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Nestlé

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FY2020 Annual Report · Nestlé
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Annual Review 2020

Nestlé.
We unlock the power of food
to enhance quality of life for everyone,
today and for generations to come.

 
 
 
 
Our purpose

Nestlé. Unlocking the power of food to enhance quality of life 
for everyone, today and for generations to come.

We constantly aim to push 
the boundaries of what 
is possible with foods, 
beverages and nutritional 
health solutions to bring more 
pleasure and enjoyment. 
To enable better health. 
To make good nutrition 
accessible and affordable to 
everyone. To make preparing 
foods and beverages 
increasingly effortless. 
To protect and enhance our 
natural resources.

Front cover

Contents

Accompanying reports

Maggi: Inspiring exploration 
in the kitchen
In a year when people were cooking more 
at home, Maggi was there to support new 
and experienced cooks alike.

2 

8 

12 

16 

20 

36 

Letter to our shareholders

Pursuing our value-creation 
strategy

Innovating faster to ensure 
long-term growth

 Connecting through digitalization

Speaking through our brands

Creating Shared Value

  46 

Financial review

  64 

Corporate Governance  
and Compliance 

71 

Shareholder information

Corporate Governance Report 2020
Compensation Report 2020
Financial Statements 2020

Online

You can find more information
about the Nestlé Group at 
www.nestle.com

Find out more about Creating Shared 
Value at www.nestle.com/csv

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Our performance

Our Nutrition, Health and Wellness strategy is the engine of our value creation. 

In an unprecedented 
environment, we delivered 
our third consecutive year 
of improvement in organic 
sales growth, profitability and 
capital efficiency. A summary 
of the 2020 full-year results 
can be found in the table  
to the right.

Group sales (in CHF)

Organic growth *

Real internal growth *

84.3 billion

3.6%

3.2%

Underlying trading 
operating profit * (in CHF)

Underlying trading 
operating profit margin *

14.9 billion

17.7%

Underlying trading 
operating profit margin *

+20 Basis points

Constant currency

Trading operating  
profit * (in CHF)

14.2 billion

Trading operating  
profit margin *

16.9%

Trading operating  
profit margin *

+220 Basis points

Constant currency

Earnings per share 
(in CHF)

4.30

Earnings per share

Unchanged

Underlying earnings  
per share *

+3.5%

Constant currency

Operating cash flow 
(in CHF)

14.4 billion

45.9% of net financial debt

Free cash flow * 
(in CHF)

10.2 billion

Proposed dividend 
(in CHF)

2.75

Proposed dividend  
increase

+1.9%

* Financial performance measures 
not defined by IFRS. For further 
details, see ‘Financial review’  
on page 48.

1

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Our business

Products that are right for consumers and right for the planet  
are increasingly desirable and make for good business. 

That is why we apply our 
expertise in Nutrition, 
Health and Wellness to help 
people, families and pets 
live happier, healthier lives. 
We protect and enhance the 
environment, and generate 
significant value for our 
shareholders and other 
stakeholders alike. 

What we sell (in CHF billion)

Powdered and 
Liquid Beverages

22.2

PetCare

14.0

Nutrition and 
Health Science

Prepared dishes  
and cooking aids

12.2

11.5

Milk products 
and Ice cream

Confectionery

Water

11.0

7.0

6.4

Where we sell (in CHF billion)

EMENA

24.5

AOA

22.1

AMS

37.7

Number of employees

Number of countries we sell in

273 000

186

Total group salaries and social  
welfare expenses (in CHF)

Corporate taxes paid in 2020 
(in CHF)

14 billion

2.6 billion

Our commitments

Our health, social and environmental commitments guide our efforts 
to be a force for good.

Business benefits and 
positive societal impact must 
be mutually reinforcing. This 
is the core of our Creating 
Shared Value approach to 
business. Our company can 
only be successful in the long 
term if we create value for  
all stakeholders.

For individuals and families

Over 1210

new products were launched addressing 
specific nutritional needs and gaps of infants, 
children, expecting women or new mothers

Over 196 billion

servings of micronutrient fortified foods  
and beverages provided in countries  
with high vulnerability of deficiencies

Over 33 million

children reached through  
Nestlé for Healthier Kids

2.76 billion

portions of vegetables added  
to our foods and beverages in 2019

For our communities

235 million

coffee plantlets distributed (cumulative  
since 2010) to farmers, against a target  
of 220 million by 2020

73%

of the volume of our 15 priority  
categories of raw materials  
are responsibly sourced

For the planet

Over 8600

job opportunities, traineeships or 
apprenticeships were offered to  
people under the age of 30 through  
our Nestlé needs YOUth initiative

354 900

farmers trained through  
capacity-building programs

36.7%

reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG)  
emissions per tonne of product since 2010  
in our manufacturing operations

368

factories achieved zero waste  
for disposal

32%

reduction in direct water withdrawal  
per tonne of product since 2010 in our 
manufacturing operations

50%

of our electricity comes from  
renewable sources

Dear fellow 
shareholders,

Nestlé is the Good food, Good life company. We believe in the 
power of food to enhance quality of life. We constantly explore and 
aim to push the boundaries of what is possible with food, beverage 
and nutritional health solutions to contribute to a healthier future. 
We focus on making a difference to the lives of people and pets, 
on protecting and enhancing the environment, and on generating 
value for our shareholders and other stakeholders alike.

Demonstrating dependability and agility
2020 was a challenging year. COVID-19 severely impacted every aspect of our lives 
and created much uncertainty. At Nestlé, we responded immediately and with clear 
priorities by putting measures in place to keep our employees safe; by ensuring 
supply of essential food and beverages to consumers; by caring for our communities 
and providing financial and in-kind support to our business partners.

While the COVID-19 crisis has caused volatility, we made further progress on our 
value creation model based on a balanced pursuit of top-line and bottom-line growth 
with capital efficiency. Highlights include:

 – Organic growth reached 3.6%, with real internal growth of 3.2% and pricing 

of 0.4%. Growth was supported by strong momentum in the Americas, Purina 
PetCare and Nestlé Health Science.

 – Foreign exchange reduced sales by 7.9% due to the continued appreciation of the 
Swiss franc against most currencies. Divestures had a negative impact of 4.6%. 
As a result, total reported sales decreased by 8.9% to CHF 84.3 billion (2019: 
CHF 92.6 billion).

 – Underlying trading operating profit (UTOP) margin reached 17.7%, up 10 basis 

points on a reported basis and up 20 basis points in constant currency.  
The trading operating profit (TOP) margin increased by 210 basis points to 16.9% 
on a reported basis.

 – Underlying earnings per share increased by 3.5% in constant currency and 

decreased by 4.5% on a reported basis to CHF 4.21. Earnings per share stayed 
unchanged at CHF 4.30 on a reported basis.

 – Free cash flow reached CHF 10.2 billion, accounting for 12.1% of sales.

Our results demonstrate the consistency and dependability of our company. Our 
resilience is based on the agility of our business and the strength of our diversified 

2

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Paul Bulcke, Chairman (right), 
and U. Mark Schneider, Chief Executive Officer (left)

3

Nestlé Annual Review 2020portfolio across geographies, product categories and channels. Our decentralized 
model enables our local teams to make quick decisions, act autonomously and 
respond with speed to rapid shifts in consumer needs and customer demands.

Sharpening our strategic focus
We continued to make significant progress in our portfolio transformation toward 
attractive, high-growth businesses in 2020.

We took the decision to sharpen our water focus on iconic international, premium 

mineral and functional brands, while exploring strategic options for parts of the 
Waters business in North America. We also sold the Yinlu peanut milk and canned 
rice porridge businesses in China to Food Wise Co., Ltd.

We completed the divestment of our U.S. ice cream business to Froneri and the 

sale of 60% of our stake in Herta to create a joint venture with Casa Tarradellas.
We continued to build Nestlé Health Science into a nutritional powerhouse 

through a combination of strong organic growth and targeted acquisitions. 
Examples include Zenpep, Vital Proteins, IM HealthScience and Aimmune 
Therapeutics. With Aimmune’s PALFORZIA, we acquired the first and only FDA-  
and European Commission-approved treatment for peanut allergy. We also 
expanded our presence in direct-to-consumer meal delivery services through the 
acquisition of Freshly in the United States and a majority stake in Mindful Chef  
in the United Kingdom.

Investing for the long term
We continue to invest in research and development (R&D) and in our brands, 
and we made further investments behind key growth platforms. Purina PetCare 
unveiled plans to extend its production network in the Americas, Europe, China and 
Australia. Nespresso announced a CHF 160 million investment in the expansion of 
its production center in Romont, Switzerland, to meet growing consumer demand 
worldwide. To accelerate the development of nutritious and environmentally-
friendly plant-based products, we expanded production and R&D facilities, and 
extended our supply chain partnerships.

Developing solutions to meet fast-changing consumer needs
Most of the long-term trends we have been working on still apply. Some have 
accelerated, particularly, e-commerce, digital engagement and demand for 
nutrition, health and wellness. One major change, brought on by the pandemic, 
has been the rapid shift toward at-home consumption. With consumer behavior 
evolving faster than ever, we are adapting to this new reality by strengthening 
our innovation, leveraging our digital capabilities and executing with speed. For 
example, we rolled out our Smart Recipe Hub across 48 markets to inspire families 
with healthy recipes that can be customized using nutritional balance scores  
and meal planners. As the economic consequences of the pandemic have 
intensified, we have also revitalized our affordable nutrition offerings, particularly  
in emerging markets.

4

Nestlé Annual Review 2020“The events of 2020 were unprecedented, and 
the pandemic is not over. The health crisis had 
an enormous impact on every aspect of our lives. 
In a volatile environment, Nestlé employees 
stepped up to the challenge. Our people 
brought our purpose and values fully to life.”

Boosting innovation to drive growth
Our relentless dedication to innovation allows us to deliver on consumer preferences 
time and time again. We focus on exploring trends, rapidly converting ideas into 
products and testing their relevance with consumers and customers. We continued 
to enhance our speed and reduced our average time to market by a further 10% on 
our top priority projects in 2020.

Our ability to build a pipeline of meaningful innovations fuels our growth. We 
continually develop and deploy breakthrough technologies to create new growth 
opportunities. We leverage these technologies across categories, brands and 
markets to scale growth. In 2020, we increased the number of multi-market launches 
by 23%.

