Nestlé Uses AI and Data Science to Battle Environmental Challenges in Coffee Production
Nestlé is brewing up data science- and artificial intelligence-powered innovations to breed climate-resilient plants in an environmentally challenged landscape.
With climate change reducing the amount of land that can grow hardy and weather-resilient coffee plants, Nestlé plant scientists have looked to data science to better identify a combination of factors that will yield healthy crops.
Using AI, the company scans a publicly available digital database of coffee traits including cherry size, flavor and aroma characteristics, and yield to create more sustainable coffee cultivation and plant more disease- and drought-resistant beans.
"In simple terms, our new reference is like a high-quality map of a big city. It will help us identify key genetic markers in the Arabica genome that are responsible for specific traits in adult plants,” said Jeroen Dijkman, head of Nestlé's Institute of Agricultural Sciences, in a statement. “This will help our plant scientists and other experts to better identify, select, and breed new and improved arabica coffee varieties."
Genome Sequencing of Arabica Coffee Strains
The company has focused on Arabica because it makes up 70% of the world’s coffee production among the existing 120 species. This has posed a challenge, however, as it is more susceptible to disease and has a lower heat tolerance, making it harder to plant successfully amid water shortages and a reduction of arable land.
The company sought a solution to this challenge alongside the French National Institute for Sustainable Development and academic partners, members of a global consortium.
Co-author of a research paper on this effort, Patrick Descombes, who is the senior expert in genomics at Nestlé Research, said the company used state-of-the-art genomics approaches to create an advanced, complete, and continuous arabica reference.
The initiative is part of Nestlé's regenerative agriculture plan, Nescafé Plan 2030.
The coffee segment has been steadily growing. According to research from Circana, coffee outpaced both tea (+4%) and carbonated soft drinks (+3%) in year-over-year servings growth, making it one of the fastest-growing beverage categories globally.
Nestlé reports that coffee is part of five growth platforms that make up 50% of its revenue. Within powdered and liquid beverages, coffee sales grew at a high single-digit rate, per the last call with investors.
The company’s coffee brands include Nescafe, Nespresso, Dolce Gusto, Starbucks Coffee at Home, and Blue Bottle Coffee.
