Nestlé and Carrefour have signed a Sustainability Linked Business Plan (SLBP) covering the French market, marking Carrefour’s first such agreement in the coffee sector. The French retailer has previously concluded similar sustainability-linked agreements with companies including Coca-Cola, Suntory, Mondelēz International and Lesieur.
Carrefour is the second-largest retailer in France’s large-scale distribution sector, behind E. Leclerc.
The agreement with Nestlé, which sits alongside existing commercial arrangements between the two companies, focuses on three areas aligned with Nestlé’s corporate responsibility strategy. These include reducing the use of virgin plastic in the packaging of brands such as Nescafé, Nescafé Dolce Gusto and Ricoré; increasing the share of green coffee sourced from regenerative agriculture; and cutting emissions from logistics through the use of alternative fuels.
The collaboration forms part of Nestlé’s broader sustainability commitments under the Nescafé Plan, which targets environmental and social impacts across the coffee supply chain.
Nestlé said that in 2024, around 32% of the green coffee used by Nescafé was sourced from regenerative agriculture, exceeding its initial target of 20% set for 2025. The company added that these practices, combined with other measures under the Nescafé Plan, have reduced greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of green coffee at farm level by between 20% and 40%.
Alongside sourcing and logistics, Nestlé continues to invest in research and innovation to reduce virgin plastic in packaging, with a focus on paper-based materials and compostable pods for its NEO Dolce Gusto range.