We continue to evolve our approach to innovation with an emphasis on 
encouraging entrepreneurialism and fueling creative ecosystems. We further 
expanded our innovation capabilities in 2020 and opened a new R&D Accelerator 
focused on plant-based dairy alternatives in Konolfingen, Switzerland.

Pro Plan LiveClear. The introduction of Purina Pro Plan LiveClear came on the 

back of more than a decade of research and coincided perfectly with the trend 
for increased pet ownership. Pro Plan LiveClear is the first and only cat food that 
reduces the allergens in cat hair and dander, improving the quality of life for cats and 
their owners. In 2020, it was launched in seven countries and has seen very high 
consumer ratings. 

Coffee. Among the numerous innovations in our coffee category, we developed 
drought- and disease-resistant coffee varieties using our expertise in plant science. 
We expanded Nescafé Black Roast, our strongest, darkest soluble coffee, building 
on our expertise in flavor and aroma extraction. And as part of our commitment to 
minimize waste and maximize reuse, we introduced Nespresso coffee capsules using 
80% recycled aluminum. We also continued to create new growth opportunities for 
the Starbucks brand by expanding its range of products to include seasonal, at-home 
coffees for the holidays, non-dairy coffee creamers and premium instant coffee. 
Sales of Starbucks products reached CHF 2.7 billion, generating incremental sales of 
over CHF 400 million in 2020.

Plant-based. We introduced many new plant-based foods, including sausages, 

mince and Sensational Vuna, a plant-based alternative to tuna. We continued to 
upgrade our plant-based offering in terms of taste, texture, flavor and nutrition. We 
also leveraged our expertise in plant protein to expand our dairy-alternative offerings.

5

Nestlé Annual Review 2020“We are putting our resources and scale to 
work on being part of the development of 
the countries and communities where we are 
present and on tackling issues such as climate 
change, packaging waste and biodiversity. 
We believe in being transparent about the 
challenges we face, the progress we are making 
and the trade-offs that we have to manage 
over time. Ultimately, continuing to achieve 
commercial and financial success is what will 
allow us to finance this sustainability agenda.” 

Enhancing our digital capabilities
Our ongoing digital transformation was a powerful catalyst for consumer 
engagement and growth in 2020. Our digital marketing and direct-to-consumer 
business models enabled us to meet the sudden acceleration in demand for  
online shopping. E-commerce sales grew by 48.4% to account for 12.8% of total 
Group sales.

At the same time, our disciplined, forward-looking approach to digitalizing 
our operations proved vital to increasing agility and flexibility. For example, we 
accelerated the use of remote assistance and augmented reality technologies across 
our production and R&D networks. These innovative technologies enabled our 
experts to support critical activities such as the set-up of new production lines that 
ensured on-time product launches.

We see enhancing digital capabilities as a key driver of our evolution. Across each 
of our categories, we are developing digital ecosystems and partnering to unlock new 
avenues for insight, innovation and sustainable, profitable growth.

Taking a leadership role in sustainability
Consumers rightfully expect companies, as well as individual brands and products, 
to act as a force for good in full respect of human rights and the environment. We 
are putting our resources and scale to work on being part of the development of the 
countries and communities where we are present and on tackling issues such as 
climate change, packaging waste and biodiversity. We believe in being transparent 
about the challenges we face, the progress we are making and the trade-offs that we 
have to manage over time. Ultimately, continuing to achieve commercial and financial 
success is what will allow us to finance this sustainability agenda.

In 2020, we made substantial progress. On climate and biodiversity, we laid out 
a detailed, time-bound climate change roadmap setting out our course to net zero 
greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We will transform the way we operate, exploring 

6

Nestlé Annual Review 2020new business models and addressing the biggest challenges in our food supply 
chain. That includes advancing regenerative agriculture, scaling up our reforestation 
program, making our products more sustainable, using more renewable energy and 
reducing waste.

On packaging, we continued to introduce more recycled and recyclable formats, 

and we are now increasing our emphasis on the areas of reduce and reuse, 
particularly in areas where recycling capabilities are not available or foreseeable.  
We want to scale up the use of reusable and refillable systems to eliminate the  
need for disposable packaging. We continue to work with many partners, make  
smart investments and drive new behavior to build up waste management 
infrastructure globally.

Enhancing Board oversight of Nestlé’s environmental and social agenda
Our Board of Directors continued to provide valuable guidance on our strategy and 
our approach to Creating Shared Value. We maintained our practice of adding diverse 
experience and fresh perspectives through the appointment of a new independent 
director. In recent years, we have strengthened the digital and food and beverage 
expertise of our Board in particular.

During the year, the Board reviewed and revised its governance framework to 

make its risk and environmental, social and governance (ESG) responsibilities 
more explicit. Additionally, it agreed to expand the mission of its Nomination and 
Sustainability Committee. It will now review all aspects of Nestlé’s ESG agenda, 
including overseeing the Group’s efforts on climate change, human rights and people 
management, including diversity and inclusion.

Living our purpose
The events of 2020 were unprecedented, and the pandemic is not over. The health 
crisis had an enormous impact on every aspect of our lives. In a volatile environment, 
Nestlé employees stepped up to the challenge. Our people brought our purpose and 
values fully to life. We take this opportunity to thank you, our employees, in particular 
our frontline workers, for your outstanding commitment and hard work. We thank our 
consumers and the communities in which we operate for their support. And we thank 
you, our shareholders, for your confidence in us.

Paul Bulcke
Chairman

U. Mark Schneider
Chief Executive Officer

7

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Pursuing our 
value-creation 
strategy

Garden of Life:  
Empowering  
extraordinary health

Garden of Life is an innovation engine, 
launching products to empower consumers’ 
immune and digestive health and improve their 
overall well-being.

8

Nestlé Annual Review 2020We aim to offer a portfolio of products and services that evolve with consumer 
demands. We strive to create products that are right for consumers and that 
contribute to public health and a sound environment. It’s good business. 
This guides the choices we make today and shapes our portfolio for tomorrow – 
whether through product evolution, innovation, acquisition or partnership.

Our strategy: The choices we make
We focus our energy and resources where 
unlocking the power of food can make the 
greatest difference to the lives of people and 
pets, protect and enhance the environment, and 
generate significant value for our shareholders 
and other stakeholders alike. This is why we:
 – Apply our expertise in nutrition, health 

and wellness – developed over more than 
150 years – to help people, families and pets 
live happier, healthier lives.

 – Meet the needs of the modern consumer with 
healthy, delicious, convenient products for 
conscious, time-constrained lifestyles.

 – Bring affordable, safe and high-quality nutrition 
everywhere to everyone, regardless of their 
income level.

 – Bring distinctive, premium innovations 

to market fueled by creative exploration, 
consumer insights, pioneering nutrition science 
and culinary excellence.

 – Advance our sustainability agenda to enhance 
the health of the planet, drive societal progress 
and support a sustainable food system, 
particularly in terms of:
 -  Packaging and delivering our products 
in ways that are safe and protect the 
environment.

 -  Offering more plant-based food and beverage 

options to enable us to be the consumers’ 
preferred choice as they diversify their diets.

Our value creation model
Our long-term value creation model is based on 
the balanced pursuit of resource efficient top- and 
bottom-line growth as well as improved capital 
efficiency. We create value by:

 – Fueling growth through continuous innovation.
 – Improving operational efficiency.
 – Allocating our resources and capital with 

discipline and clear priorities, including through 
acquisitions and divestitures.

Ensuring sustained mid single-digit organic 
sales growth  
Our success is built on maintaining a diversified 
portfolio, both in terms of geography and 
category. Our ability to adapt to changing 
environments and to nourish our high-quality 
global, regional and local brands contribute to 
long-term financial performance. Our objective 
is to achieve sustained mid single-digit organic 
sales growth through a combination of rapid 
innovation, portfolio management and market 
share gains.

Investing in high-growth categories and 
regions with high-growth potential. We 
compete in attractive and growing categories, and 
prioritize investments to stay relevant and win in 
every segment and market in which we operate. 
To grow, we work by:
 – Leveraging digital technologies to enhance our 
ability to identify emerging consumer needs 
and business model opportunities.
 – Continuously bringing meaningful, 

differentiated innovation to market fast.

 – Collaborating with customers across the retail 
landscape to adapt our product portfolio and 
channel strategies.

 – Expanding category-focused ecosystems and 
services that increase consumer engagement 
and loyalty through personalization.

 – Building capacity to meet future demand.

9

Nestlé Annual Review 2020We accelerate growth by investing behind strategic 
drivers such as:
 – High-growth categories of coffee, pet care, 

nutrition, water and nutritional health science. 
Together, these represented 63% of sales and grew 
by 3.8% in 2020.

 – High-growth platforms, such as plant-based food 
and ready-to-drink beverages. In 2020, vegetarian 
and plant-based food offerings continued to see 
strong double-digit growth.

 – Trusted brands, such as Maggi, Milo and Nido. 

34 of our brands generate over CHF 1 billion each 
in annual sales at retail level.

 – Regions with high-growth potential. In 2020, 

emerging markets represented 41% of sales and  
grew by 3.4%.

 – Digital marketing and e-commerce. In 2020,  
our e-commerce sales represented 12.8%  
of sales and grew by 48.4%, and digital as a %  
of total media spend increased to 47%.

 – Direct-to-consumer. In 2020, direct-to-consumer 

businesses represented 8.6% of sales and  
grew by 12%.

 – Premiumization. In 2020, our premium offerings 
represented 30% of sales and grew by 9.5%.
 – Affordable and accessible offerings. Sales of 

affordable, accessible products, many nutrient-
fortified, grew by 8.1% and accounted for 18.8%  
of emerging market sales in 2020.

Fixing underperforming businesses. We take 
decisive action to restore growth and profitability 
when businesses underperform. In 2020, we:
 – Initiated a turnaround plan for our Wyeth infant 

nutrition business in China.

 – Relaunched our modern, healthy frozen food 

range, with upgraded offerings for Lean Cuisine 
and the introduction of new brand, Life Cuisine.

 – Took the decision to sharpen our water focus 
on iconic international, premium mineral and 
functional brands, while exploring strategic options 
for parts of the Waters business in North America.

Managing our portfolio. We focus on categories and 
geographies with attractive dynamics where Nestlé 
has an ability to win. Since 2017, we have completed 
or announced more than 75 transactions (acquisitions 
and divestitures) with annual sales equivalent to 
around 18% of 2017 Group sales. In 2020, we:

10

 – Completed the divestment of the U.S. ice cream 
business to Froneri and the sale of 60% of our 
stake in Herta to create a joint venture with  
Casa Tarradellas.

