Nestlé

Nestlé S.A. (/ˈnɛsleɪ, -li, -əl/ NESS-lay, -⁠lee, -⁠əl) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 2014. It ranked No. 64 on the Fortune Global 500 in 2017. In 2023, the company was ranked 50th in the Forbes Global 2000.
Nestlé's products include coffee and tea, candy and confectionery, bottled water, infant formula and baby food, dairy products and ice cream, frozen foods, breakfast cereals, dry packaged foods and snacks, pet foods, and medical food. Twenty-nine of Nestlé's brands have annual sales of over 1 billion CHF (about US$1.1 billion), including Nespresso, Nescafé, Nestea, Kit Kat, Smarties, Nesquik, Stouffer's, Vittel, and Maggi. Nestlé has 447 factories, operates in 189 countries, and employs around 339,000 people. It is one of the main shareholders of L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics company.
Nestlé was formed in 1905 by the merger of the "Anglo-Swiss Milk Company", which was established in 1866 by brothers George and Charles Page, and "Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé" founded in 1867 by Henri Nestlé. The company grew significantly during World War I and again following World War II, expanding its offerings beyond its early condensed milk and infant formula products. The company has made a number of corporate acquisitions including Findus in 1963, Libby's in 1971, Rowntree Mackintosh in 1988, Klim in 1998, and Gerber in 2007.
Nestlé's origin dates back to the 1860s when two separate Swiss enterprises were founded that would later form Nestlé. In the following decades, the two competing enterprises expanded their businesses throughout Europe and the United States.
In the late 19th and early 20th century, Henri Nestlé and his successors participated in the development of the chocolate industry in Switzerland, together with the Peter, Kohler, and Cailler families. In 1904, Daniel Peter and Charles-Amédée Kohler (son of Charles-Amédée Kohler who founded a chocolate factory in 1830) became partners and founded the Société générale suisse des chocolats Peter et Kohler réunis. In 1911, the company created by Peter and Kohler merged with Cailler. Alexandre Cailler (grandson of François-Louis Cailler) had founded a chocolate factory in Broc in 1898, still used by Nestlé today; which enabled the production of milk chocolate on a large scale. In 1929, Peter, Cailler, Kohler, Chocolats Suisses finally merged with the Nestlé group. An earlier alliance in 1904 between Peter and Nestlé also allowed the production of milk chocolate in the United States, at the Fulton plant.
In 1905, Nestlé and Anglo-Swiss 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, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain. The First World War created a demand for dairy products in the form of government contracts, and by the end of the war, Nestlé's production had more than doubled.
In January 1919, Nestlé bought two condensed milk plants in Oregon from the company Geibisch and Joplin for $250,000. One was in Bandon, while the other was in Milwaukie. They expanded them considerably, processing 250,000 pounds of condensed milk daily in the Bandon plant.
After the World War I, 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-manufacture becoming the company's second most important activity; white chocolate was created in the following decade. Louis Dapples was CEO till 1937 when succeeded by Édouard Muller till his death in 1948.
Nestlé felt the effects of the Second World War immediately. Profits dropped from US$20 million in 1938 to US$6 million in 1939. Factories were established in developing countries, particularly in South America. Ironically, the war helped with the introduction of the company's newest product, Nescafé ("Nestlé's Coffee"), which became a staple drink of the US military. Despite that, Nestlé actually supplied both sides in the war: the company had a contract to feed the German army. 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 numerous companies were acquired. In 1947 Nestlé merged with Maggi, a manufacturer of seasonings and soups. Crosse & Blackwell followed in 1950, as did Findus (1963), Libby's (1971), and Stouffer's (1973). Diversification came under chairman & CEO Pierre Liotard-Vogt with a shareholding in L'Oreal in 1974 and the acquisition of Alcon Laboratories Inc. in 1977 for $280 million.
In the 1980s, Nestlé's improved bottom line allowed the company to launch further acquisitions. Carnation was acquired for US$3 billion in 1984 and brought the evaporated milk brand, as well as Coffee-Mate and Friskies, to Nestlé. In 1986, the company founded Nestlé Nespresso S.A. The British confectionery company Rowntree Mackintosh was acquired in 1988 for $4.5 billion, which brought brands such as Kit Kat, Rolo, Smarties, and Aero.
