Nestlé in society Creating Shared Value and meeting our commitments 2015

Nestlé in society:
Creating Shared Value
Nutrition, health
and wellness
Rural development
Water
Environmental
sustainability
Human rights
and compliance
Our
people
G4-EC7, Procurement practices G4-DMA, Supplier environmental assessment G4-DMA, G4-EN33, Supplier assessment for labor practices G4-DMA,
G4-LA15, G4-HR5, G4-HR10, G4-SO9, G4-SO10
Hazelnuts
Turkey is the world’s leading producer of hazelnuts, with
around 75% of the total global production. Nestlé mainly
purchases hazelnuts as a raw material from the eastern and
western parts of the Black Sea region of Turkey; of the 7000
tonnes we sourced in 2015, more than 4000 tonnes came from
these areas. We do not source directly from the farms but
from a small number of suppliers, who obtain the hazelnuts
through a chain of intermediaries.
As well as being used whole, hazelnuts can also be roasted,
powdered and puréed for use in a range of foods and
beverages, including confectionery, pastries and ice cream.
Traceability in the supply chain
Working with the FLA we have identified and implemented a
range of measures, such as training farmers on good
agricultural practices and running summer school activities to
remove children from labour in the orchards. Read more in
Human rights and compliance.
In 2015, we made further progress towards our ambition to
source all our hazelnuts from transparent supply chains,
subject to FLA’s labour assessments, monitoring and
remediation systems.
Hazelnuts supply chain traceability results
7 000 tonnes
65%
20%
Total volume (globally):
7000 tonnes
Percentage of volume
traceable (back to
gardens): 65%
(2015 target: 60%)
Percentage of volume
Responsibly Sourced
(farms reached by training,
assessments or mitigation
actions): 20% (2015
target: 20%)
In 2015, we measured the positive impact of the interventions
implemented since 2012, in close collaboration with our
suppliers BALSU and Olam-Progida, to address child labour in
the hazelnuts supply chain in Turkey. The FLA audits showed
that there was a significant decrease in the number of children
employed in the farms compared with 2014. Although the
number of farms that were audited increased, the number of
child labourers fell from 46 to 19, a significant decrease in one
year. However, the number of young migrant workers
significantly increased in Ordu (constituting 8.5% of the worker
population) in 2015. This will need to be closely monitored in
2016, in particular as part of the new project that we will be
implementing together with the FLA and our two suppliers.
The FLA was awarded a USD 4.87 million (CHF 4.82 million)
grant from the US Department of Labor to reduce child labour
in hazelnut production in Turkey, in partnership with Nestlé,
BALSU and Olam-Progida. This 28-month-long project will
further strengthen the activities that we have implemented
together with our suppliers since 2012. In particular, it will
design and pilot a comprehensive, sustainable programme
that implements the US Department of Agriculture’s
Guidelines for Eliminating Child and Forced Labor in
Agricultural Supply Chains. The project will be implemented in
approximately 1000 hazelnut gardens in the regions of Ordu
and Sakarya.
In 2015, in both the eastern and western regions, the ILO
has organised school facilities in collaboration with the local
municipality and other local foundations/CSOs in local schools
or camp areas for migrant workers. Olam-Progida contributed
to the project in Ordu and Adapazarı, especially in terms of
logistical support. The project aims to provide migrant worker
families with better conditions and facilities, such as
electricity, toilets and access to city water in the camp areas.
Additionally, workshops and activities are organised for their
children to occupy them during the day, and volunteers and
paid teachers organise educational activities. Olam-Progida
organised gender equality sessions with children aged
between 6 and 14 years old in 15 villages.
In the Düzce region, BALSU is implementing a three-year
project in collaboration with the Young Life Foundation (Genç
Hayat Vakfı), with the aim of combating child labour in the
region. In 2015, two summer schools were running within the
existing school infrastructure for the children of hazelnut
workers. There were separate classes for different age ranges,
with relevant educational activities.
The audits carried out by the FLA in 2015 found a range of
other non-compliances. Inadequate standards of worker safety
and hygiene were observed in most of the gardens, and
although personal protective equipment (PPE) and first aid kits
have been provided, workers are not fully aware of their
importance. Moreover, most of the kits were kept at the
farmers’ houses, reducing their use.
We will continue to work on these issues in 2016. In 2015,
our direct supplier Olam-Progida held training and awarenessraising
sessions attended by 1077 processors, ‘manavs’
(intermediaries) and growers and 716 workers in 15 different
villages. In addition to PPE and medical kits, we provided
drinking water, adequate sanitation and hand-washing
facilities, and held summer schools and camps to contribute to
the elimination of child labour. A toll-free phone number is
provided to the farmers during the training and on different
materials to enable them to report any complaints. There were
some issues during 2015 with accessibility of the phone line,
but we have action plans in place to overcome these. For
example, our supplier BALSU is working on developing an
answer machine available in different languages, making the
line operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and
communicating its existence to the entire workforce.
External stakeholder meetings were held with the
Directorate of Food and Agriculture, the Chamber of
Agriculture, the ILO and the Turkish Employment Agency.
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