 – Sold the Yinlu peanut milk and canned rice 

porridge businesses in China.

 – Continued to build Nestlé Health Science into a 

nutritional powerhouse through a combination of 
strong organic growth and targeted acquisitions. 
Examples include: Zenpep, Vital Proteins,  
IM HealthScience and Aimmune Therapeutics.
 – Acquired Lily’s Kitchen, a leading producer of 
premium wet and dry natural foods for dogs  
and cats.

 – Expanded our presence in direct-to-consumer 

meal delivery services through the acquisition of 
Freshly in the United States and a majority stake 
in Mindful Chef in the United Kingdom.

Generating continued moderate margin 
improvement
We fuel our growth agenda through disciplined 
cost management, improving operational efficiency 
at all levels of the business. In combination with 
sales growth, this approach enables us to free up 
resources for re-investment in product innovation, 
brand building and sustainability initiatives, while 
creating value for our shareholders.

Reducing costs and enhancing operational 
efficiency. We continued to adapt our organization 
to be more agile, flexible and digitalized. We made 
solid progress on our structural savings program 
across all areas of manufacturing, procurement and 
administration. By the end of 2020, we achieved 
CHF 2.8 billion in savings, exceeding our target of 
CHF 2.0-2.5 billion gross savings for the period 
from 2016 to 2020. In manufacturing we continued 
to upgrade our operational footprint. Between 
2016 and 2020, we reduced our fixed factory 
overheads by 6% per annum in Swiss francs. In 
procurement, increased global buying combined 
with specification reduction helped us reduce costs 
and complexity. Global buying through our three 
purchasing hubs increased from 61% in 2019 to 
63% in 2020. In administration, we continued to 
simplify and standardize processes. The penetration 
of our shared service centers increased for the fifth 
consecutive year.

Nestlé Annual Review 2020amounted to CHF 6.8 billion in 2020, as part of our 
three-year CHF 20 billion buyback program that 
started in January 2020. Over the last 15 years, Nestlé 
has returned CHF 163.7 billion to shareholders, of 
which CHF 72.5 billion has been in the form of share 
repurchases. Over the same period, the number of 
shares outstanding has been reduced by 26.8%.

Creating Shared Value: The way we operate
We build for the long term, act with focus and 
combine global resources with local know-how to 
create value for both society and our shareholders 
at a meaningful scale. We do so because we believe 
that business should act as a force for good. We 
have made bold commitments to achieve net zero 
greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and make 100% 
of our packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025. We 
will continue to advance our sustainability agenda 
and create new business opportunities by ensuring 
Nestlé brands speak to our purpose. To do so we will 
continue working with our partners to:
 – Enable people and families to lead healthier, 
happier lives by continuously improving the 
nutritional profile of our products.

 – Build supply chain resilience by improving 

livelihoods and being a responsible partner  
to the communities directly connected to our 
business activities.

 – Steward resources for future generations by 

enhancing the environmental performance of our 
operations and scaling up nature-based solutions 
to regenerate our biosphere.

 – Support the development of more circular 

economy solutions.

To ensure these efforts are self-sustaining, we aim 
to continue to maximize long-term value creation by 
achieving sustained mid single-digit organic growth, 
delivering continued moderate margin improvement 
and allocating capital prudently.

Allocating capital prudently and improving  
capital efficiency
Our priorities are to invest in the long-term growth 
and development of our business, while increasing 
shareholder returns and creating shared value. We 
take a disciplined approach to capital allocation, 
with prudent financial policies designed to strike the 
right balance between growth, returns and flexible 
access to financial markets. In combination with 
our operating performance, this has allowed us to 
increase our Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) by 
240 bps, from 12.3% in 2019 to 14.7% in 2020.

Investing in growth drivers. Investing for the long 
term takes the form of R&D investment, brand 
support and capital expenditure to support organic 
profitable growth. We allocate these resources 
discerningly, focusing on projects with the highest 
potential to create economic profit. Working capital 
maintained its downward trend. Our five-quarter 
average working capital in % of sales reached 0% at 
the end of 2020, –60 bps versus 2019, marking nine 
consecutive years of improvement. This reduction 
came even as the company increased inventory levels 
materially to meet elevated demand.

Exercising discipline in portfolio management. 
We are disciplined when it comes to mergers and 
acquisitions in order to protect our ROIC. We have 
clear governance in place, with precise accountability 
and targets. Prospects must have a good strategic 
and cultural fit with our organization and offer 
attractive financial returns. We look for creative 
ways to approach deals and build partnerships that 
enhance our optionality.

Returning cash to shareholders. We have 
demonstrated our strong commitment to maintaining 
a high level of reinvestment into the business, while at 
the same time continually increasing capital returns to 
shareholders. We do this by increasing our dividend 
year after year. Based on our 2020 performance, 
the Board of Directors has proposed a dividend 
increase of 5 centimes to CHF 2.75 per share to be 
paid in April 2021. This will be our 26th consecutive 
annual dividend increase. As a result of our strong 
free cash flow generation and business disposals, 
we continued to return excess cash to shareholders 
through share buybacks. Share repurchases 

11

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Innovating faster
to ensure 
long-term growth

Pro Plan LiveClear: 
Creating breakthrough products

Purina introduced Pro Plan LiveClear, the first and 
only cat food that reduces allergens on cat hair. 
With ground-breaking science, Purina continues to 
create entirely new growth segments that improve 
quality of life for cats and their owners.

12

Nestlé Annual Review 20201.6

billion Swiss francs invested 
in R&D annually

4000

23

R&D employees globally

R&D locations worldwide

31%

of 2020 sales from products 
innovated or renovated in  
the last three years

2020 was again a year of rapidly-changing consumer preferences and advances 
in technology, intensified by a global pandemic, the resulting economic downturn 
and increasing environmental concerns. In this context, our ability to develop 
consumer-centric innovations with speed-to-market enables us to differentiate 
ourselves and to delight our consumers. 

Whether we are talking delicious plant-based foods, 
innovative coffee products, environmentally-friendly 
packaging or breakthrough nutritional concepts – we 
are delivering innovations that fulfill consumer needs 
and desires.

We are constantly looking for new ways to increase 

our speed and efficiency to bring products to the 
market faster. We are focused on consumer trends, 
while reducing our environmental impact and making 
good nutrition accessible and affordable to those in 
need. To complement our internal capabilities, we 
collaborate with external partners.

Developing science-based nutritional solutions
Providing nutritional products that support and 
maintain health requires continuous, rigorous 
research. We provide science-based solutions in 
areas such as nutrition, gastrointestinal health, 
metabolic health, brain health and healthy aging 
across all stages of life. Our work enables us to meet 
the unique needs of mothers, infants, children, adults, 
the elderly as well as pets. We are also exploring 
personalized nutritional products that focus on 
individuals as well as groups of people defined by age, 
gender or specific health conditions. Our research 
on the gut microbiome helps us to understand its 
impact on human and pet health, and enables us to 
find nutritional solutions that can support healthy 
digestion, an effective immune system and general 
well-being. And our work in the area of cell function 
has led to new, innovative products, such as Celltrient, 
that support healthy aging.

Acting on sustainability across the value chain
We are embedding sustainability more fundamentally 
into the way we innovate. We discover and apply 
science-based solutions in every step of the value 

chain and in every phase of a product’s lifecycle 
– from product recipe, ingredients, sourcing and 
manufacturing to packaging or packaging-free 
delivery.

To address the issue of packaging waste, our 
global R&D network and our Institute of Packaging 
Sciences are developing refillable or reusable 
solutions, simplified packaging, high-performance 
barrier papers, biodegradable or compostable 
packaging materials, while increasing the use 
of recycled content in Nestlé’s packaging. We 
collaborate closely with leading global research 
institutions, start-ups and suppliers. In 2020, we 
further expanded our use of recyclable paper 
packaging and recycled content across our 
portfolio, and piloted several new refillable and 
reusable systems.

We invest in plant science to understand the 
biology of coffee, for example, to develop drought- 
and disease-resistant varieties. For this, we use 
traditional propagation methods that are free 
from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and 
local coffee varieties. Through our research, we 
even rediscovered the first coffee varieties ever 
cultivated and revived them in our Nespresso 
special editions.

Making good nutrition more affordable
Everyone should have access to affordable, safe 
and high-quality nutrition. Unfortunately, this is 
a challenge for the millions of people globally 
who live in poverty, a problem that has been 
exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our work 
to make nutritious products more affordable and 
to fortify them with locally-relevant micronutrients 
is critical. To develop more affordable products, we 
are innovating by adjusting processes and recipes, 

13

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Leveraging our plant-based expertise
Our global R&D plant protein expertise and proprietary 
technologies enable us to launch plant-based alternatives that 
are nutritious, great-tasting and environmentally-friendly for 
people and their pets. This year, we launched the ‘plant-based 
triple play’ in the U.S. which was developed in only 10 months. 
This marked the first time that a food and beverage company 
could develop and produce the essential ingredients for a 
plant-based alternative to a bacon cheeseburger. Similarly, 
our plant-based tuna alternative was developed and launched 
in 9 months. Made from a combination of six plant-based 
ingredients, it is delicious, nutritious and high in protein. These 
launches reflect our ability to accelerate project timelines 
despite the challenging environment during the pandemic.

Scaling up the use of paper packaging
Following on from launches of paper packaging for 
brands like the Yes! bar and Nesquik in 2019, Nestlé 
introduced recyclable paper wrappers for Maggi 
organic bouillon cubes in France in 2020. This made 
Maggi the first major brand to use such packaging. 
With its launch, our R&D packaging experts overcame 
the challenge of creating a foldable, sealable material 
that was robust enough to provide a sufficient barrier. 
In the UK, we also launched recyclable paper wrappers 
for our Smarties sharing block, a popular coated 
chocolate confectionery product. These steps are part 
of our commitment to making all of our packaging 
recyclable or reusable by 2025.

using local raw materials as well as affordable, 
high-quality protein sources.