The first half of the 1990s proved to be favourable for Nestlé. Trade barriers crumbled, and world markets developed into more or less integrated trading areas. Since 1996, there have been various acquisitions, including San Pellegrino (1997), D'Onofrio (1997), Spillers Petfoods (1998), and Ralston Purina (2002). There were two major acquistions in North America, both in 2002 – in June, Nestlé merged its US 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 the same time-frame, Nestlé entered in a joint bid with Cadbury and came close to purchasing the American company Hershey's, one of its fiercest confectionery competitors, but the deal eventually fell through.
In 1999, Nestlé sold the Findus brand to the Swedish firm EQT AB.
In December 2005, Nestlé bought the Greek company Delta Ice Cream for €240 million. In January 2006, it took full ownership of Dreyer's, thus becoming the world's largest ice cream maker, with a 17.5% market share. In June 2006, Nestlé purchased weight-loss company Jenny Craig for US$600 million. In July 2007, completing a deal announced the year before, Nestlé acquired the Medical Nutrition division of Novartis Pharmaceutical for US$2.5 billion and also acquiring the milk-flavoring product known as Ovaltine, the "Boost" and "Resource" lines of nutritional supplements, and Optifast dieting products.
In April 2007, returning to its roots, Nestlé bought US baby-food manufacturer Gerber for US$5.5 billion. In December 2007, Nestlé entered into a strategic partnership with a Belgian chocolate maker, Pierre Marcolini.
In late September 2008, the Hong Kong government found melamine in a Chinese-made Nestlé milk product. Six infants died from kidney damage, and a further 860 babies were hospitalised. The following June, an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 was linked to Nestlé's refrigerated cookie dough originating in a plant in Danville, Virginia.
Nestlé agreed to sell its controlling stake in Alcon to Novartis on 4 January 2010. The sale was to form part of a broader US$39.3 billion offer by Novartis for full acquisition of the world's largest eye-care company. On March 2, 2010, Nestlé completed the purchase of Kraft Foods's North American frozen pizza business for US$3.7 billion, which included brands such as DiGiorno, Tombstone, and California Pizza Kitchen.
Since 2010, Nestlé has been working to transform itself into a nutrition, health and wellness company in an effort to combat declining confectionery sales and the threat of expanding government regulation of such foods. This effort is being led through the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences under the direction of Ed Baetge. The institute aims to develop "a new industry between food and pharmaceuticals" by creating foodstuffs with preventive and corrective health properties that would replace pharmaceutical drugs from pill bottles. The Health Science branch has already produced several products, such as drinks and protein shakes meant to combat malnutrition, diabetes, digestive health, obesity, and other diseases.
It acquired British pharmaceutical company Vitaflo, which makes clinical nutritional products for people with genetic disorders, in August 2010. In July 2011, Nestlé SA agreed to buy 60 percent of Hsu Fu Chi International Ltd. for about US$1.7 billion. On 23 April 2012, Nestlé agreed to acquire Pfizer Inc.'s infant-nutrition, formerly Wyeth Nutrition, unit for US$11.9 billion, topping a joint bid from Danone and Mead Johnson.
In recent years, Nestlé Health Science has made several acquisitions: CM&D Pharma Ltd., a company that specialises in the development of products for patients with chronic conditions like kidney disease; and Prometheus Laboratories, a firm specialising in treatments for gastrointestinal diseases and cancer. It also holds a minority stake in Vital Foods, a New Zealand-based company that develops kiwifruit-based food products as of 2012.
Nestlé sold its Jenny Craig business unit to North Castle Partners in 2013. In February 2013, Nestlé Health Science bought Pamlab, which makes medical foods based on L-methylfolate targeting depression, diabetes, and memory loss. In February 2014, Nestlé sold its PowerBar sports nutrition business to Post Holdings, Inc. Later, in November 2014, Nestlé announced that it was exploring strategic options for its frozen food subsidiary, Davigel.
In December 2014, Nestlé announced that it was opening 10 skin care research centres worldwide, deepening its investment in a faster-growing market for healthcare products. That year, Nestlé spent about $350 million on dermatology research and development. The first of the research hubs, Nestlé Skin Health Investigation, Education and Longevity Development (SHIELD) centres, will open mid 2015 in New York, followed by Hong Kong and São Paulo, and later others in North America, Asia, and Europe. The initiative is being launched in partnership with the Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA), a consortium that includes companies such as Intel and Bank of America.
