(Yicai Global) Nov. 11 -- Global food and drinks giant Nestle is building its first Chinese "carbon-neutral" farm in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, an executive told Yicai Global in an exclusive interview.

Nestle is promoting long-term development and transforming toward a sustainable foods system, said Fang Juntao, vice president of corporate affairs and sustainability of the Swiss multinational corporation's Chinese arm.

The Vevey-headquartered firm's cattle breeding farm in Harbin is ready to be turned into a pioneering facility in the sector, according to Fang.

Nestle has announced its plan of aiming to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in all of its industrial chains by 2050. In the firm's second-largest market, China, breeding cattle accounts for more than 60 percent of the company's emissions. Hence, the company has had to give a thought or two to cow belching.

Nestle is making use of professional breeding technologies to introduce better feed while reducing methane caused by cows' digestive processes, said Fang.

There is a demand for change. "Chinese consumers are increasingly paying attention to sustainable development, especially in terms of food," said the VP. "The masses call for foods with higher quality and more nutrition, as well as those that are healthier and safer, because they represent inelastic demand,” he added.

The construction of a sustainable food system needs to be accelerated, judging from the global situation, according to Fang. Last September, Nestle said it will invest CHF1.2 billion (USD1.3 billion) within the next five years to facilitate regenerative agriculture and to transform toward a sustainable food system.

One of the fields is coffee. Nestle’s procurement of coffee beans in southwestern China's Yunnan province has fully conformed to sustainable standards. The company is also promoting planting shade trees to increase biodiversity and to decrease carbon dioxide emissions.

Another field in the spotlight is lab-grown meat. Nestle’s laboratories all over the world are actively exploring technologies regarding cell-cultured meat to tap into the potential of future meat substitutes, said Fang. This is also an effective method of resolving issues involving greenhouse gases, he added.

The plans are not only about finished products. Considering production and logistics, Nestle’s target is that all of its production facilities in China will completely use renewable energy by 2025.

In the future, Nestle will continue to promote sustainable raw material procurement and transform toward the scenario of cleaner and leaner logistics by using renewable energy so as to improve regenerative agricultural practices through the entire supply chain, Fang concluded.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi