Nestlé is a 150 year old company that still thrives today providing nutrition and health to billions of people across the world. With household brands and products like Cerelac and Maggi, it has impacted the lives of people phenomenally and continues to do so. This is what you should know about Nestle –
10 Key Things about Nestlé
1. With more than 2000 brands and operating in 189 countries, Nestle has impacted the lives of billions of people worldwide. A Switzerland headquartered company, Nestle started its journey way back in 1866 and 1867 with the establishment of two different companies and finally in 1905 a merger led to the creation of Nestle Company as we know it now. Its founders- Henri Nestle, Daniel Peter and Charles Koehler- created the first milk chocolate, while Henri Nestle developed milk based baby food, both of which products have become synonymous with Nestle.
2.It made a phenomenal CHF 88.79 B in sales in FY15, while the gross income has increased from CHF39.52B in FY11 to CHF44.06B in FY15. The industry is facing several challenges, however, it has proved to be consistent in its efforts to create a profitable enterprise. In FY15, it recorded a trading profit of CHF 13.4B with a trading operating profit margin of 15.1%. Its earnings per share were CHF 2.90 while proposed dividend has been CHF 2.25.
3.It has 8 businesses for its products: Nestle Health Science, Nestle Institute of Health Sciences, Nespresso, Nestle Nutrition Institute, Nestle Professional, Purina Petcare, Skin Health and Nestle Waters. Some of the more famous brands of Nestle are Maggi, Kit Kat, Gerber Baby Foods, Cerelac, Nesquick, Nestea, Nestle Milo, Nescafe, Buitoni, Nido, Dreyers, Haagen Daaz and Purina.
4. The company works on the ‘ten principles of business operations’ where it has documented and created policies on all its stakeholders and resources. As a responsible company, it focuses on creating best practices for Nutrition health and wellness, Quality assurance and product safety and consumer communication. It also focuses on human rights and ensuring adherence to supplier codes and safety at work.
5.It is the top food brand in the world and a leader in the FMCG industry. Its brand value has increased from USD 21,225M in 2015 to USD 23,395M in 2016, according to Brand Finance. Customers have trusted Nestle for generations with their products spanning all ages. It is also currently celebrating 150 years of ‘Good Food, Good Life’ which sums up their company values.
6. FMCG companies use the traditional trade model with distributors and retailers for sales; however, it is catching up with the times and is working with e-commerce website to change its model. It has created a portal- Nespresso.com- for coffee products and related accessories. It has also collaborated in China with the e-commerce giant Alibaba, to grow online sales and offer products to millions of customers.
7. Innovation and research in food and health is first nature to Nestle as it creates revolutionary products which impact the health of generations. It has created a unique bouillon cube which is fortified with iron and is sold across Central and West Africa in huge volumes. It has also invested CHF 42.3M to research amino acids, which are the building blocks of life. It has created a unique iron deficiency test which involves a minute long test to provide results which will impact millions in Africa.
8. Being a food and Consumer Goods Company, its main focus is on creating great products which are nutritious and healthy. In 2015, it has renovated 8041 products to improve their nutritional and health components. It has also engaged in responsible marketing as well education of nutrition. It sources and closely works with rural farmers; in fact, more than 760,000 farmers’ worldwide supply directly to Nestle and more than a million of these are women farmers.
9. More than 339,000 people are employed at Nestle worldwide. The company is creating job opportunities for young people through full time jobs and apprenticeships. It has a goal of hiring 10,000 young people and 10,000 trainers in 2016 in Europe as it recognizes the problem of unemployment in Europe and aims to tackle it. It also has a “YOUth program” where more than 200 companies participate in providing jobs to youngsters. It was also awarded as Most Inclusive Employer at European Diversity Awards and 25% of its senior leaders are women, as well as 33.7% managers.
10.It believes that it needs to create value not only shareholders but also for its community and has envisioned this in a strategy called “Creating Shared Value”. It has listed 39 commitments spanning the environment and people to create sustainable value. It has currently reduced 42.7% of cumulative reductions since 2005 of GHG emissions, while 105 of its factories have achieved zero waste for disposal. It has also reduced 41.2% of cumulative reduction of direct withdrawals of water per tonne of product in every product category. Also, 7.7 million m3 quantity of water used is either recycled or reused.