In May 2015, food safety regulators from the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, found that samples of Nestlé India's Maggi noodles had up to 17 times more than the permissible safe amount of lead, in addition to monosodium glutamate.
In January 2017, Nestlé announced that it was relocating its US headquarters from Glendale, California, to Rosslyn, Virginia, outside of Washington, DC.
In March 2017, Nestlé announced that they will lower the sugar content in Kit Kat, Yorkie and Aero chocolate bars by 10% by 2018. In July, a similar announcement followed concerning the reduction of sugar content in its breakfast cereals in the UK.
The company announced a $20.8 billion share buyback in June 2017, following the publication of a letter written by Third Point Management founder Daniel S. Loeb, Nestlé's fourth-largest stakeholder with a $3.5 billion stake, explaining how the firm should change its business structure. Consequently, the firm will reportedly focus investment on sectors such as coffee and pet care and will seek acquisitions in the consumer health-care industry.
In 2016, Nestlé and PAI Partners establish a joint venture, Froneri, to combine the two companies' ice cream activities throughout Europe and other international countries.
In March 2017, Nestlé and Coca-Cola agreed to dissolve the Beverage Partners Worldwide venture effective on January 1, 2018, in part because Nestlé wanted to expand Nestea on its own.
In July 2017, Nestlé introduced a new type of infant formula in Spain, containing two human milk oligosaccharides. Oligosaccharides are the third most abundant components of breast milk with various health benefits, but previously were not part of infant formula.
In September 2017, Nestlé S.A. acquired a majority stake of Blue Bottle Coffee. While the deal's financial details were not disclosed, the Financial Times reported "Nestlé is understood to be paying up to $500m for the 68 per cent stake in Blue Bottle".
In September 2017, Nestlé USA agreed to acquire Sweet Earth, a California-based producer of plant-based foods, for an undisclosed sum.
Nestlé set a new profit target in September 2017 and agreed to offload over 20 of its US candy brands in January 2018. However, sales grew only 2.4% in 2017, and as of July 2018, the share price declined more than 8%. While some suggestions were adopted, Loeb said in a July 2018 letter that the shifts are too small and too slow. In a statement, Nestlé wrote that it was "delivering results" and listed actions it had taken, including investing in key brands and its global coffee partnership with Starbucks. However, activist investors disagreed, leading Third Point Management to launch NestleNOW, a website to push its case with recommendations calling for change, accusing Nestlé of not being as fast, aggressive, or strategic as it needs to be. Activist investors called for Nestlé to divide into three units with distinct CEOs, regional structures, and marketing heads - beverage, nutrition, and grocery; spin off more businesses that do not fit its model such as ice cream, frozen foods, and confectionery; and add an outsider with expertise in the food and beverage industry to the board.
In January 2018, Nestlé USA announced it was selling its US confectionary business including the 100 Grand, BabyRuth, Butterfinger, OhHenry!, Raisinets and SnoCaps to Ferrara Candy Company, an american based chocolate and candy maker and Ferrero-related company. The company was sold for a total of an estimated $2.8 billion.
In May 2018, it was announced that Nestlé and Starbucks struck a $7.15 billion distribution deal, which allows Nestlé to market, sell and distribute Starbucks coffee globally and to incorporate the brand's coffee varieties into Nestlé's proprietary single-serve system, expanding the overseas markets for both companies.
In September 2018, Nestlé announced that it would sell Gerber Life Insurance for $1.55 billion.
In October 2018, Nestlé announced the launch of the Nestlé Alumni Network, through a strategic partnership with SAP & EnterpriseAlumni, to engage with their over 1 million alumni globally.
In 2019, the company announced that it would publish Nutri-Score on all of its products sold in the European countries that supported the nutritional label.
In 2020, Nestlé USA's and Nestlé Canada's ice cream divisions were acquired by Froneri. Also during that year, Nestlé announced that the company wants to invest in plant-based food, starting with a "tuna salad" and meat-free products to engage and reach younger and vegan consumers.
On 16 February 2021, Nestlé announced that it had agreed to sell its water brands in the US and Canada to One Rock Capital Partners and Metropoulos & Co. The sale would include the spring water and mountain brands, the purified water brand and the delivery service. The plan did not include the Perrier, S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna brands. In early April 2021, the sale was concluded.
