Nestle exec says supports robusta coffee in Mexico

World food giant Nestle said on Wednesday it is supporting the planting of robusta coffees in Mexico, the globe's fifth-largest producer of arabica coffee beans.

Chief Executive Officer Peter Brabeck told reporters in Mexico's industrial city of Monterrey that the company has handed out some 350,000 robusta seeds in Veracruz state, the nation's third-largest coffee growing state. The seeds, he said, were grown in laboratories in France. "Coffee has gone through a very difficult moment ... which has had a very big impact on many small suppliers," Brabeck said.

Mexican coffee growers have criticized major coffee buyers like Nestle for supporting a global surplus in robusta coffee beans by favoring the cheaper, lower-quality beans more and more in their blends.

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