1 
 
EU CODE OF CONDUCT ON  
RESPONSIBLE FOOD BUSINESS AND MARKETING PRACTICES 
 
NESTLÉ 
2021 REPORT  
SUBMITTED ON 29 APRIL 2022 
 
Sustainability 
dimension 
 Code 
aspirational 
objective 
 
 (1-7) 
Individual commitments with 
baseline 
Progress on KPIs and goals  
(qualitative and / or quantitative) 
Additional 
information 
(optional)  
 
Comments 
(optional)  
 
(E.g. enablers, ideas on how to 
improve) 
Nutritional / 
Social 
1 
Product reformulation 
Further reduce sugars, sodium 
and saturated fats. 
Commitment will be evolved 
following assessment of 
current approach. Increase 
vegetables, fibre-rich grains, 
pulses, nuts and seeds in our 
foods and beverages. 
We achieved our extended 2020 
commitment to reduce the sugars 
we add in our foods and beverages 
by 5%. (link) 
 
We achieved our 2020 commitment 
to reduce 10% of saturated fats. 
(link)  
 
Read more about 
our updated 
commitments 
from page 13 of 
our 2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
We made a new commitment to 
reduce sodium in frequently 
consumed products by 2025 and 
2030. 
 
We are making whole grains the 
number one ingredient in as many of 
our cereals as possible and 
advocate for policies that help to 
increase whole grains consumption. 
(link) 
Environmental  
1, 3 
Transform product portfolio 
to reduce our impact on GHG 
emissions (CO2e) 
 
Goal: Reduce 4.2 million 
tonnes CO2e by 2030 by 
evolving product offering 
toward more sustainable 
options + reduce 1.4 million 
We are investing in science and 
technology solutions that help 
reduce our carbon emissions. We 
look at different areas, such as 
ingredients, production processes, 
packaging and others. We assess 
R&D projects early in their lifespans 
for potential impact on climate.  
 
Read more on 
page 15 of our 
2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
 
We will continue to provide more 
nutritious plant-based products. With 
the support from our R&D, in 2021 
we launched our Garden Gourmet 
VRIMP (plant-based seafood) and 
WUNDA (pea-based milk alternative) 
innovations (link).

2 
 
tonnes CO2e by 2030 by 
shifting toward more 
sustainable alternative 
ingredients like plant-based 
foods. 
We are rapidly expanding our plant-
based range to work towards the 
Goal and at the same time meet 
significant increases in consumer 
demand. 
Nutritional / 
Social 
1, 3 
Transparent information to 
consumers 
 
Implement Nutri-Score across 
brands of Nestlé's wholly-
owned businesses in 
continental Europe. 
We are continuing to implement 
Nutri-Score in several countries 
across Europe, including Austria, 
Belgium, France, Germany, 
Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and 
Switzerland. We will implement 
Nutri-Score labels on thousands of 
Nestlé products by end 2022. 
Cereal Partners Worldwide, the 
international breakfast joint venture 
between Nestlé and General Mills, 
is also implementing Nutri-Score on 
its product packaging. 
 
We aim to inspire people to live 
healthier lives in four main ways: on 
pack nutrition information and 
portion guidance, shared insights,  
responsible marketing and our 
Nestlé for Healthier Kids Initiative.  
 
See page 17 of our 2021 CSV 
Sustainability Report (here).  
Nutritional / 
Social 
1 
Restrict Promotion of HFSS 
food products  
No advertising for food and 
beverage products to children 
under the age of twelve on TV, 
print, on Pack and at Point of 
sales and to children under 13 
online (social media platforms 
in particular) except for 
products which fulfil common 
nutritional criteria. 
No communication related to 
products in primary schools, 
except where specifically 
requested by, or agreed with, 
the school administration for 
educational purposes. 
95.5% compliance with Nestlé 
Marketing Communication to 
Children policy* 
 
* For this reporting year, EU pledge 
monitoring results for TV,  
Influencers, Websites and Social 
Media are used as a proxy for the 
Compliance with Nestle Marketing 
Communication to Children Policy. 
 
Read more on 
page 18 of our 
2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
Our Executive Board approved an 
update to the Nestlé Marketing 
Communication to Children Policy in 
2021.  
 
In addition, we published our annual 
compliance report on our policy for 
implementing the WHO Code on the 
Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.

