By: Adam Sylvain

When you are a global business that relies on an agricultural product—susceptible to severe floods, droughts, and other environmental impacts—sustainability is more than just doing good. It’s part and parcel of who you are as a company.

Coffee is the heart of Nespresso’s business, which aims to empower anyone to enjoy the perfect cup of coffee from the comfort of their home, from their office, or in hotels and restaurants. That mission depends on healthy crop yields and supportive partnerships with a network of more than 150,000 farmers in 18 countries.

A Deep Commitment to Sustainability

Nespresso’s Global CFO Hilary Halper T’07 says the resources the Swiss-based company spends on sustainability are essential investments in the value and brand promise they bring to consumers. 

“It all starts with supporting the AAA farmers,” says Halper. “This includes investments in agronomists who work with local farmers on regenerative agriculture that can help withstand the mounting threat of climate change.”

In addition to working side-by-side with farmers to promote strong crops, Halper says Nespresso works equally hard to ensure farmers earn a sustainable livelihood. The company has also set up programs to provide them with crop insurance and pensions.

Another initiative, Reviving Origins, helps restore the coffee industry in regions recovering from civil conflict, economic hardship, or natural disasters. Since 2011, Nespresso has supported the revival of coffee farming in South Sudan, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Puerto Rico, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Premium coffees from these locations are then sold to consumers, which provides resources for further investment.

“It’s a true, circular product,” explains Halper. “You’re reviving the crop in these regions, creating a unique, specialty product, and then investing back into the program. It’s a concept that proves you can do well by doing good.”

Among the most visible signs of Nespresso’s commitment to sustainability, the company became B Corp™-certified in 2022. With the certification, Nespresso joined a network of over 8,000 for-profit businesses whose high standards of performance across five categories—governance, workers, customers, community, and the environment—are independently assessed and verified.

Promoting responsible recycling and reuse of products has been another point of emphasis for Nespresso, says Halper. Their aluminum coffee pods, or capsules, can be recycled for future use in products like engine blocks and window frames as well as household goods, spray cans, and bikes. In Europe, the company recently introduced paper-based home-compostable capsules. 

A novel partnership with the French startup Zèta led to the creation of RE:GROUND, a line of sneakers, hand-crafted in Portugal, with each pair made from 80 percent recycled and sustainable materials, including coffee grounds from 12 Nespresso coffees. The circularity program RELOVE allows consumers to purchase returned and carefully refurbished coffee machines. Nespresso also has sustainable partnerships with other brands including Hublot, Mammut, and Miloo eBikes.

“Well before a lot of companies started thinking about ESG and net zero commitments, we were walking the walk in trying to meet the highest standards of sustainability,” says Halper. “It’s an ongoing journey but one that we are fully committed to.”

Journey to a Tuck MBA

Reflecting on her own journey, Halper says she never set out to be a CFO but has always had a natural curiosity and desire to drive impact and considers herself a lifelong learner. A Philadelphia native, she earned degrees in business and Spanish at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where she played tennis for a Nationally ranked team. The values gained from playing tennis at a high level shaped her approach to many areas faced in the business arena. She also studied abroad in Argentina and Spain, planting the early seeds of an international business career. 

After college, Halper landed at Ernst & Young (EY) in New York as part of an early data and analytics-driven consulting team that did econometric modeling for corporate and government clients. It was the early aughts and much of their work focused on helping companies understand the financial implications making key strategic decisions as well as doing business online.

“I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was a data scientist,” says Halper. “It was not a term we were using, but the work was highly analytical and all about helping companies make evidence-based decisions.”

Halper says her time at Tuck helped broaden her expertise and create greater optionality for the future. While at EY, she consulted with the French pharmaceutical company Aventis during its merger with Sanofi which sparked an interest in international banking. Her post-MBA career began at Deutsche Bank in London, where she became vice president of health care investment banking.

From Hanover to Paris

She went on to become director of corporate development at GlaxoSmithKline before moving to Paris and joining Essilor Group, an international prescription optical company with a EUR25 billion market cap. Shortly after she arrived in 2016 as the company’s vice president and Global head of M&A, Halper learned about Essilor’s planned merger with the eyewear conglomerate and owner of brands including Ray-Ban, Persol, and OakleyLuxottica—a move that would make EssilorLuxottica the largest globally integrated optical player in the world.

Her role quickly broadened as Halper was appointed the group CFO of Essilor. Once the transaction closed, she was named co-CFO of the enlarged French publicly listed company. The move to Nespresso in 2020 allowed her to gain experience in a more operational CFO role.

“I was in a public company seat for four years, but in a way, I felt had I skipped a step by not having more operational experience,” she says. “I realized I still had enough runway in my career to make a move that would help me become a more well-rounded leader.”

On the Evolving Role of the CFO

Sustainability investment is only part of her job as Nespresso CFO, but Halper says it reflects the increasingly strategic nature of the role. Regardless of business or industry, there are some non-negotiable duties a CFO must perform—most notably, the key functions of accounting, controlling, reporting, and internal controls. But beyond those responsibilities, she says the work can be expansive.

At Nespresso, Halper manages everything from buying coffee to assessing where to open the next set of retail boutiques. The role demands a broad skill set and a healthy curiosity. This was especially true for Halper, who joined Nespresso at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There were so many unknowns and every day there was a new challenge. Our first priority was our employees but there were many challenges to manage—we didn’t know if we could get component parts for our machines, if we could get coffee, or if we could keep our boutiques open recalls Halper. “At the same time, I was starting at a new company and living in a new country. In those circumstances, you quickly learn the importance of being open and willing to adapt.”

Four years later, the near-daily opportunities to learn and step out of her comfort zone are aspects of the role she enjoys most.

“I like being involved in numerous strategic projects across the business as I really believe the finance function is a strategic enabler of the business,” says Halper. “Right now, we are looking at ways we can drive further digitization within finance and how we can leverage AI capabilities. The work is constantly evolving, and it keeps things interesting.” 

This story originally appeared in print in the Summer 2024 issue of Tuck Today magazine.