NKG enhances sustainability performance within its supply chains
Image: NKG
Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG) through its NKG Verified program improves transparency along the supply chain for green coffee buyers by providing insights into the performance of the farms producing their coffees and offering sustainability assurance through internal and third-party audits from farm to export level.
NKG Verified aligns with industry standards and integrates easily into customers’ sustainability plans. The program is open to specific customer requirements. With every shipment of NKG Verified coffees, customers receive an easy-to-read sustainability report detailing each indicator and how it scored, as well as the coffee’s overall sustainability score.
NKG Verified was first launched in Brazil in 2021, when group company NKG Stockler implemented the program. NKG’s companies Exportadora de Café California, Mexico, NKG India Coffee and Neumann Gruppe Vietnam followed. In 2022, the program is rolling out in Colombia, Uganda, Kenya, Indonesia and additional supply chains from Brazil are planned; more countries will follow in 2023.
Finding solutions that both the customer and producers benefit from is a key intention for NKG. NKG Verified is establishing a bridge between coffee growers and coffee buyers. “NKG Verified fills the gap between sustainability certifications brought upon producers from the outside and the actual needs and shortcomings locally. It provides a solid basis for us to offer coffee produced under sustainable conditions and in accordance with local laws,” said Osmar Moraes, sustainability manager at NKG Stockler.
NKG Verified aligns with and contributes to United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that support economic growth through decent working conditions and responsible production. In 2022, NKG aims to participate in the equivalence mechanism of the Global Coffee Platform to be recognized as equivalent to the Coffee Sustainability Reference Code, to ensure stakeholders that NKG Verified meets the baseline sustainability practices of the coffee sector.
NKG is committed to being a company of integrity and responsibility, which includes growing a more sustainable coffee industry. As part of NKG’s active commitment, the Hamburg, Germany-based company created two initiatives to serve the needs of coffee growers and coffee buyers around the world; NKG Verified with focus on meeting sustainability standards and NKG Bloom, with the aim of improving farmer livelihoods. Both initiatives contribute to NKG’s Responsible Business Program, which sets the strategic framework for our value-oriented corporate culture. To continue to fulfill the responsibility, the NKG Responsible Business Program sets specific goals that define responsible and sustainable business practices at NKG.