This week, Nestlé released the summary of its 2014 Nestlé in society: Creating Shared Value report, which highlights the company’s progress — and challenges — in meeting its societal commitments. The report gives stakeholders the opportunity to scrutinize Nestlé’s progress during 2014 against 38 specific objectives. The full online version of the report will be available from April 7.
Three new commitments cover responsible marketing to children, ensuring that all employees and stakeholders can easily report possible compliance violations, and working against corruption and bribery.
“These commitments guide our management and all of us at Nestlé across Business Units, Zones and markets in our collective efforts to reach these specific objectives,” said Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke. “We meet regularly with NGOs, academics, multilateral agencies, governments and others to listen and learn from their criticisms and encouragement. Our efforts are strengthened by this dialogue.”
Some highlights of the 2014 report include:
- Nestlé water discharges per tonne of product have dropped by 52 percent since 2005.
- Nestlé needs YOUth helped 11,832 young people in Europe find work or apprenticeships.
- 98 percent of Nestlé products designed for children met all of the applicable Nestlé Nutritional Foundation criteria
- The Nestlé Healthy Kids Global Programme reached more than 7.6 million children in 79 countries
- 72 Nestlé’s factories achieved zero waste for disposal
- Nestlé sensitized 12,458 farmers on child labor issues
Other initiatives highlighted in the report include Nestle’s partnership with NGO World Animal Protection to ensure the welfare of the livestock in its supply chain; and the company’s work through its Nestle Cocoa Plan to help make cocoa production a livelihood of choice around the world — one with higher incomes, higher yields (cocoa pod counts on demo plots have increased from 878kg to 1,500kg per hectare, according to the report) and better social conditions.
Meanwhile, just ahead of World Water Day (March 22), Nestlé Waters renewed of its 20-year partnership with Project WET— a US-based NGO that develops educational tools to increase water literacy around the world amongst educators and children. The two announced they will once again come “Together for Water” for World Water Day 2015, with a new set of goals around the continued expansion of water education around the world for another four years (see infographic).
"Two decades of support from Nestlé Waters have enabled Project WET to bring hands-on, action-oriented water education to people in places that we could not have reached on our own. We are eager to continue to expand the scope of our work," says Dennis Nelson, president and CEO of Project WET Foundation.