi products. Food traceability is the key to establish that the spices are free from harmful pesticides, additives, and climate change effects. This project has already touched the lives of about 1300 farmers, spread across 39 villages and 7 states including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Rajasthan and Gujarat in 2020, and this is expected to increase by about 15% by the end of 2022.
The second pillar of responsible sourcing has been tailored to address four areas- ensure resilient livelihoods, safe living and working conditions for farmers, maintaining biodiverse and environmentally sustainable farms. Their partnerships with spice farmers have built up over the years which has inspired the team of Nestle India to look at such endeavours in various other agri-commodities as well.
