Good Food,Good

Life
The bird family that is used in the Logo dates back to the Nestle family coat of arms and symbolizes the
meaning of the Nestle name "small nest".

History
The company dates to 1867, when two separate Swiss enterprises were founded that would later form the
core of Nestlé. In the succeeding decades the two competing enterprises aggressively expanded their
businesses throughout Europe and the United States.
In August 1867 Charles A and George Page, two brothers from Lee County, Illinois, USA established the
Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in Cham. Their first British operation was opened at
Chippenham, Wiltshire in 1873.
In September 1867, in Vevey, Henri Nestlé developed a milk-based baby food and soon began marketing
it. Henri Nestlé retired in 1875, but the company, under new ownership, retained his name as Farine
Lactée Henri Nestlé.
In 1877 Anglo-Swiss added milk-based baby foods to its products, and in the following year the Nestlé
company added condensed milk, so that the firms became direct and fierce rivals.
In 1905 the companies merged to become the Nestlé and Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company,
retaining that name until 1947, when the name Nestlé Alimentana SA was taken as a result of the
acquisition of Fabrique de Produits Maggi SA (founded 1884) and its holding company, Alimentana SA
of Kempttal, Switzerland.. The company’s current name was adopted in 1977. By the early 1900s, the
company was operating factories in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Spain. World War
I created new demand for dairy products in the form of government contracts; by the end of the war,
Nestlé's production had more than doubled.
After the war, government contracts dried up and consumers switched back to fresh milk. However,
Nestlé's management responded quickly, streamlining operations and reducing debt. The 1920s saw
Nestlé's first expansion into new products, with chocolate the company's second most important activity.
Nestlé felt the effects of World War II immediately. Profits dropped from US$20 million in 1938 to US$6
million in 1939. Factories were established in developing countries, particularly Latin America.
Ironically, the war helped with the introduction of the company's newest product, Nescafé, which was a
staple drink of the US military. Nestlé's production and sales rose in the wartime economy.
The end of World War II was the beginning of a dynamic phase for Nestlé. Growth accelerated and
companies were acquired. In 1947 came the merger with Maggi seasonings and soups.. Diversification
came with a shareholding in L'Oréal in 1974. In 1977, Nestlé made its second venture outside the food
industry by acquiring Alcon Laboratories Inc.
In 1984, Nestlé's improved bottom line allowed the company to launch a new round of acquisitions,
notably American food giant Carnation and the British confectionery company Rowntree Mackintosh in
1988, which brought the Willy Wonka Brand to Nestlé.
Since 1996 there have been acquisitions including San Pellegrino (1997), Spillers Petfoods (1998), and
Ralston Purina (2002). There were two major acquisitions in North America, both in 2002: in June, Nestlé
merged its U.S. ice cream business into Dreyer's, and in August a US$2.6 billion acquisition was
announced of Chef America, the creator of Hot Pockets.
In December 2007 Nestlé entered in a strategic partnership with a Belgian chocolate maker Pierre
Marcolini. Nestlé agreed to sell its controlling stake in Alcon to Novartis on 4 January 2010. The sale
forms part of a broader US $39.3 billion offer by Novartis to fully acquire the world’s largest eye-care
company.
Products
Nestlé has 6,000 brands, with a wide range of products across a number of markets including coffee
(Nescafé), bottled water, other beverages (including Aero (chocolate) & Skinny Cow), chocolate, ice
cream, infant foods, performance and healthcare nutrition, seasonings, frozen and refrigerated foods,
confectionery and pet food.
Headquarters
As a multinational company – present in more than 80 countries with over 265,000 employees – Nestlé is
able to gain from obvious global benefits. Although they are a Swiss company, their general management
represents nine different countries, and less than 2% of their sales are generated in Switzerland.
At Nestlé's headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, some 1,600 employees from more than 70
countries oversee the global strategy of the Nestlé Group. At Nestlé, a person’s passport, ethnic
or national origin plays no role.What counts are professional skills, personality and strength of
character.
Corporate Headquarters in Vevey sets the overall strategy and ensures that it is carried out.
It's an approach that is best summed up as: 'centralize what you must, decentralize what you can'.
Nestlé USA is headquartered in Glendale, California, centrally located within the greater Los
Angeles area. Nestlé USA has 26 manufacturing facilities, 22 distribution centers, four corporate
offices and 15 sales offices across the country.
Interesting facts
Earnings
In 2009, consolidated sales were CHF 107.6 billion and net profit was CHF 10.43 billion. Research and
development investment was CHF 2.02 billion.
Sales by activity breakdown: 27% from drinks, 26% from dairy and food products, 18% from ready-
prepared dishes and ready-cooked dishes, 12% from chocolate, 11% from pet products, 6% from
pharmaceutical products and 2% from baby milks.
Sales by geographic area breakdown: 32% from Europe, 31% from Americas (26% from US), 16% from
Asia, 21% from rest of the world.
