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
Water in our supply chain
Every year, Nestlé works directly with around 760 000 farmers, providing a wide range of support – from droughtresistant
plantlets to sharing information about agricultural methods that maintain yield while using less water. Our
sphere of influence touches millions more suppliers through the commodities we purchase, such as coffee, cocoa
and milk for our products, and paper for our packaging, so engaging with our suppliers, especially those involved
in agriculture and forestry, is critical to achieving water security and meeting our water stewardship commitments.
Prioritising interventions in water-scarce locations and Important Water Areas 7 , we provide training to farmers on
water quality, water usage and retaining soil moisture, while our R&D teams support the selection and propagation
of drought-resistant cocoa and coffee trees.
W
A
T
E
R
Work to achieve water efficiency and
sustainability across our operations
Advocate for effective water policies
and stewardship
Treat the water we discharge effectively
Engage with suppliers, especially those
in agriculture
Raise awareness on water conservation, and
improve access to water and sanitation across
our value chain
Working with our suppliers
Our commitment
Engage with suppliers, especially
those in agriculture
We estimate that around 63.5 billion m 3 of water is consumed
by the agricultural goods we use in our products (93.3% from
rainwater and 6.7% from irrigation). And with over 70% of the
world’s available freshwater supplies used to grow food, the
food and beverage industry is in a strong position to influence
improvements in global water stewardship. Industry leaders
have already achieved significant advances in sustainable
water management in their operations but we must focus
beyond the factory gates, where farmers are often the biggest
users of water and the key stakeholders in a catchment.
Nestlé’s greatest challenge to reducing water consumption
lies in addressing the impacts of our complex agricultural
supply chains. Water management and conservation is
specific to a locality and is usually temporal in nature. Our
research indicates that we can achieve significant
improvements in water use simply by introducing better
agricultural techniques at a farm level, some of which require
significant investment.
We are currently implementing our Responsible Sourcing
Guideline (RSG) for 12 major categories of ingredients, with
specific requirements on social and environmental aspects;
these include water management guidelines based on the
Principles & Practices for Sustainable Water Management in
Agriculture – at a farm level developed by the Sustainable
Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform.
The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative
(SAI) Platform
Nestlé is one of the founding members of the SAI Platform, a
non-profit organisation that promotes the principles and
practices needed for sustainable water management in
agriculture among food and beverage companies. Its Water
Committee recently issued a Water Footprinting of Livestock
report, summarising key water footprinting methodologies for
livestock production and highlighting gaps and areas for
improvement.
The SAI Platform’s Water and Agriculture Working Group
has also finalised a new report on Water Stewardship for
Sustainable Agriculture. This document, intended for food and
drink companies and their agricultural supply chains, provides
practical guidance on the steps required for farm-level water
stewardship. The report aims to empower key decision-makers
such as business leaders and farm managers to understand
the scope of farm-level water stewardship and where
specialist expertise is required; to make the right practical and
investment choices; and to communicate better on water
stewardship issues. The three clear steps to farm-level water
stewardship described in the report are improved knowledge,
an assessment of risks both to and from the farm, and actions
to address those risks.
7 Water-related areas of a catchment that are legally protected or under a conservation
agreement which, if impaired or lost, could adversely impact the environmental, social,
cultural or economic benefits derived from the catchment in a significant or
disproportionate manner.
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