In this last year, most corporations have suffered greatly from the economic recession, facing considerable cuts of resources, budget and personnel. This crisis seems to have graced with mercy various cooperation like Nespresso, Nestlé’s newest gold mine. With a humorous advertising campaign starring the famous George Clooney, it seems that the company has set a new World trend for coffee lovers: capsules of coffee that come in all tastes and kinds represented by different ranges of colors. According to their website, capsules allow the preservation of “flavors and aromatic richness” (Source: http://www.nespresso.com/#/it/en/coffee_nespresso/nespresso_blend/aromas_protection).
The successful campaign seems to have conquered even coffee’s number one admirer and toughest critique: Italy. Perhaps, it is the company’s innovative marketing strategy with a special addition of an independent sustainable and environmental initiative that has the difference.
In 2009, the Rainforest Alliance, an agency that works to provide socially responsible alternatives to businesses and consumers, announced a new collaboration with Nestle Nespresso that they called “Ecolaboratrion”. This project has managed to consolidate and gave added value to Nespresso’s platform for sustainable development (Portal: http://www.ecolaboration.com/#/aaa/en). According to their website, the Rainforest Alliance “promotes standards for sustainability that conserve wildlife and lands and ensure the well-being of workers and their communities” (Source: http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/about.cfm?id=mission). The farms that meet Rainforest Alliance’s set of criteria are given the right to use the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal in order to give their products an additional value on the market. Richard Girardot, CEO of the Nestlé has declared that the company wants “ to share value with farmers who grow these highly prized coffees. Their quality of life, environmental quality and quality in the cup are equally interlined” (Source: http://blog.natureair.com/index.php/tag/nespresso/). From a business perspective this strategy is clever insofar it enhances the reputation and value of the brand. Yet, it is in inevitable to wonder if this sustainable development project remains only a one way project. When looking at Nespresso’s website, the Ecolaboration project seems to be mostly written from a “western coporate perspective”: there is no way to find out based on what criterias, Nespresso has established its agenda setting for sustainable projects. In order to be successful and long-term oriented, Sustainability program need to be developed from the perspective of the target and promoted in the local language. From the Nespresso website, the point of view of local population in South America or Africa are lacking; in good faith we hope it is just a problem of major transparency on their website.
This partnership between Nespresso and the Rainforest Alliance is an attempt at uniting environmental commitment to cooperate interests in order to achieve long-term sustainable results. According to Michael Porter, member of the Nestlé Creating Shared Value Advisory Board, ” Nespresso’s innovative program, which helps farmers achieve higher prices, better yields, and greater environmental performance and sustainability, is not driven by charity but by creating value” (Source: http://www.creatingsharedvalue.org/post/2009/11/20/Nespresso-shares-new-insights-on-coffee-farm-economics.aspx).
At a time when global warming simply cannot be ignored, cooperation’s financial interest becomes automatically dependent of its relationship towards environmental issues. Nespresso isn’t trying to fool anyone by pretending it is a charity; for the firm, investing time and resources for environmental-friendly social development is a long-term asset that provides an added value to the company. When choosing between two similar concurring products, it appears that customers often resolve the dilemma by prefering the company with a green and eco-friendly mindset. Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter confirms that “there is a long-term synergy between social and economic practices, a concept he calls shared value” (Source: http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/blog/entry.cfm?number=91). According to him, sustainability becomes a win-win situation for both the foreign company and the local population. As the living quality of the local population improves, their attitude towards “the colonial western company” improves and which directly impacts on the quality of their work. When Nespresso initially launched, environmentalists “criticized the system as they argued the aluminium coffee capsules generated too much waste” (Source: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/Nespresso_drinks_to_20_years.html?cid=5583848 ). Since then, it seems that the company paid attention to its critiques and started recycling their capsules. Indeed, Nespresso launched a brand new initiative in order to market and sell recyclable capsules. Based on the data, by 2013 Nespresso will have put systems in place to triple their capacity to recycle used capsules to 75%. In order to find out the closest colleting point near go on the official website of their ecological portal” (Source: http://www.ecolaboration.com/#/aaa/en/capsules/recycling).
Nespresso’s partnership with the Rainforest Alliance is a clever alliance that is benefiting both the world-know corporation and the environmentalist friendly group. By working closely together the two actors acquire a better understanding of the other’s perspective. The name of the portal “Ecolaboration” is self-explanatory insofar it highlights the importance of a collaboration, a two way strand communication in order to be able to successfully adopt a plan that is profitable both from a business perspective and from an environmental long-term conservative view. Based on their website, Nespresso is a strong believer that on the long run, environmental development and conservation, are an must-have extra asset for a successful corporation.
