Nestle Nespresso and Blue Marble Microinsurance Launch Crop Insurance Pilot Program for Colombian Coffee Farmers

Global coffee company Nestle Nespresso SA has partnered with Blue Marble Microinsurance to develop a crop insurance pilot program for coffee farmers in Colombia.

The policies are designed for small farms that are particularly vulnerable to weather fluctuations, price drops, low yields, and crop blight. The marketplace currently does “not always provide these farmers with the necessary risk transfer mechanisms for their long-term security,” according to Blue Marble Microinsurance.

The New York-based consortium, which is comprised of eight companies, believes that its microinsurance solutions can be particularly useful for farmers looking to mitigate supply chain risk and protect their investments.

Along with Nespresso, a company that has a long history in Colombia and relationships with more than 70,000 coffee farmers across the world, Blue Marble also hopes that the pilot program will prove successful enough to encourage other stakeholders to participate in the initiative.

“Together, we are driving collaborative innovation across industry sectors, bundling insurance into the existing value chain of the underserved,” said Joan Lamm-Tennant, chief executive officer of Blue Marble Microinsurance.

Nespresso USA President Guillaume Le Cunf said that his company “is committed to improving the lives of farmers who work with us to source the highest-quality, sustainable coffee in the world” while helping to offer “innovative solutions that aim to mitigate risk and create value for coffee farmers.”