Joint ventures
Nestlé holds 26.4% of the shares of L'Oréal, the world's largest company in cosmetics and beauty. The
Laboratoires Inneov is a joint venture in nutritional cosmetics between Nestlé and L'Oréal, and Galderma
a joint venture in dermatology with L'Oréal. Others include Cereal Partners Worldwide with General
Mills, Beverage Partners Worldwide with Coca-Cola, and Dairy Partners Americas with Fonterra.
Nestlé’s growth in providing new Nutrition, Health and Wellness solutions to meet consumer needs is
based on the world’s largest private nutrition R&D network, comprising 28 research, technology and
product development centres and more than 5200 employees*.
R&D
The Nestlé Research Center (NRC), one of the world’s largest private facilities for food, nutrition, health,
quality and safety research, is the hub of this network. Its research is transformed into product innovations
and processes through Product Technology Centres and R&DCentres, and Nestlé scientists in 280
Application Groups ensure that these are applied locally to meet different consumer needs and
preferences.
Nestlé Research is a dynamic global network of 29 Nestlé centres of excellence in research and product
development. Its scope and reach are global.It is the world's largest food and nutrition research
organization, with about 5000 people working in R&D, as well as corporate venture funds and research
partnerships with business partners and universities. Nestlé scientists in each market ensure that global
R&D is applied locally to meet different consumer needs and preferences.
New developments
Nestlé invested around CHF 2 billion in research and development last year. This included the opening of
the Abidjan Research & Development Centre in Côte d’Ivoire in April 2009 and the CHF 25 million
Chocolate Centre of Excellence in Broc, Switzerland. Through the Nestlé Growth Fund, they have also
invested CHF 742 million in promising new Nutrition, Health and Wellness businesses. They also
continue to foster innovation partnerships with business partners and have 385 collaborations with
universities.
Ethical and sustainable efforts
In 2000 Nestlé and other chocolate companies formed the World Cocoa Foundation. The WCF focuses on
boosting farmer income, encouraging sustainable farming techniques and environmental and social
programmes.
Nestlé is a founding participant in the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), an independent foundation set
up in 2002 and dedicated to ending child and forced labour in cocoa growing, and eliminating child
trafficking and abusive labour practices.
In October 2009 Nestlé announced its Cocoa Plan. The company will invest CHF 110 million in the Plan
over ten years to achieve a sustainable cocoa supply. On the 23rd October 2009 Nestlé and CNRA, the
Ivorian National Centre for Plant Science Research, signed a frame agreement for cooperation in plant
science and propagation, with a target of producing 1 million high-quality, disease-resistant cocoa
plantlets a year by 2012. The aim is to replace old, less productive trees with healthier new ones.
Nestlé is launching a Fair Trade branded Kit Kat in the UK and Ireland from January 2010.
Their commitment to sustainable Palm Oil
Nestlé views the destruction of tropical rainforests and peatlands as one of the most serious environmental
issues facing us today. At the recent Nestlé Annual General Meeting our Chairman Peter Brabeck–
Letmathe reinforced this position and repeated our support for a moratorium on the destruction of
rainforests.
With regards to our pledge to achieve sustainable palm oil by 2015, we are making progress on certified
palm oil and palm oil certificates even more rapidly, with 18% of our purchases covered in 2010, and we
expect to reach 50% by the end of 2011.
As an important step on that journey, a number of Nestlé markets, including Nestlé UK, have already
purchased Green Palm certificates, the certificate trading programme designed to help suppliers tackle the
environmental and social problems created by the production of palm oil.
Controversy and criticism
Marketing of formula
One of the most prominent controversies involving Nestlé concerns the promotion of the use of infant
formula to mothers across the world including developing countries, an issue that attracted significant
attention in 1977 as a result of the Nestlé boycott which is still ongoing. Nestle continues to draw
criticism that it is in violation of a 1981 World Health Organization code that regulates the advertising of
breast milk formulas. Nestlé's policy however, states that breastmilk is the best food for infants; however,
women who cannot or choose not to breast feed for whatever reason do need an alternative to ensure that
their babies are getting the nutrition they need.
Melamine in Chinese milk
In late September 2008, the Hong Kong government claimed to have found melamine in a Chinese-made
Nestlé milk product. The Dairy Farm milk was made by Nestlé's division in the Chinese coastal city
Qingdao. Nestlé affirmed that all its products were safe and were not made from milk adulterated with
melamine. On October 2, 2008 the Taiwan Health ministry announced that six types of milk powders
produced in China by Nestlé contained traces of melamine. Nestlé has announced that it will begin a
recall of milk products produced in China.
E. Coli
In June 2009, an outbreak of E. Coli O157:H7 was linked to Nestlé's refrigerated cookie dough
originating in a plant in Danville, Virginia. In the USA, the caused sickness in at least 69 people in 29
states, half of whom required hospitalization. Following the outbreak, Nestlé voluntarily recalled 30,000
cases of the cookie dough. How the dough became contaminated is unclear, because E. Coli is not known
to live in any of its constituent ingredients.
Slogan
Good Food, Good Life
“Nutrition, Health and Wellness is Nestlé’s strategic direction. We want you to be able to make healthy
choices about your food and beverages.
We also believe that good food sometimes means treating yourself! We aim to make your life more
pleasurable because our products not only taste better; but they are also more nutritious.”