Bringing breakthrough innovations 
to market faster
To increase our speed and efficiency to bring 
products to market faster, we have continued to 
roll out our acceleration initiatives, increasing the 
number of fast-track projects and test-and-learns 
as well as expanding the R&D Accelerator program.
Despite the pandemic, we continued to drive 
rapid innovation. We adapted quickly to the new 
situation – for example by connecting with factories 
and suppliers worldwide through the use of 
remote assistance and augmented reality. Under 
challenging circumstances, we were still able to:
 – Deliver 23% more global/multi-market launches 

versus 2019.

 – Decrease the time it takes to bring innovations 
to market by 10% for top priority launches.
 – Fund 32 fast-track projects, in which R&D staff 
can pitch novel ideas that are then evaluated 
and approved by the R&D leadership team.

Applying our expertise across categories
Delivering our innovations quickly and scaling them 
up across brands, categories and geographies, 
is a key competitive advantage. We take a cross-

14

category approach when translating scientific 
discoveries into innovations and leveraging 
new technologies. For example, our proprietary 
technologies in plant proteins have led to the 
launch of plant-based meat, fish and dairy 
alternatives across categories, offering consumers 
a wide range of healthy, more environmentally-
friendly alternatives. Where possible, we leverage 
synergies between human and pet health for the 
development of science-based nutrition concepts.

Connecting with start-ups and students
Our unique open innovation approach combines 
disruptive ideas with sound R&D expertise 
and a flexible test-and-learn model. We work 
with startups, students and other partners, to 
strengthen entrepreneurship and shape innovation.

Our network of R&D Accelerators brings 
employees, startups and students together to 
work on a specific project for six months. They can 
fully leverage Nestlé’s R&D expertise, shared labs, 
kitchens and production equipment, helping them 
to develop and test novel innovations in real market 
conditions. Our R&D Accelerator in Lausanne, 
Switzerland, focuses on cross-category innovation, 
whereas our newly unveiled R&D Accelerator 
in Konolfingen, Switzerland, concentrates on 
sustainable dairy products and plant-based 

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Developing affordable, nutritious products
In our efforts to expand our range of affordable, 
nutritious products, particularly for consumers in 
emerging markets, we launched the Cerevita Instant 
Sour Porridge for Southeast African consumers. 
The porridge is made with wholegrain cereals and 
fortified with key vitamins and minerals, which are 
typically lacking in local diets. Our scientists at the 
R&D Center in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, developed 
and launched the product in under one year. They 
leveraged our science and technology capabilities 
to adapt the porridge to local consumer tastes and 
nutritional needs, while minimizing production costs 
to ensure affordability.

Increasing efficiency with augmented reality
With travel largely restricted in 2020, we 
made use of augmented reality technology 
to provide support to our factories and 
production sites, helping us keep our 
operations running and deliver projects 
on time. For example, R&D teams in 
Switzerland helped virtually to bring 
production lines and technologies online 
for a dairy ready-to-drink factory in Thailand 
and for infant cereals in China. Remote 
assistance is becoming the new norm, 
as it increases speed and efficiency and 
reduces travel.

& Research, Netherlands. We are also co-founders 
of the Future Food Initiative, a joint research 
program between Swiss universities and industrial 
partners. The initiative includes a postdoctoral 
fellowship program for qualified young researchers 
working on projects targeting future food issues 
such as nutrition, production, packaging and  
digital health.

alternatives to dairy. We also launched Unleashed, 
an accelerator program for pet care that gives start-
ups access to our pet health and nutrition expertise 
as well as proof-of-concept funding and access to 
established commercial networks. We are currently 
expanding the R&D Accelerator initiative across 
many categories and geographies including at our 
R&D centers in India and Côte d’Ivoire.

In addition to our R&D Accelerator, we collaborate 
with a number of world-class academic institutions 
and other partners to further the research and 
innovation in key areas.

Supporting future innovators
We collaborate with universities and students in 
many regions of the world. Students can embark 
on PhD or Master’s internships in our R&D centers 
globally, enabling them to translate their research 
into real-life solutions, while developing their 
practical skills in state-of-the-art facilities. In our 
R&D facilities in Switzerland, we currently have 
around 50 students completing internships on 
various topics. We believe this is how we can foster 
local innovation and support future innovators. For 
example, we have an agreement with the University 
of Ghana to enhance nutrition and sustainability 
research. We support the European Master in Food 
Studies program led by Wageningen University  

15

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Connecting 
through 
digitalization

La Lechera: 
Making sweet moments

Brands, such as La Lechera, 
leveraged our digital recipe tools  
and strengths in social media  
to make baking simpler and more 
joyful for families everywhere.

16

Nestlé Annual Review 20204

185 million

47%

online Nespresso orders per 
second at its peak in 2020

visits to our Recetas Nestlé 
platform in Latin America 

of total media spend was  
on digital media

11.9 million

conversations on Workplace, 
Nestlé’s internal social 
networking platform

Digitalization is a crucial driver of Nestlé’s continued evolution. It covers all 
aspects of our business and helps create new platforms for growth, enhances 
agility and generates efficiencies. We are advancing as a digitally-enabled  
and data-intelligent business.

Thriving in a connected world
Consumers are more pressed for time, digitally-
engaged and health-conscious than ever before. They 
expect our brands to offer or recommend ‘fit-for-
me’ solutions that can be accessed on demand and 
seamlessly integrated into their lives. To succeed 
in this connected world, we focus our digitalization 
efforts on:
 – Scaling growth in e-commerce.
 – Leveraging analytics to better understand, engage 
and create value with consumers and customers.

Enabling digital innovation. We continually 
learn with consumers, customers and technology 
partners to develop new areas of opportunity,  
such as:
 – Deploying artificially intelligent chatbots  
to boost consumer engagement, such as 
cooking assistants.

 – Expanding and personalizing services,  

such as nutrition advice.

 – Making shopping more convenient through 

voice search and social commerce.

 – Digitalizing our operations and administration  

 – Partnering with last mile delivery  

to make us more efficient.

service providers.

 – Raising the digital competencies of our people  

 – Advancing our sustainability agenda.

to make us more agile.

Scaling growth in e-commerce
In 2020, our e-commerce sales accounted for 12.8% 
of sales and grew by 48.4%. This strong growth 
reflects our ability to adapt quickly to rapidly-evolving 
consumer demands and is based on:
 – A deep understanding of which categories, 
geographies, brands and consumer value 
propositions fit with e-commerce.

 – Experience building responsive, scalable and 
profitable direct-to-consumer businesses.

 – A close relationship with all retailers selling online.
 – Ensuring our markets have the freedom to tailor a 
centrally developed toolkit of digital technologies 
and practices to their local needs.

E-commerce is part of our omnichannel strategy, 
combining online and offline, to delight consumers 
with the best shopping experience however, wherever 
and whenever they decide to shop. We seek growth 
across all channels, from partnerships with e-retailers 
to direct-to-consumer businesses such as Nespresso, 
Persona and Tails.com.

Leveraging analytics
We are partnering with the world’s leading 
digital innovators to reshape our marketing and 
commerce practices for the digital world. We are 
leveraging our scale to generate value and build 
new capabilities backed by powerful data models 
and algorithms. Our goal is to empower teams to 
make smarter, quicker decisions by transforming 
data into an accessible, reusable asset.

A key focus of these efforts is understanding 

the return on each marketing and commercial 
investment. To deliver on this, we are upgrading 
our end-to-end analytics capabilities to measure 
the value of each consumer and customer 
touchpoint and the impact of every campaign. 
These efforts are helping us to:
 – Understand the effectiveness of each  

brand interaction.

 – Generate efficiencies by improving  

resource allocation.

 – Capture insights that can be used to optimize 

channel strategies in real time.

17

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Accelerating our test, learn, share 
and scale approach
Our internal social networking platforms help us 
to accelerate our speed of learning by creating 
global communities. These groups increase market 
awareness and adoption of new technologies 
and digital know-how. Using tools such as our 
start-up flow tracker, they help to raise awareness 
of best practices by creating visibility on take up 
and outcomes of new technologies.

Inspiring families to expand their cooking repertoire
The Smart Recipe Hub has proven a powerful catalyst for 
identifying consumer food preferences and deepening 
engagement. For example, our Recetas Nestlé platform in 
Latin America received more than 185 million visits in 2020. 
The platform helps families with recipes, advises on cooking 
techniques and empowers them to tailor meal plans using 
nutritional advice on our MyMenuIQ tool. We are expanding 
its functionality through more integration with e-retailers 
and shoppable recipes.

 – Identify opportunities for innovation and the scaling 

up of new launches.

 – Maximize the value of our strategic direct-to-

consumer investments, for example with Freshly.

Personalizing engagement and experience. 
Consumers expect brands to provide solutions based 
on personal preferences. To connect with them, our 
brands need to stand out by being relevant, purposeful 
and distinct. This requires going beyond the product 
to offer services and experiences that build trust, 
satisfaction and loyalty. We work with retail partners, 
influencers and platform providers to deepen our 
understanding of consumers in each of our categories 
through data.

Increasingly, our brands employ a data-driven, 
audience-first approach to tailor messaging to their 
consumers’ needs, while respecting privacy. In 
2020, more than 60% of all digital media campaigns 
leveraged this strategy of personalization at scale. 
These campaigns are supported by an expanded 
network of 30 category and market content studios 
that efficiently deliver dynamic, high-quality 
personalized content.

To take engagement to the next level, we have 
begun the rollout of always-on-analytics to monitor 
digital campaigns and enable our brands to adapt 
messaging and design experiences based on real-time 
signals. These efforts allow us to:
 – Identify opportunity areas to optimize our 

messaging in flight.

 – Increase the relevance and value of each interaction.

18

Enhancing portfolio management and channel 
mix strategies. We continue to upgrade our ability 
to capture and convert intelligence on changes in 
consumer behavior and market trends to support 
portfolio and channel mix decisions. A key focus of 
these efforts is our strategic revenue management 
program, which now covers the majority of our 
markets. This capability helps us to define go-to-
market strategies and feeds the continuous evolution 
of brand value propositions, product formats and 
pricing structures. We are also leveraging artificial 
intelligence with end-to-end analytics to deepen 
collaboration with customers, prioritize production 
and enhance promotion effectiveness. These tools 
strengthen the ability of local sales teams to:
 – Proactively translate our affordable nutrition  

and premiumization strategies into opportunities 
for category growth and market share gains.

 – Increase the strength and quality of our  

customer relationships.

