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
Product and service labelling G4-DMA, G4-PR3, G4-PR4, Compliance G4-DMA (Product responsibility)
Early warning system and Issues
Round Table
Nestlé’s early warning system (EWS) is a worldwide system
designed to identify, evaluate and anticipate potentially
emerging risks related to the safety and quality of Nestlé
products. The identification of the issues is mainly based on
screening of information, exploiting available data and
identifying potential risks related to the safety and compliance
of new and existing Nestlé products. This activity includes
issues such as the counterfeiting of finished products and the
adulteration of ingredients.
Issues identified at the EWS level are evaluated at the Food
Safety Network and Issues Round Table meetings, to ensure
that necessary actions to eliminate, mitigate or manage
potential concerns are taken at an appropriate level.
We continue to strengthen food safety issue management
through the early warning system, Food Safety Network and
Issues Round Table processes. Together, these manage more
than 40 topics, 22 of which were closed by the end 2015. To
ensure alignment on global issues and ways of working, the
Food Safety Network was expanded to include all GMBs and
strategic business units, as well as key corporate and
operational functions. We also have a Market Engagement
Strategy to support markets to identify and manage potential
food safety issues.
A Food Safety Stewardship programme has been established
as a key initiative. Through this, Nestlé’s regulatory, quality and
R&D communities are creating standardised, science-based
food safety regulations for the whole value chain from ‘farm to
fork’, as well as building on trustworthy, sustainable
relationships with external stakeholders.
Nestlé’s early warning system is strengthened by our Food
Safety Network, which enables us to quickly engage with
stakeholders across the company to mitigate any potential
risks that have been identified. We also have a system to
facilitate communication across Nestlé following major quality
or safety incidents; with the aim of sharing preventive
measures and eliminating root causes so we can stop similar
incidents from occurring again.
We want consumers to be able to contact us immediately
if there is a problem with any of our products. To enable this,
our branded products carry an invitation for the consumer to
‘Talk to Nestlé’, and all relevant contact details are displayed
on the label.
Our worldwide consumer services organisation ensures that
we can immediately respond to any consumer or trade
complaints, and take the necessary corrective action without
delay. Through traditional consumer services and social media
platforms, we are also introducing methods that will enable
consumers to contact us at any time of the day or night.
Competency development
Our Quality Competency Development process includes tools
to support competency building within the quality community.
The roll-out of this process commenced at the beginning of
2015, and is intended to be fully implemented in all markets
and factories by the end of 2016.
Engaging with employees and consumers
Through the implementation of stricter and more robust
controls, and close engagement with all our employees, we
will ensure our products and services are of the highest levels
of quality and safety.
In a rapidly moving media environment, in which both
consumers and authorities react instantly to real and perceived
issues, it is vital that we focus on providing clear and prompt
communication to our external stakeholders regarding the
quality and safety of our products and services. The highest
quality levels will only be achieved if we fully engage with our
employees and encourage them to share best practice across
the business.
Nestlé in society – Creating Shared Value and meeting our commitments 2015 253