The COVID-19 pandemic did not affect Nestlé negatively. Due to lockdowns, people bought more packaged foods, not only coffee and dairy products, but also pet products, which increased the company's sales. Nestlé is recording its strongest quarterly sales growth in 10 years.
In April 2021, Nestlé agreed to purchase the vitamin manufacturing Bountiful Company, formerly known as The Nature's Bounty Co., for $5.75 billion, noting as well that much of the company's growth that quarter came from "vitamins, minerals, and supplements that support health and the immune system". Bountiful's brands included Nature's Bounty, Solgar, Osteo Bi-Flex, and Puritan's Pride.
In July 2021, Vitaflo International Ltd. (subsidiary to Nestlé Health Science since 2010) acquired the Dr. Schär brands, Mevalia and ComidaMed, which are used for the dietary management of IEM and cow's milk protein allergy to complement Vitaflo's existing IEM product portfolio.
In January 2022, Nestlé announced that will pay African cocoa farmers cash if they send their children to school.
In May 2022, it was announced Nestlé's Health Science unit had acquired the Brazilian organic, natural, plant-based food maker Puravida.
In May 2022, Nestlé was sending baby formula supplies to the U.S. from European air bases to ease the 2022 United States infant formula shortage. These relief shipments included products from the Gerber baby food formula brand from the Netherlands and Alfamino baby formula from Switzerland.
In September 2023, it was announced Nestlé had acquired a majority stake in the Extrema, Minas Gerais-headquartered premium chocolate manufacturer, Grupo CRM for an undisclosed amount.
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the company continued doing business in Russia; therefore in November 2023, Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention listed Nestlé as an International Sponsor of War. Nestle stated that it had already "halted all non-essential imports and exports to and from Russia".
In February 2024, it was announced Nestle is expanding manufacturing capacity in India and increasing investments — the company will invest between ₹60-65 billion ($723–783 million) from 2020 to 2025.
The Grand National Assembly of Turkey announced that Nestlé products (as well as some other products) will not be sold in restaurants, cafeterias and tea houses in the parliament campus. They said that this was a response to the manufacturers' support for Israel, but they did not identify anything the companies had actually done. That month, Nestlé announced Schneider would leave his position as CEO and be replaced by Laurent Freixe on September 1, 2024.
Nestlé is the biggest food company in the world, with a market capitalisation of roughly 231 billion Swiss francs, which is more than US$247 billion as of May 2015. Nestlé has a primary listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange and is a constituent of the Swiss Market Index. It previously had a secondary listing on Euronext.
In 2014, consolidated sales were CHF 91.61 billion and net profit was CHF 14.46 billion. Research and development investment was CHF 1.63 billion.
According to a 2015 global survey of online consumers by the Reputation Institute, Nestlé has a reputation score of 74.5 on a scale of 1 to 100.
Joint ventures include:
Chief executive officer:
As of 2017, the board is composed of:
The company engages third party lobbying firms to engage with parliaments and governments in various jurisdictions. For example, in South Australia the company engages Etched Communications. In the US, Nestlé has a strong influence in Washington, D.C. From 2015 to 2020 their average spend on lobbying was $1,951,667 each year.
Nestlé currently has over 2,000 brands with a wide range of products across a number of markets, including coffee, bottled water, milkshakes and other beverages, breakfast cereals, infant foods, performance and healthcare nutrition, seasonings, soups and sauces, frozen and refrigerated foods, and pet food. In 2019, the company entered the plant-based food production business with its Incredible and Awesome Burgers (under the Garden Gourmet and Sweet Earth brands). In 2020, Nestlé announced additional plant-based products including soy-based bratwurst and chorizo-like sausages.
In 1993, plans were made to update and modernise the overall tone of Walt Disney's EPCOT Center, including a major refurbishment of The Land pavilion. Kraft Foods withdrew its sponsorship on 26 September 1993, with Nestlé taking its place. Co-financed by Nestlé and the Walt Disney World Resort, a gradual refurbishment of the pavilion began on 27 September 1993. In 2003, Nestlé renewed its sponsorship of The Land; however, it was under agreement that Nestlé would oversee its own refurbishment to both the interior and exterior of the pavilion. Between 2004 and 2005, the pavilion underwent its second major refurbishment. Nestlé stopped sponsoring The Land in 2009.