Digitalizing our operations
Across our operational network, we are deploying 
flexible and scalable digital solutions to enhance 
our responsiveness. These multi-year initiatives are 
enabling us to better leverage technologies such 
as artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and 
collaborative robotics to support factory automation 
and end-of-line customization. In 2020, we expanded 
the scope of these programs to increase the flow, 
accessibility and utility of real-time data in areas such 
as procurement and supply chain management. 

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Nespresso, an e-commerce model for all seasons
Nespresso is a pioneer in direct-to-consumer 
e-commerce. The business has developed a highly 
responsive digital ecosystem that supports a full 
set of services, from subscription and community-
building through to AI-supported customer service 
and advanced fulfillment capabilities. In 2020, the 
robustness and scalability of this model enabled 
Nespresso to pivot and accommodate a surge in 
online purchases.

Growth-hacking for our accelerator teams
Our R&D Accelerator program leverages expertise 
and capabilities from across Nestlé to facilitate the 
rapid upscaling of products for test launch in retail 
environments. Projects from employees, students and 
start-ups, can move from idea to shop test within six 
months. During 2020, our expertise in digital insight 
generation, online consumer panels and direct-to-
consumer e-commerce provided a flexible platform to 
rapidly experiment and refine innovations.

These efforts support our drive to enhance:
 – Consumer and customer-centricity.
 – Manufacturing flexibility and agility.
 – Transparency and traceability along our  

supply chains.

We are also stepping up our capacity to capture 
and share data across our value chains. We work 
with supply chain partners to pilot solutions that 
will better balance efficiency and resiliency. For 
example, in 2020 we increased the scope of our 
Transport Hub technologies to cover 50% of our 
global logistics network. In parallel, we extended 
the scope of our AI-powered network optimization 
tools to evaluate different product sourcing and 
delivery scenarios. This has enhanced our ability 
to respond quickly to changes in demand and to 
optimize transport and production schedules. These 
tools enable us to better service our customers and 
reduce our operational carbon footprint.

Indeed, beyond efficiency and growth, we see 

digitalization as an enabler of our sustainability 
agenda. To that end we are stepping up our efforts 
to build systems and tools that will enable us to 
more accurately calculate and track progress in 
areas such as:
 – Sustainable packaging.
 – Carbon emissions reduction.
 – Water management.
For example, we are working with partners such as 
OpenSC, a pioneer in supply chain transparency 
backed by the WWF, to build a fit-for-purpose 
platform of ‘feeding’ technologies to increase raw 

material traceability. In 2020, this work broke new 
ground by combining proximity sensors (Internet 
of Things), remote (satellite) and analytic (image 
recognition) technologies to track palm oil supply 
chains in Mexico.

Raising the digital expertise of our people
We believe that our people should be empowered 
by technology. To enable our employees to extract 
the greatest value from Nestlé’s digitalization 
journey, we have accelerated our efforts to build  
up their competencies and make them more  
digital savvy.

Our goal is to equip teams to:
 – Be agile with digital technologies  

and techniques.

 – Decide autonomously when, where and  

how to deploy new capabilities.

We have scaled up our learning platforms and 
established digital academies. These provide 
access to relevant, easy-to-consume learning 
materials that enable employees to acquire 
applicable digital skills. For example, in 2020, 
our e-business academy, which focuses on 
building expertise in search, programmatic media, 
e-commerce and data analytics, has trained more 
than 16 000 employees and fully certified 2700 
of our sales and marketing associates. These 
academies support continuous digital upskilling 
and keep our employees in the markets up-to-date 
with the latest best practices from Nestlé and our 
technology partners.

19

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Speaking  
through  
our brands

Our brands are our vehicles for creating experiences beyond products. 
We communicate through them every day and use them to make  
a real impact on people’s lives and the world around us.

Powdered and 
Liquid Beverages

PetCare

20

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Nutrition and 
Health Science

Prepared dishes 
and cooking aids

®

®

E N L I G H T E N E D   F O O D S

Milk products 
and Ice cream

®

®

Confectionery

Water

I N FA N T   C E R E A L S

21

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Powdered 
and Liquid 
Beverages

Powdered and Liquid 
Beverages covers our coffee, 
cocoa and malt beverage 
categories. This business 
features iconic coffee brands, 
including Nescafé, Nespresso 
and Starbucks. It also 
includes Milo, the world’s 
most popular chocolate  
malt drink.

At a glance

UTOP margin

Sales (in CHF billion)

22.2
22.5%
Percentage of Nestlé’s sales 26.4%

22

With every cup, preserving the best 
of our world
In 2020, Nespresso expanded its Reviving Origins program with 
the launch of Amaha awe Uganda and also Kahawa ya Congo, the 
first organic addition to the range. Reflecting Nespresso’s broader 
mission, these coffees are the product of a business model based on 
sustainability. By partnering with communities recovering from adversity 
to preserve some of the world’s rarest coffees, rebuild sustainable 
livelihoods for farmers and foster regenerative agricultural practices, 
Nespresso works to generate enduring positive impact.

Creating a coffee community
Nescafé Dolce Gusto (NDG) is a prime example 
of how our coffee brands have strengthened 
their digital business models. With its Premio 
loyalty program reaching one million members, 
its expansion of direct-to-consumer capacity 
and its new range of machines, NDG is creating 
a community of coffee lovers that value quality, 
sustainable coffee.

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Scaling up our cold brew portfolio
We have expanded our portfolio of cold coffees 
with Nescafé Dolce Gusto’s New Orleans, the 
first cold brew portioned coffee. This smooth 
premium beverage offers coffee lovers a natural 
burst of uplifting energy that both recreates the 
coffee@home experience and provides a healthier 
alternative to carbonated soft drinks.

Continuing the innovation streak
In blending Nestlé’s instant coffee expertise with 
Starbuck’s unique signature premium taste, our global 
coffee partnership continues to enter new territories. 
The range includes medium and dark roasts as well as 
beverages inspired by signature Starbucks favorites 
– such as Caffè Mocha or Caramel Latte. These use 
the same high-quality, 100% arabica beans served in 
Starbucks coffee houses.

Boosting energy with plant-based Milo
The need for plant-based dairy alternatives that taste 
great and offer nutrition is rising, as more families 
are following a flexitarian diet that is lighter on meat 
and dairy products. The new Milo replaces milk 
powder with ingredients from soy and oats. The 
core ingredients are the same as original Milo – malt, 
barley and cocoa.

Made stronger by nature
Nescafé knows coffee. Made using green coffee 
extract for an extra hit of caffeine, this new 
functional offering launches the brand into the 
world of functional coffees. The product was 
developed and brought to market in less than  
a year and comes in convenient ready-to-drink  
and soluble formats.

23

Nestlé Annual Review 2020PetCare

Pets and people are 
better together. This is 
the guiding belief that 
motivates Purina to deliver 
life-changing nutrition 
to pets and world-class 
pet care expertise to pet 
owners and veterinarians 
every day. With more than 
500 scientists, veterinarians 
and pet care experts 
globally, Purina is guided 
by science and driven by 
passion to enrich the lives 
of pets and the people 
who love them. The Purina 
PetCare portfolio includes 
leading brands such as 
Purina ONE, Pro Plan, 
Friskies and Tidy Cats.

At a glance

UTOP margin

Sales (in CHF billion)

14.0
22.0%
Percentage of Nestlé’s sales 16.6%

24

Disrupting the cat treat segment
Two new cat treat innovations keep Purina on the cutting edge of form 
and function. Leveraging the traditional chocolate bar design from 
Nestlé’s confectionery business, Purina’s new Fancy Feast Savory 
Cravings bars can be broken into smaller bites to extend treat time for 
cats. And the unique, rolling design of FELIX Play Tubes provides cats 
with a deliciously playful treating experience.

Expanding the power of Purina ONE
Purina ONE is now filling the food  
bowls of dogs and cats across Latin 
America thanks to market expansion 
and consumer demand for premium  
pet food. Each nutritionally complete 
and balanced Purina ONE formula  
is created by Purina pet nutritionists 
using high-quality ingredients to give 
pets the nutrition they need at every 
life stage. Ongoing innovation to 
deliver functional benefits to pets has 
supported Purina ONE’s success and 
double-digit growth globally.

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Exquisite meals inspired by nature
As consumers increasingly seek simple, 
natural ingredients for their own meals, 
many are looking for the same for their 
pets. Purina’s new Gourmet Nature’s 
Creations wet cat food collection is 
inspired by nature and made with 
carefully selected, high-quality natural 
ingredients, such as tuna garnished with 
tomatoes and rice or chicken garnished 
with spinach and tomatoes. All recipes 
are made without artificial colors, 
preservatives or flavorings.

Giving dogs something new to chew on
New Purina Prime Bones rawhide-free dog chews are a safe, naturally-
edible treat to satisfy a dog’s instinctual love of chewing without the 
hazards of treating with rawhides, real bones and plastics. Available in 
three flavors, Prime Bones are made with venison, bison or boar to give 
dogs a taste of adventure.

Turning up the flavor for a new 
mealtime experience
Friskies continues its quest to excite 
cats’ senses with the ultimate 
combination of taste, texture and 
temperature in the new Friskies Warm’d 
& Serv’d wet cat food options. Pet 
owners simply dip these flavorful, 
nutritious pouches into warm water to 
heat up a new, fun mealtime experience 
for their cats. It’s an innovation you 
would only expect from Friskies.

25

Nurturing our portfolio
With the acquisition of pet food brand Lily’s Kitchen, 
Purina is further expanding into the high-growth 
natural pet food segment. With its powerful brand, 
strong ethical values and impressive sales growth, 
Lily’s Kitchen resonates particularly well with younger 
pet owners.

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Nutrition and 
Health Science

Our nutrition business is 
dedicated to providing  
high-quality, innovative, 
science-based nutrition 
for mothers and infants. 
The business has built 
a portfolio that includes 
billionaire brands such as 
NAN, illuma, Cerelac and 
Gerber. Our Nestlé Health 
Science business also 
works to empower healthier 
lives through nutrition. It 
has an extensive portfolio 
of science-based medical 
nutrition and consumer 
health products that 
increasingly focus  
on personalization.

At a glance

UTOP margin

Sales (in CHF billion)

12.2
21.7%
Percentage of Nestlé’s sales 14.4%

26

Expanding our HMO platform
NAN’s pediatric supplements range applies Nestlé’s 
expertise in human milk oligosaccharides and the 
microbiome to open up a new nutrition segment.  
The products have been formulated to boost immunity 
and solve common short-term health issues, offering 
infants a little extra help to support lifelong health.

