Developing a Biodiversity Index for Nespresso: Lessons from SIP

This summer, our team of four Full-time MBA students—Gabriela Goelzer Bacelar, Gloria Gabriela Mopotu, Olga Melekhina, and Edon Babameto—worked with Nespresso for six weeks to address a key sustainability challenge: how to measure biodiversity impacts in the coffee industry. 

This was part of ESMT’s Sustainability in Practice (SIP) project, where student teams partner with organizations to solve real-world environmental and social challenges. Along with an internship and an intensive German course, SIP is one of the three summer options within our MBA program.

The project brief

Nespresso wanted to find a holistic, standardized way to measure the impact of coffee companies on biodiversity. Our goal was to develop something that could be applied across the entire coffee industry and communicated clearly to stakeholders.

Our team brought diverse backgrounds to the project: finance, architecture, communications and journalism, and law, all united by our love of coffee. None of us had specific expertise in biodiversity or, for that matter, in sustainability-related consulting in general. However, as we delved into the project, I realized that having years of legal consulting experience actually helped a lot.

Guidance and exciting connections

Throughout the project, we had weekly calls with Joanna Radeke, Director of the ESMT Institute for Sustainable Transformation. Her support was crucial, not just for project oversight, but for connecting us with experts in the field.

Through Joanna’s extensive network of corporate professionals and scientists working in sustainability and biodiversity, we had the opportunity to interview Dr. Frauke Fischer. As I was researching her career before the interview, I discovered that she has authored the book “What has the mosquito ever done for us?” – exactly the question my friend and classmate Ellen had asked me just a day ago, as our legs were itching from mosquito bites at our campsite at Rügen. My teammates and I were beyond excited to speak with her, and her insights fundamentally shaped our approach.

The project challenges

We examined existing biodiversity measurement approaches and quickly learned the complexity involved - there are currently more than 600 different biodiversity metrics globally, yet no universally accepted standard. Based on our research and our conversation with Dr. Frauke Fischer, we identified a biodiversity index that looked the most promising.

Here’s where things got a bit challenging. We discovered that Nestlé—Nespresso's parent company—was already piloting the very index we were going to propose. This made us think: how do you add value when your main recommendation is already being tested by the client’s holding company? Rather than seeing this as a setback, we positioned it as an opportunity for Nespresso, being the biodiversity frontrunner within the Nestlé group, to lead industry adoption.

We also found ourselves recommending things that seemed to go beyond traditional business metrics. Our research led us to conclude that beyond measuring biodiversity, protecting pristine ecosystems and integrating biodiversity into corporate decision-making were equally crucial steps. At first it felt a bit odd to give this type of advice to a corporate client; after all, we are students of a prominent business school (albeit located in the former GDR State Council building) and should be more practical. After extensively discussing within our team, we decided to stand by our insights.

Working with Nespresso

We collaborated closely with Sven Matika, our sustainability manager contact at Nespresso Germany. After an initial kickoff call, he visited our campus mid-project, which helped us better understand Nespresso’s current biodiversity efforts and practical implementation challenges.

Before our final presentation, we spent a full day finalizing our slides and doing practice runs, which proved essential for smooth delivery.

Key learnings and personal takeaways

Several lessons emerged from this SIP experience:

1. Having access to expert networks makes a huge difference. The connections Joanna provided were invaluable for understanding the scientific landscape and developing credible recommendations.
2. Sustainability challenges push you beyond traditional business thinking. While this initially felt uncomfortable as MBA students, it taught us that meaningful impact sometimes requires recommendations that extend beyond conventional metrics.
3. Real-world consulting requires flexibility. It means navigating complex situations where your ideal solution may already be partially implemented. The key is finding ways to add unique value rather than simply confirming existing approaches.

The SIP project provided valuable, first-hand experience in sustainability consulting and showed us how business education can be applied to environmental challenges. On a personal level, I gained a good understanding of the biodiversity landscape and its current challenges—a topic I am interested in exploring further. 

Since Dr. Christof Schenck’s insightful lecture on biodiversity this spring, I have recognized the importance of the issue and wanted to build my expertise. As I am leading ESMT Net Impact Club, I am also excited that a couple of other biodiversity consulting projects are planned for fall.

The SIP project exemplifies what makes ESMT’s Full-time MBA experience unique: the opportunity to work on meaningful projects with real impact while building expertise in areas you’re passionate about.

If you are considering an MBA at ESMT and are passionate about sustainability, feel free to reach out to me—whether you want to learn more about the SIP, the ESMT Net Impact Club, or my MBA experience.