Nestlé caring for water

ABSTRACT

Water has been a ‘natural’ management priority for Nestlé since its beginnings, more than 150 years ago. Farmers need water to grow food, factories need water to operate, and consumers need water to prepare their dishes. Water touches every part of Nestlé’s value chain. This article describes how Nestlé’s management has made water a priority for the company over time. Nestlé has become a leading company in industrial water management in its own manufacturing facilities. However, over time, Nestlé realized that the impact of a water strategy built solely on internal excellence is limited, both from an operational and from a reputational perspective. Therefore, Nestlé has come up with a new strategy, the Caring for Water initiative, which builds on the principles of water stewardship, focusing on collective action at the level of the watershed.

KEYWORDS:

• Industrial water management
• water for society
• manufacturing facilities
• supply chain
• water stewardship

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.