A China-born super premium offering
The newest member of the Wyeth family is the locally-
manufactured infant formula, Belsol. The product has 
been shaped through insights from Alibaba’s T-Mall 
innovation center and has been tailored to Chinese 
babies using our joint-research with Peking University. 
The brand will be exclusively used to support Wyeth’s 
expansion into tier-three and tier-four cities.

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Improving memory 
and cognitive function
BrainXpert is a first-of-its-kind ketogenic 
drink that is clinically proven to improve 
brain functioning in individuals with mild 
cognitive impairment, a condition that 
affects one out of five people over the 
age of 65. The product is the result of 
groundbreaking research and reflects 
our promise to empower healthier lives 
through nutrition.

Rewriting the rules of cellular aging
The Celltrient range is formulated with 
cellular nutrients that help renew and 
restore the body’s natural processes 
that support the health of mitochondria, 
the power plant in cells. The launch is 
backed by a versatile digital ecosystem 
that supports consumer and health care 
professional engagement, education and 
direct-to-consumer purchase.

Expanding our expertise in food allergies
Acquiring Aimmune is part of our mission to enrich lives through 
nutritional science. PALFORZIA is the first and only FDA- and 
European Commission-approved treatment to help reduce 
the frequency and severity of allergic reactions to peanuts in 
children. Aimmune will help us extend our expertise in the R&D 
of novel allergy treatment solutions.

Nourishing young lives
Infant cereals are an important part of 
our nutrition portfolio and are vital to 
supporting young lives from the first 
spoon to the family table. In 2020, we 
added Cerelac Homestyle Meals, a 
variant that introduces savory tastes 
and new textures, tailored to South 
East Asian tastes. We also launched 
Cerelac NutriKoko, made using locally 
sourced soy and fortified with vitamins 
and minerals to extend our affordable 
offering in Africa.

27

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Prepared dishes
and cooking aids

Our prepared dishes and 
cooking aids category 
contains a range of daily 
essentials, from bouillons, 
soups, ambient and chilled 
culinary products to frozen 
food and pizzas. The 
portfolio includes iconic 
brands such as Maggi, 
Stouffer’s and DiGiorno 
that cater to regional and 
local tastes and nutritional 
requirements and beliefs.

At a glance

UTOP margin

Sales (in CHF billion)

11.5
18.8%
Percentage of Nestlé’s sales 13.7%

28

Elevating everyday cooking into food harmony
MarketPlace is a premium, all-natural portfolio of 
cooking aids that builds with Maggi’s new digital 
ecosystem to inspire at-home cooking creativity. With 
a focus on making cooking simple, fun and tasty, the 
range includes Maggi Le Bouillon, a liquid bouillon, 
and Maggi Bio Légumes, a paper-wrapped seasoning.

Good for you, 
good for the planet
Throughout 2020, we 
expanded our portfolio 
of plant-based offerings 
with upgrades to Garden 
Gourmet’s Sensational Burger 
and exciting additions such 
as Sensational Vuna, our 
plant-based alternative to 
tuna. Our brands are helping 
to lead the way in making 
plant-based foods part of 
everybody’s everyday life 
and support our mission 
to provide consumers with 
products that are good for 
them and the planet.

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Repositioning our modern health brands
In 2020, we revamped Lean Cuisine and launched 
a premium sister brand, Life Cuisine, focused 
on balance, taste and responding to more 
personalized definitions of health and wellness. 
From gluten-free to high protein, the expanded 
range offers consumers 15 different meal solutions 
to fit their lifestyle aspiration.

Disrupting the world of pizza
Our flagship DiGiorno brand continues to disrupt 
the world of pizza with the addition of the first-
of-its-kind croissant crust. It offers families a 
convenient way to enjoy the comfort of fresh-baked 
pizza, with a light, flaky, buttery croissant crust.

Cooking made so simple
A core mission of our Maggi brand is 
to be every cook’s partner to fresh. 
Offering versatility with convenience, 
our Magic Sarap range delivers an all-
in-one seasoning that helps take local 
tastes global and bring excitement to 
every meal.

Bringing world flavors home
Our new range of Totole premium 
cooking sauces enables consumers to 
re-create authentic restaurant flavors at 
home. The products are made only from 
the ‘first pressed sauce’ of naturally 
fermented soy, corn and wheat – to 
bring rich, multi-layered ‘Xian’ tastes to 
everyday dishes.

29

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Milk products 
and Ice cream

Our milk products business 
provides individuals and 
families with nutritional 
products essential to 
healthy diets for all stages 
of life, from early childhood 
to old age. The business 
covers several categories, 
including ambient dairy, 
plant-based alternatives  
and coffee creamers.  
Our portfolio includes 
market-leading brands, 
such as Nido and Coffee 
mate. In ice cream, we have  
a wide range of delicious, 
indulgent products. 

At a glance

UTOP margin

Sales (in CHF billion)

11.0
24.1%
Percentage of Nestlé’s sales 13.0%

30

Focusing on rapid innovation in plant-based dairy alternatives
A growing number of consumers, especially millennials, require 
an alternative to dairy products due to lactose intolerance, allergy, 
dietary choices or environmental concerns. Nestlé is responding 
to this consumer trend by expanding its range of plant-based dairy 
alternatives. In 2020, the company launched plant-based products 
across a number of brands, including: Ninho, Nesfit Sabor Natural  
and a Carnation vegan condensed milk alternative. Nestlé has  
around 300 R&D employees globally dedicated to the research  
and development of plant-based products.

Bringing families together 
through baking
As many consumers returned 
to baking and cooking at 
home last year due to the 
pandemic, evaporated 
and condensed milks, 
with brands like Carnation, 
La Lechera and Moça, saw 
significant growth. In the 
Americas, for example, we 
increased our engagement 
through digital platforms 
like Recetas Nestlé and 
quickly reacted to provide 
consumers with simpler, 
more creative recipes with 
ingredients typically stored 
in the home. We also added 
services like video tutorials 
and home delivery.

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Perking up every cup with a range 
of crafted plant-based creamers
Our ambition is to be consumers’ go-to-choice 
for creamers – whatever their preferences 
are. By blending our plant-based know-how 
into trusted household brands such as Natural 
Bliss and Starbucks we are meeting new consumer 
needs. These new products pair on-brand flavor 
profiles with a rich and creamy texture that help 
coffee lovers make every cup their way.

Ensuring access to affordable nutrition
Nestlé redoubled its long-standing efforts to 
provide accessible and affordable nutrition as 
the pandemic severely impacted incomes and 
livelihoods. To provide healthier options, we 
accelerated the launch of a fortified milky vanilla 
drink under the IDEAL brand at an affordable 
price. And in both the Philippines and Pakistan, 
we ensured sufficient supply of healthy milks, 
BEAR BRAND and BUNYAD, to help fill nutrition 
gaps and support immunity.

Making the KitKat ice cream treat more delicious
In the year of its 85th birthday, KitKat completely reformulated 
and relaunched its ice cream stick with the goal of elevating 
the KitKat ice cream experience. Introduced initially in 
Malaysia, the new wafer-flavored ice cream with finely 
crushed KitKat wafer pieces in the chocolate coating has seen 
record success. Following its instant popularity, the new KitKat 
ice cream stick is being rolled out globally.

Innovation that delivers personalized 
superfood drinks
Consumers increasingly look for personalized 
solutions. With nesQino, Nestlé has made it 
possible for people to also personalize healthy 
superfood drinks according to their needs and 
preferences. Launched in China and Japan, 
nesQino combines superfood sachets and one of 
three base sachets – smoothie, oat shake or milk 
shake – in a digitally connected Q-cup machine to 
create healthy drinks. The entire product range is 
‘clean label,’ or containing a small number of easy-
to-understand ingredients. This innovative system 
was developed in just 18 months and is a red dot 
design award winner.

31

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Confectionery

Nestlé’s confectionery 
products can be enjoyed 
as part of a well-balanced 
diet. Our confectionery 
business includes the 
iconic KitKat brand and 
a portfolio of much loved 
regional and local brands. 
Within both chocolate 
and biscuit categories, we 
aim to surpass consumer 
expectations with great 
tasting products. The 
business continuously 
innovates to delight 
consumers, to create 
premium products, to 
make those products more 
nutritious and to become 
more sustainable. 

At a glance

UTOP margin

Sales (in CHF billion)

7.0
14.2%
Percentage of Nestlé’s sales 8.3%

32

Creating special moments at home
With people spending much more time at home last year, there was a 
resurgence in baking. People were looking for fun activities to do with 
their children, partners or for their own enjoyment. Nestlé Dessert in 
France and Nestlé Toll House in the U.S. were there to bring families 
together and to bring moments of comfort and warmth. The brands 
coupled their products with digital platforms offering recipes, tips and 
fun activities for kids. Maintaining this type of virtual engagement with 
consumers is one way we plan to keep our new and returning bakers in 
the category.

Celebrating 85 years of an icon
In the year of its 85th birthday, KitKat became the number one chocolate 
bar globally for the first time, based on market share in value. This was 
made possible only by its ability to consistently innovate and expand 
into new geographies and segments. For example, the KitKat seasonal 
range was launched globally and included bunny and Santa shapes, with 
plans to expand this range. KitKat tablets were introduced in some pilot 
markets and will be rolled out in more markets over the coming years. 
Several new KitKat chocolatory boutiques, where consumers can create 
their own customized KitKat flavor, were opened in Canada and Australia 
as well as five new pop-up stores in Brazil.

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Getting power from plants
YES! snack bars have a new range that contains 
10 grams of plant protein from a natural 
combination of nuts and peas. This latest 
innovation taps into a consumer trend toward pea 
protein, as consumers look for different types of 
plant proteins that are good for them and good for 
the environment.

Continuing the sustainable 
packaging journey
Nestlé made further progress on its packaging 
commitments in 2020 and this included the launch 
of Smarties sharing blocks in recyclable paper 
wrappers. The bars are wrapped on high-speed 
machines previously used for plastic or laminate 
packaging. It is the first time that this material has 
been used for chocolate bars.

Delighting consumers in new ways
Under its Chocobakery strategy, Nestlé Brazil continues 
to find new ways to provide consumers with occasional 
and affordable indulgence. In 2020, the first Nestlé 
Chocobiscuits, with its crunchy, buttery biscuit inside and 
creamy chocolatey outside, was launched successfully  
in the market. In addition to this innovation, existing  
brands, such as Negresco and Bono, were upgraded  
to give consumers a new eating experience.