3 
 
Social / 
Environmental 
5, 7 
Produced Sustainably 
Goals are: 
Source 100% certified 
sustainable palm oil by 2023;  
Source 100% sustainable 
cocoa and coffee by 2025;  
Source 100% of key 
ingredients produced 
sustainably by 2030. 
Palm oil: 71.1%  
(13% increase from 2020) 
 
Cocoa: 50.6%  
(2.6% increase from 2020) 
 
Coffee: 82.8%  
(7.8% increase from 2020) 
 
16.3% of key ingredients produced 
sustainably* in 2021  
 
 
*In 2021, we adopted a new 
approach to sustainable sourcing 
by defining a new key performance 
indicator: “produced sustainably” 
(here) 
 
Read more on 
page 39 of our 
2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
Palm oil: Data comprises 
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil 
certifications and credits as follows: 
19.7% segregated, 1.1% mass 
balance, 47.5% book and claim, 
2.5% independent smallholder book 
and claim 
 
Cocoa: Sourced through the Nestlé 
Cocoa Plan 
 
Coffee: Sourced either through the 
Nescafé Plan or the Nespresso AAA 
Sustainable Quality Program 
 
 
Social 
5, 7 
Human Rights / Child Labor 
Ensure human rights are 
promoted and respected 
across our value chain by 
assessing, addressing and 
reporting progress on salient 
human rights risks by 2025. 
In December 2021, we published 
our new Nestlé Human Rights 
Framework and Roadmap (link). 
 
In January 2022, we launched 
Nestlé’s new global plan to tackle 
child labor risks, increase farmer 
income and achieve full traceability 
in cocoa (link). 
Read more on 
page 43 of our 
2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
By 2022 year-end, we will publicly 
launch action plans for each of our 
10 salient human rights issues, and 
report our progress against them by 
2025. 
Social 
5 
Youth  
Provide 20,000 
apprenticeships and 
traineeships and 20,000 jobs 
for young people by 2025 in 
Europe, Middle East and North 
Africa, with a specific emphasis 
on digital and green skills. 
Apprenticeships / traineeships:  
2,789 
 
Jobs: 
4,834 
 
Data for 2020-2021 
Nestlé reporting 
to European Pact 
for Skills + EAfA

4 
 
Social 
5 
Diversity & Inclusion 
Increase the proportion of 
women in the group’s top 200 
senior executive positions from 
around 20% currently to 30% 
by 2022. 
27.2% of top 200+ senior executive 
positions held by women in 2021. 
 
 
Read more on 
page 51 of our 
2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
The Bloomberg Gender Equality 
Index recognized Nestlé for our 
transparency in gender reporting and 
advancing women’s equality in the 
workplace for the fourth 
consecutive year. We also featured 
in the European Round Table’s D&I 
Toolkit of best practices. 
Social / 
Environmental 
6 
Animal welfare  
Goal: 
Source 100% of purchased 
eggs for food products from 
cage free sources by 2025 
worldwide  
European Chicken 
Commitment: improve animal 
welfare standards for broilers 
by 2026. 
We have rapidly expanded our 
procurement of cage-free eggs, 
with 100% of our eggs now cage 
free in the United States and 
Europe and 76.3% worldwide.  
 
 
Environmental 
3, 6 
Climate 
Goal: 
Achieve 20% reduction of 
emissions by 2025, 50% 
reduction by 2030, Net Zero by 
2050 (considering 2018 
baseline + company growth). 
4.0 million tonnes of absolute CO2e 
reductions in 2021 
Read more on 
page 21 of our 
2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
We restated the 2018 baseline 
emissions in scope for our Net Zero 
Roadmap from 92 million tonnes to 
93 million tonnes, due to 
acquisitions, divestitures and 
adjusted scope. Without action, 
business growth would have 
increased our emissions to 98.4 
million tonnes by the end of 2021.  
 
However, we have achieved 4.0 
million tonnes of GHG emissions 
reductions (CO2 e) through our 
climate program. While our year-end 
emissions of 94.4 million tonnes 
were still higher than in 2018, our 
performance clearly demonstrates a 
downward trajectory (Nestlé’s

5 
 
carbon peak has been reached in 
2019). 
Environmental 
2, 3, 4 
Climate 
Goal: Planting 200 million trees 
by 2030 
24.6 million trees secured for 
planting in 2021; 9.3 million tonnes 
of CO2e secured through tree-
planting projects initiated 
 
 
Read more on 
page 25 of our 
2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
 
Environmental 
3, 4 
Climate 
Accelerate progress towards 
halving food waste 2030 and 
achieve zero waste for disposal 
in our sites. 
We continue to take innovative but 
practical steps to reduce food 
waste, including extending shelf-life 
of products, clarifying labelling and 
creating energy from waste.  
Read more on 
Nestle.com here 
 