On 5 August 2010, Nestlé and the Beijing Music Festival signed an agreement to extend by three years Nestlé's sponsorship of this international music festival. Nestlé has been an extended sponsor of the Beijing Music Festival for 11 years since 2000. The new agreement will continue the partnership through 2013.
Nestlé has partnered the Salzburg Festival in Austria for 20 years. In 2011, Nestlé renewed its sponsorship of the Salzburg Festival until 2015.
Together, they have created the "Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award", an initiative that aims to discover young conductors globally and to contribute to the development of their careers.
Nestlé's sponsorship of the Tour de France began in 2001 and the agreement was extended in 2004, a move which demonstrated the company's interest in the Tour. In July 2009, Nestlé Waters and the organisers of the Tour de France announced that their partnership will continue until 2013. The main promotional benefits of this partnership will spread on four key brands from Nestlé's product portfolio: Vittel, Powerbar, Nesquik, or Ricore.
On 27 January 2012, the International Association of Athletics Federations announced that Nestlé will be the main sponsor for the further development of IAAF's Kids' Athletics Programme, which is one of the biggest grassroots development programmes in the world of sports. The five-year sponsorship started in January 2012. On 11 February 2016, Nestlé decided to withdraw its sponsorship of the IAAF's Kids' Athletics Programmes because of doping and corruption allegations against the IAAF. Nestlé followed suit after other large sponsors, including Adidas, also stopped supporting the IAAF.
In 2014, Nestlé Waters sponsored the UK leg of the Tour de France through its Buxton Natural Mineral Water brand. In 2002, Nestlé announced it was main sponsor for the Great Britain Lionesses Women's rugby league team for the team's second tour of Australia with its Munchies product.
Nestlé supports the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) on a number of nutrition and fitness fronts, funding a Fellowship position in AIS Sports Nutrition; nutrition activities in the AIS Dining Hall; research activities; and the development of education resources for use at the AIS and in the public domain.
In March 2011, Nestlé became the first infant formula company to meet the FTSE4Good Index criteria in full.
In 2021, recycling startup, Carbios, released a press release that showed a prototype of a food-grade PET plastic bottle made from enzymatically recycled plastic. The press release said Nestle (along with other companies) could manufacture these bottles using the Carbios technology. As of September 2024, however, it is unclear whether Nestle ever transitioned to these recycled materials beyond the prototype.
Nestlé created the Creating Shared Value Prize, which is awarded every other year with the aim of rewarding the best examples of CSV initiatives worldwide and to encourage other companies to adopt a shared value approach. These initiatives should take a business-oriented approach in addressing challenges in nutrition, water or rural development. The winner can win up to CHF 500,000. Nestlé was an early mover in the shared value space and hosts a global forum, the Creating Shared Value Global Forum.
Rural Development Framework program: In 2012, Nestlé developed the Rural Development Framework, which supports farmers and cocoa growing communities. It is an investment program aimed at improving infrastructure, increasing access to safe water, address financing and market efficiency gaps, and improving labor conditions.
The company has been associated with various controversies, facing criticism and boycotts over its marketing of baby formula as an alternative to breastfeeding in developing countries (where clean water may be scarce), its reliance on suppliers that use child labour in cocoa production, and its production and promotion of bottled water.
Nestlé is involved in many significant controversies due to Nestlé's reported use of
Concern about Nestlé's "aggressive marketing" of their breast milk substitutes, particularly in less economically developed countries (LEDCs), first arose in the 1970s. Critics have accused Nestlé of discouraging mothers from breastfeeding and suggesting that their baby formula is healthier than breastfeeding. This led to the 1977 Nestlé boycott in the United States and Europe.
Multiple reports have documented the widespread use of child labour as well as slavery and child trafficking by cocoa suppliers, throughout West African plantations, on which Nestlé and other major chocolate companies rely.
At the second World Water Forum in 2000, Nestlé and other corporations persuaded the World Water Council to change its statement so as to reduce access to drinking water from a "right" to a "need". Nestlé continues to take control of aquifers and bottle their water for profit.
A coalition of environmental groups filed a complaint against Nestlé to the Advertising Standards of Canada after Nestlé took out full-page advertisements in October 2008 with messages stating, "Most water bottles avoid landfill sites and are recycled", "Nestlé Pure Life is a healthy, eco-friendly choice", and, "Bottled water is the most environmentally responsible consumer product in the world."
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