Delivering premium
chocolate in new formats
Following its successful launch for Christmas 2019, 
Nestlé Les Recettes de l’Atelier ‘Les Bouchées’ 
continued its strong growth in 2020, doubling 
its sales versus the previous year. The gift box 
contains chocolate pralines filled with a variety of 
smooth fillings and decorated with nuts and fruit, 
creating both a visual and indulgent delight. We 
saw strong repeat purchases in France, Spain, 
Switzerland, Italy and Czech Republic, and carried 
out a successful market test in Russia.

33

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Water

Our waters business is 
dedicated to providing 
healthy hydration, 
enhancing quality of life and 
contributing to a healthier 
future. Its strategic focus is 
on its iconic international 
brands – S.Pellegrino, Perrier 
and Acqua Panna – as well 
as its leading premium 
mineral water brands and 
functional water products. 
In many emerging markets, 
Nestlé Pure Life provides 
packaged water that’s 
safe, clean and controlled. 
Sustainability is embedded 
in innovations across the 
entire waters value chain. 

At a glance

Sales (in CHF billion)

UTOP margin

Percentage of Nestlé’s sales

6.4
10.0%
7.6%

34

Progressing on our path to net zero
Our waters business provides healthy hydration products all over the 
world. In 2020, we pledged to make our entire portfolio carbon neutral 
by 2025. Perrier, S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, the most renowned 
waters brands, will be prioritized first and are expected to achieve carbon 
neutrality by 2022. To reach our target, we will pursue high-quality offsets 
in addition to investing in projects that reduce or capture carbon across 
our portfolio. Other brands like Vittel and Levissima have voluntarily 
decided to move faster than committed by the Group and also aim to 
achieve carbon neutrality by 2022.

A stream of strong innovation
Following the successful 2019 launch 
of S.Pellegrino Essenza, we continued 
to entice consumers with new flavors 
in 2020. For example, in the U.S., we 
introduced the Blood Orange & Black 
Raspberry flavor. We also rolled out 
a bigger size (50 cl) bottle, giving 
consumers longer-lasting enjoyment, 
as well as a recyclable (PET) format 
in some European countries. The 
combination of the prestigious 
S.Pellegrino brand and the novelty of 
flavored sparkling water is enabling the 
brand’s strong growth.

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Making headway on a waste-free future
As part of our commitment to making our packaging 
recyclable or reusable and to reducing our use of virgin 
plastics, Nestlé Waters is now using recycled plastic in its 
packaging across most of its brands and for many of its 
products globally. And with the ambition to create a circular 
economy in which no new material is created, that plastic can 
of course be recycled again. All Buxton bottles in the UK and 
Valvert products in Belgium are using 100% recycled plastic in 
their bottles; multiple Vittel bottle sizes are doing the same.

Bringing the goodness of plants into water
Nestlé Waters’ Buxton brand began a test launch of 
a plant-infused functional water product in the UK 
in 2020. PLANT+WATER BY BUXTON is a blend of 
spring water, plant polyphenols and magnesium, 
with a mix of fruit and herb flavors. The bottles are 
fully recyclable.

An iconic collaboration
In keeping with its tradition of partnering with great artists, 
Perrier announced a collaboration with renowned artist 
Takashi Murakami to create the new, vibrant Perrier x 
MURAKAMI collection. Ahead of the 2021 release of the full 
range in Murakami’s colors and motifs, two premium limited 
edition Perrier glass bottles featuring his original artworks 
were launched globally last year. Over Perrier’s history, some 
of the world’s most influential artists have created trailblazing 
art for the brand.

Acting for biodiversity
Vittel reaffirmed its commitment to preserving 
biodiversity in 2020. For nearly 30 years, the team 
has been working to preserve soil and natural 
areas to protect water resources in the heart of the 
Vosges, from where Vittel water is sourced. Today, 
more than 10 000 hectares are under preservation. 
And now we are going beyond our territory to 
work on biodiversity in other areas. We will bring 
new solutions and scale up existing ones in 
partnership with Ashoka, a non-profit organization. 
We celebrated this expansion of our efforts with a 
relaunch of the Vittel brand.

35

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Creating 
Shared 
Value

NIDO FortiGrow range:  
Providing nutrition  
to school-age children

NIDO FortiGrow provides nutrition 
tailored to the needs of school-age 
children to support their learning, 
immunity and growth.

36

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Over 90 million

Swiss francs, financial and 
in-kind COVID-19 related 
donations across more than 
50 countries

33 million

children reached by  
Nestlé for Healthier Kids

–37%

reduction in Scope 1&2 GHG 
emissions per tonne of product 
since 2010

626 700

farmers Nestlé engages with 
through Farmer Connect

Our purpose is to ‘unlock the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, 
today and for generations to come’. This purpose drives us to make a positive 
impact on the lives of people, pets and the environment now and in the future.

Why we believe in Creating Shared Value
Creating Shared Value means creating long-term 
value in a way that also creates value for society 
and protects the environment. As climate change, 
a global pandemic and an economic downturn 
affect people around the world, delivering solutions 
that meet people’s needs, help address society’s 
challenges and generate economic value has never 
been more important.

Our commitments and their impact
Guided by our purpose, we are pursuing ambitious 
goals and commitments across areas that align 
with and support the UN Sustainable Development 
Goals (SDGs). In particular, we focus our work on 
promoting healthier lives for adults and children, 
improving livelihoods in the communities where  
we are present and protecting and restoring  
the environment.

Progress against our commitments 

demonstrates our conviction that business can 
be a force for good by addressing local and 
global challenges. Our sustainability activities 
and reporting are aligned with global frameworks 
and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial 
Disclosures (TCFD). More information can be 
found on our web site www.nestle.com/climate.

Partnering to keep people safe
From the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, we have worked 
to keep people and communities healthy and safe, including 
continuing our support of the International Federation of the 
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) with financial, 
food, water and medical nutrition product donations.

Further information 
Find details of our management approach and governance 
structure, as well as performance data, case studies 
and additional content, in our Creating Shared Value and 
Sustainability Report and in the section ‘Our impact’ of our 
corporate website (www.nestle.com/csv).

37

Nestlé Annual Review 2020For individuals 
and families

Enabling healthier  
and happier lives

Our 2030 ambition is to help 50 million children  
lead healthier lives

Offering tastier and 
healthier choices

Inspiring people  
to lead healthier lives

Building, sharing 
and applying  
nutrition knowledge

Build and share 
nutrition knowledge 
from the first 1000 
days through to 
healthy aging

Build biomedical 
science leading to 
health-promoting 
products, 
personalized nutrition 
and digital solutions

Launch more foods 
and beverages 
that are nutritious, 
especially for 
mothers- to-be,  
new mothers,  
infants and children

Further decrease 
sugars, sodium and 
saturated fat

Increase vegetables, 
fiber-rich grains, 
pulses, nuts and 
seeds in our foods 
and beverages

Simplify our 
ingredient lists and 
remove artificial 
colors

Address 
undernutrition 
through micronutrient 
fortification

Apply and explain 
nutrition information 
on packs, at point of 
sale and online

  Offer guidance on 
portions for our 
products

Leverage our 
marketing efforts 
to promote healthy 
cooking, eating and 
lifestyles

Empower parents, 
caregivers and 
teachers to foster 
healthy behaviors in 
children

Support breastfeeding 
and protect it 
by continuing to 
implement an 
industry-leading policy 
to market breast-milk 
substitutes 
responsibly

Inspire people to 
choose water to lead 
healthier lives

Partner for promoting 
healthy food 
environments

Building on progress

We have made good progress on our 2020 
commitments. At the time of the report publication, 
28 out of the 36 commitments were fully achieved. 
We are intensifying our efforts to fully achieve 
those that are still in progress and where we are 
very close.

These commitments were an important step in 
our deep-rooted dedication to environmental and 
social sustainability; as we enter the next decade, 
we are setting new ambitions which will drive us to 
go further and faster. We will continue to advance 
the health of our planet, drive progress on social 
issues and support a healthy food system. We have 
made bold commitments and set out a detailed 
roadmap to achieve net zero greenhouse gas 
emissions by 2050. We also have the ambition to 
make 100% of our packaging recyclable or reusable 
by 2025.

Further information 
We have achieved so much on our journey, with 
each year representing a significant step forward. 
Watch this video to learn more about our key 
accomplishments. Scan this QR Code or visit  
www.nestle.com/csv.

Status of our commitments

 Achieved

  Extended or Partially Achieved

38

Nestlé Annual Review 2020 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For our 
communities

Helping develop thriving, 
resilient communities

For the planet

Stewarding resources 
and the environment

Our 2030 ambition is to improve 30 million livelihoods  
in communities directly connected to our business activities

Our 2030 ambition is to strive for zero environmental 
impact in our operations

Enhancing rural 
development  
and livelihoods

Respecting  
and promoting  
human rights

Promoting decent 
employment  
and diversity

Caring for water

Acting on  
climate change

Safeguarding  
the environment

Assess and address 
human rights impacts 
across our business 
activities

Improve workers’ 
livelihoods and 
protect children in our 
agricultural supply 
chain

Enhance a culture of 
integrity across the 
organization

Provide effective 
grievance 
mechanisms to 
employees and 
stakeholders

Improve farm 
economics among  
the farmers who 
supply us

Improve food 
availability and dietary 
diversity among  
the farmers who 
supply us

Implement 
responsible sourcing 
in our supply chain 
and promote animal 
welfare

Continuously improve 
our green coffee 
supply chain

Roll out the Nestlé 
Cocoa Plan with 
cocoa farmers

Roll out our Nestlé 
needs YOUth initiative 
across all our 
operations

  Work to achieve 

water efficiency and 
sustainability across 
all our operations

Enhance gender 
balance in our 
workforce and 
empower women 
across the entire 
value chain

Advocate for healthy 
workplaces and 
healthier employees

Advocate for effective 
water policies and 
stewardship

Engage with 
suppliers, especially 
those in agriculture

Raise awareness on 
water conservation 
and improve access  
to water and 
sanitation across  
our value chain

Provide climate 
change leadership

Promote 
transparency and 
proactive, long-term 
engagement in 
climate policy

Improve the 
environmental 
performance of our 
packaging

Reduce food loss 
and waste

Provide meaningful 
and accurate 
environmental 
information and 
dialog

Preserve natural 
capital

39

Nestlé Annual Review 2020 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2020 highlights

Supporting babies with Cow’s  
Milk Protein Allergy

Breastfeeding is best for babies and we actively promote and 
support it. There is no debate. When breastfeeding is not 
possible, we propose high-quality infant nutrition solutions, 
including formula for babies that are affected by Cow’s Milk 
Protein Allergy (CMPA). CMPA is one of the most common 
food allergies in infancy and the symptoms, which can be 
distressing for parents, include diarrhea, vomiting, eczema or 
even anaphylaxis.