Environmental 
3, 4 
Climate 
Goal: Increase the proportion 
of renewable electricity that we 
use through power purchase 
agreements, green tariffs, 
renewable energy certificates 
and on-site production to 
achieve 100% renewable 
electricity by 2025. 
63.7% of renewable electricity 
sourced at year-end 2021 
(vs. 50.5% in 2020) 
Read more on 
page 22 of our 
2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
In 2021, we are initiating renewable 
electricity projects across multiple 
countries across Europe, including 
Germany, Spain and Switzerland. 
Environmental 
3, 4 
Climate 
Increase the availability of 
renewable thermal energy 
generated from sources, such 
as biogas and biomass, by 
2030. 
With regards to thermal renewable 
energies, which account for 2/3 of 
our manufacturing energy 
consumption, a dedicated internal 
working group has been created to 
evaluate and explore alternative 
low carbon technologies and fuel 
sources between now and 2023.  
 
 
Environmental 
3, 6, 7 
Nature and biodiversity 
Goal: Deforestation-free 
primary supply chains for palm 
oil, sugar, beef, soya and pulp 
and paper by end-2022. 
97.2% assessed as deforestation-
free in our primary meat, palm oil, 
pulp and paper, soya and sugar 
supply chains 
(vs. 90.0% in 2020) 
Read more on 
page 26 of our 
2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here)

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Deforestation-free supply 
chains for coffee and cocoa by 
end-2025. 
Environmental 
3, 6 
Climate 
Goal: Source 20% of key 
ingredients through 
regenerative agricultural 
methods by 2025, 50% by 
2030. 
We are piloting in dairy farms to 
assess their potential to become 
net zero. 
 
Our efforts to advocate for 
regenerative agriculture 
continued in 2021, including 
organizing an independent dialogue 
on the subject as part of the UN 
Food Systems Summit and at the 
United Nations climate forum 
COP26 and organizing other policy 
discussions, such as on the 
formation of the European 
Commission’s Farm 
to Fork strategy. 
 
We joined the Taskforce on Nature-
related Financial Disclosures 
working group in 2021, to advance 
collective 
understanding of how to report on 
risks and dependencies related to 
the natural environment. 
Read more on 
page 28 of our 
2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
We are defining a new KPI to 
measure our progress toward 
sourcing 20% of our key ingredients 
through regenerative agriculture 
methods by 2025. 
 
Global aggregation of data related to 
regenerative and organic agriculture 
and conserving natural landscapes 
will provide a comprehensive picture 
of impacts on biodiversity. 
 
By 2025, Nestlé will invest CHF 1.2 
billion to spark regenerative 
agriculture across our supply chains. 
We will fund pilot projects and co-
invest with farmers to help them 
transition to regenerative agriculture, 
as well as pay premiums for 
regenerative agriculture goods.  
 
On biodiversity, Nestlé will continue 
following and contributing to the 
development of a robust framework 
for making science-based Goal on 
nature. An internal working group will 
assess the comprehensiveness of 
existing commitments on climate and 
nature and determine potential 
further steps in this area. 
Environmental 
4, 6 
Packaging 
a) 100% or our (plastic) 
packaging will be recyclable or 
a) 85.4% packaging recyclable or 
reusable in 2021* 
 
Read more on 
pages 34-37 of 
our 2021 CSV 
a)  Based on the Ellen MacArthur 
Foundation definition and according 
to Sustainability Accounting

7 
 
reusable by 2025* (following 
the EMF definition). 
b) We aim to reduce our use of 
virgin plastic in our packaging 
by one third by 2025. We aim 
for an absolute reduction in 
plastic packaging by 10% by 
2025 in Europe (as part of the 
European Plastics Pact). 
c) We are increasing the use of 
rPET in our bottles to 50% by 
2025 in Europe. Collect as 
many plastic bottles as we 
produce by 2030. 
b) We are reducing the use of 
plastic packaging material in 
general and virgin plastics in 
particular through: 
- removing unnecessary plastics in 
accordance with our published 
Negative List 
- testing and scaling different reuse 
and refill solutions to further reduce 
single-use packaging 
- working to develop novel 
technologies and innovative 
packaging solutions  
 
The virgin plastic used in our 
packaging has reduced by 8.1% 
since 2018 (adjusted baseline).  
 
c) In 2021, we achieved an average 
share of 19% rPET in our Waters 
category across Europe. 
 
