Nescafe Coffee Center Inaugurated in Puer, Yunnan

YUNNAN, China, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Nescafe Coffee Center (NCC) invested by Nestle is completed in Puer, Yunnan today. Meanwhile, Nestle and College of Tropical Crops, Yunnan Agricultural University signed a framework agreement for strategic cooperation to further deepen cooperation based on mutual benefit and win-win result. Main areas of cooperation include personnel training and development, technological innovation, information and knowledge sharing, and project and research collaboration, with an objective to jointly promote the further development of China's coffee industry.

NCC, which covers an area of 30,000 square meters, has two parts. One is the training center and green coffee bean laboratory to provide exchange and training opportunities to farmers, agronomists and industry professionals; the other is the quality control lab and warehousing facility. With continuously growing coffee output, NCC will provide processing facilities to ensure coffee bean purchasing, and set purchasing and testing criteria based on international standard.

"Nestle is committed to developing the coffee industry in Yunnan, with Puer as the central base. Over the past 30 years, our collaboration with the local government and coffee farmers has made remarkable achievements. While growing the local coffee industry, farming communities have been strengthened, with farmers' living standards significantly increased. This is a living example of Nestle's business principle and commitment to creating shared value," says John Cheung, Chairman and CEO of Nestle China.

Nestle has been committed to the business principle of creating shared value since its first entered into Yunnan in 1988, and continues to work with local government and farmers to promote industry development. To do this, Nestle has by far sent 6 foreign coffee professionals to Puer to provide trainings in terms of field management, processing technology and best practice to more than 16,000 farmers for solving farming issues. Such efforts helped improve local farmers' production capacity, livelihood and international competitiveness.

Mr. Paul Bulcke, CEO of Nestle Group, says that Nestle targets long-term growth. 2016 is the company's 150^th anniversary. China as a key market holds an important position in Nestle's global strategic development plan. The newly built NCC supports Nestle's commitment to China, and will serve as a platform for carrying out the principle of Creating Shared Value.