 
Our EU collection commitment on 
PET bottles is underpinned by 
collective action aiming to reflect 
our endorsement of the EU Single 
Use Plastics Directive of 77% by 
2025 and 90% by 2029. To that 
end, we are actively advocating for 
mandatory adequately designed 
Deposit Return Schemes at local 
level in selected EU countries. 
Currently, we rely on the 2020 
estimate provided by Eunomia for 
the EU collection rate of PET 
bottles, being 61% (link). 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
Standards Board Process Foods 
Standard FB-PF-410a. 
 
b) developing novel technologies 
and innovative packaging solutions 
included eliminating all plastic straws 
from our products, using paper as an 
alternative material enabling us to  
reach an annual quantity of 4.5 
billion paper straws while eliminating 
1632 tonnes of plastics. The paper 
used is sustainably sourced and 
certified by FSC. We transitioned our 
Smarties range of products to 
recyclable paper packaging = this 
helped us eliminate plastic from 
approximately 250 million packs sold 
globally each year.)  
 
We await for the first round of 
reporting exercise under the 
European Plastics Pact which is yet 
to be finalised.

8 
 
Environmental 
3, 4, 6 
Water 
Work to achieve water 
efficiency and sustainability 
across our operations - certify 
all bottling water plants with the 
Alliance for Water stewardship 
(AWS) standard by 2025. 
19 Nestlé Waters sites certified to 
the AWS Standard (vs. 41 in 2020)* 
 
* This reduction is due 
to the divestment of our North 
American waters business. 
Read more on 
pages 30-33 of 
our 2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
 
Environmental 
3, 4, 6 
Water 
We will lead the regeneration 
of the water cycle to help 
create a positive water impact 
everywhere our waters 
business operates by 2025. 
We are rolling out our plan to 
implement more than 100 projects 
around our 48 global waters sites, 
supported by a CHF 120 million 
investment. From 2025 onwards, 
our aim is for these projects to help 
nature retain more water than our 
bottled- water business uses. 
Read more on 
pages 30-33 of 
our 2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
All projects are measurable, using 
the World Resources 
Institute’s Volumetric Water Benefit 
Accounting methodology. This 
methodology provides consistency in 
analyzing water management 
activities and helps focus our 
activities on addressing current and 
future shared water challenges. 
 
In 2022, we will launch a new 
strategic approach to water in 
agriculture that will support our net 
zero commitment and specifically 
our goal to source 50% of key 
ingredients through regenerative 
agricultural methods by 2030. 
Environmental 
3, 4, 6 
Water 
Transparent disclosure of the 
use of water in bottled water's 
operations demonstrating 
continuous improvement. 
In 2021, we delivered absolute 
savings of 2.3 
million m3 of water  through more 
than 150 projects. Total water 
withdrawals at Nestlé factories 
were 98 million m3 (vs. 115 million 
m3 in 2020)* 
 
* This reduction is due 
to the divestment of our North 
American waters business 
 
Read more on 
pages 30-33 of 
our 2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
Direct water withdrawals per tonne 
of total product show that Bottled 
water and PetCare are the most 
water-efficient categories while our 
Confectionery, Powdered and liquid 
beverages and Prepared dishes and 
cooking aids categories show the 
greatest improvements compared to 
2010 (see table).

9 
 
Environmental 
3, 4, 6 
Water 
Sustain water quality at natural 
mineral & spring water sources 
by partnering with farmers in 
catchment area to limit or 
reduce the use of chemicals in 
the catchment area. 
We continue to engage with 
suppliers, especially those in 
agriculture, on water resource 
management. We use the Nestlé 
Responsible Sourcing Standard to 
specify to the more than 150000 
direct suppliers and more than 
500000 farmers we work with what 
we expect in terms of water use 
and water management practices. 
Read more on 
pages 30-33 of 
our 2021 CSV 
Sustainability 
Report (here) 
In 2022, we will launch a new 
strategic approach to water in 
agriculture that will support our net 
zero commitment and specifically 
our goal to source 50% of key 
ingredients through regenerative 
agricultural methods by 2030. 
 
The approach is based on two key 
areas: 1) Nestlé agronomist training 
for farmers throughout our supply 
chains on good water management 
practices; 2) Innovative regeneration 
of local water cycles in direct 
proportion to our local agricultural 
water footprint. We will put programs 
in place to help ensure that water is 
not used beyond what is naturally 
regenerated, in order to achieve a 
positive water balance at the 
watershed level.