In 2020, we launched Althéra HMO, a specialty 

hypoallergenic formula, clinically proven to provide effective 
symptom relief and support healthy growth and development 
in babies with CMPA. Babies with CMPA also have an 
immature immune system which may increase the risk of 
infections. Althéra HMO is therefore supplemented with 
Nestlé’s Human Milk Oligosaccharide blend, which reduces 
the risk of infections by stimulating the immune system.

Providing specialty infant 
nutrition solutions when 
breastfeeding is not possible

When we set our commitments, 
we knew they were ambitious. 
Concrete actions and tangible 
accomplishments underline our 
progress in each one within the  
2020 timeframe.

Our commitments are part of 

our long-term endeavor to be 
a force for good. We know that 
significant global changes depend on 
collaboration. That is why we build 
partnerships with governments, non 
governmental organizations (NGOs) 
and others to bring about lasting 
positive impact.

At all levels of our company, people 
contribute to our sustainability efforts 
through an increasing number  
of projects, actions and products.  
We will accelerate this work  
going forward.

More stories and achievements can 

be found on www.nestle.com/csv.

For individuals
and families

For our 
communities

For the planet

40

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Fighting micronutrient 
deficiencies with personalized 
solutions

Our BEAR BRAND provides affordable nutrition 
options through fortified food and beverages. 
Increasing access to nutritional information, 
BEAR BRAND recently launched a new digital 
nutrition assessment tool, the Tibay Calculator. 
It helps parents in the Philippines understand 
the quality and diversity of their child’s diet. 
Collaborating with the Food and Nutrition 
Research Institute, Nestlé Research scientists 
developed an algorithm to calculate diet 
diversity scores and identify nutrient gaps in 
the diets of 6-12 year-olds.

Helping consumers make informed 
choices about their nutritional intake

Helping families make good food choices

Nutrition education is critical to our ambition to help 50 million 
children lead healthier lives – a goal supported by our flagship 
initiative Nestlé for Healthier Kids.

In May 2020, we launched a new Nestlé for Healthier 
Kids initiative, Cook Together. With nearly 40 Nestlé brands 
participating globally, Cook Together reached over 225 million 
parents, encouraging families to spend more time in the 
kitchen preparing nutritional meals together. In November, 
a second campaign was launched featuring a cookbook, 
challenges and prizes.

Supporting youth – virtually

Unemployment has risen due to the COVID-19 
pandemic, with young people being both the 
hardest hit and yet the most vital for economic 
recovery. In response, Nestlé expanded its global 
initiative, Nestlé Needs YOUth, launching a new 
virtual internship program across several markets.

Through the program, young people can 

improve their employability by accessing courses, 
developed in partnership with LinkedIn, Coursera 
and Miriadax. These courses are designed 
to support young people moving from higher 
education to employment. Participants will also 
receive training from leading global experts.

Teaching children about the nutritional value 
of cooking

Expanding Nestlé Needs YOUth online 
learning to improve employability

41

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Providing a living income

Recognizing farmers

We believe that every farmer should have access 
to a living income. Nestlé’s new Household 
Income Accelerator Project is helping drive 
change for cocoa farmers.

Launched in August 2020, the project’s pilot 
scheme supports 1000 farmers, each of whom 
is receiving financial incentives for delivering 
positive social and environmental outcomes 
through good agricultural practices, planting 
shade trees and tackling child labor. The 
project’s progress will be closely monitored, with 
developments and results publicly reported.

Behind every cup of Nescafé are thousands of committed 
coffee growers. We want our consumers to know the faces 
and names of some of the people who work to make our 
coffee products possible.

In 2020, we launched a multimedia campaign to 

acknowledge their incredible work. Through on-pack pictures, 
posters at point-of-sale, billboards and social media posts, 
we shared producers’ stories. The campaign, which aimed 
to build closer connections between coffee consumers and 
the farmers that help produce Nescafé, achieved more than 
9 million impressions in total. 

Investing in a sustainable future 
for farming communities

Developing plant-based 
food for the future

Nestlé has a strong portfolio of plant-based 
options. In August 2020, we expanded into 
seafood plant-based alternatives. Our plant-
based tuna alternative, the newest addition to 
the Garden Gourmet brand, is helping to reduce 
overfishing and protect ocean biodiversity. It is 
made using only six plant-based ingredients, is 
high in protein and essential amino acids, and 
is free of artificial colorings or preservatives. We 
developed the tuna alternative within 9 months 
through leveraging our deep R&D expertise in 
protein science and proprietary technologies.

42

Connecting consumers to coffee growers

Offering more plant-based protein options 
that are better for you and the planet 

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Innovating packaging 
for the future

We are accelerating research and innovation to 
ensure 100% of our packaging is recyclable or 
reusable and use of virgin plastics is reduced 
by one-third by 2025. We are taking a five-pillar 
approach to target our efforts:
 – Reducing packaging size and virgin plastic 
use: We have invested USD 30 million in the 
Closed Loop Leadership Fund, supporting a 
shift to food-grade recycled plastics.

 – Scaling reusable and refillable systems: 
We are scaling up reusable and refillable 
options, working with Loop in France and 
Algramo in Chile.

 – Pioneering alternative materials: We are 
transitioning to paper packaging where 
viable, such as for Maggi bouillon cube 
wrappers. Purina PetCare launched industry-
first recyclable flexible plastic packaging for 
wet pet food.

 – Shaping a waste-free future: In August 
2020, Nestlé Philippines reached plastic 
neutrality, collecting as much plastic as we 
produce. We also work with Project STOP to 
address plastic pollution in Indonesia.

 – Driving new behavior: Nestlé is rolling out a 
sustainable packaging education program for 
all employees, while our Nescafé Dolce Gusto 
brand launched a consumer recycling 
campaign in Germany and Mexico. 

Making refill and reuse options easier for our consumers

Preserving and 
restoring forests

Tackling deforestation in our supply 
chains is vital for addressing climate 
change. For example, we are working 
together with the national government 
and NGO Earthworm Foundation to 
preserve and reforest the classified 
Cavally reserve in Côte d’Ivoire, 
a biodiversity hotspot. Through a 
CHF 2.5 million investment, as part 
of the Cocoa and Forests Initiative, 
the Nestlé Cocoa Plan has mapped 
suppliers to ensure they are not in 
protected areas. We are also distributing 
forest trees to farmers to improve the 
environment on their farms.  
A successful implementation will provide 
a model to use in the other forests.

43

Providing farmers with plantlets to support 
the environment

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Nestlé’s Enterprise Risk Management process, 
to ensure that wider sustainability issues were 
incorporated into the risks and opportunities under 
consideration across the company.

The assessment, co-led internally by Public 

Affairs and Group Risk Management, was 
undertaken by an independent third party to ensure 
complete confidentiality and impartiality. Following 
a research and planning stage, 72 key internal and 
external stakeholders were interviewed and asked 
to score issues by importance to them.

Based on the results of the assessment, we will 

tailor our activities. We will address those issues 
identified as being most material to our business, 
developing ambitious goals to advance the health 
of our planet, drive societal progress and support 
a sustainable and healthy food system. More 
information on risks can be found on page 60.

Our performance in leading indices

Nestlé maintained its strong 
standing in the Index with an 
overall 2020 environmental,  
social and governance (ESG) rating 
of 4.9 out of 5. This is significantly 
higher than the Food Products 
subsector average.

Nestlé achieved a robust ESG 
score and obtained a lead ranking 
in the Food sector in Europe.

In 2020, Nestlé was rated AA by 
the MSCI ESG Research according 
to its performance on ESG issues. 

We continued to be within  
the leadership band for Climate  
and Water.

Stakeholder engagement

Engaging with our stakeholders
Our global stakeholder network includes investors, 
multilateral organizations, governments, NGOs, 
civil society organizations (CSOs), academia, local 
communities, suppliers, consumers, customers 
and our employees. Although 2020 presented a 
challenging time for in-person engagement, our 
dialogs with stakeholders continued.

For example, a virtual workshop in March explored 

ways to achieve a living income for cocoa farmers, 
while a webinar during EU Green Week in June, 
held in partnership with Earthworm Foundation, 
explored how satellite technology is helping achieve 
deforestation-free supply chains. We also worked 
with stakeholders to understand how on-pack 
communication can help consumers to make 
informed product choices.

In June, our CEO, Mark Schneider, was a lead 
speaker at the launch of the ‘Race to Zero’, a UN 
campaign to encourage companies to pledge to 
achieve net zero by 2050. During Climate Week in 
September, our leadership participated in discussions 
with government, business and civil society leaders 
on topics related to tackling deforestation and 
promoting reforestation. In December, we organized 
two sessions with stakeholders to discuss the 
Nestlé’s Net Zero Roadmap.

Each year, the Nestlé CSV Council actively 
guides our approach to Creating Shared Value. 
The CSV Council is a group of experts from a 
broad range of fields, from corporate responsibility, 
strategy and sustainability to nutrition, water and 
rural development. The group advises Nestlé 
and assesses our progress, helping deepen our 
knowledge and understanding of important societal 
matters. In 2020, the CSV Council met with our CEO 
and executive board members to discuss items 
related to sustainability, including Nestlé’s ambition 
to achieve zero net emissions by 2050.

Materiality assessment
We know that stakeholder priorities are constantly 
changing and that we must evolve to ensure we 
meet expectations. Every two years, we conduct a 
formal materiality assessment, through which we 
identify and prioritize the issues that matter most to 
our business and stakeholders.

In 2020, we took our materiality process 

further. We fully integrated the assessment with 

44

Nestlé Annual Review 2020 
 
 
 
Nestlé materiality matrix

j

r
o
a
M

Human rights

Responsible sourcing

Climate and decarbonization

Biodiversity

Geo-political and economic context

Innovative business models

Retailer relationships

Digital and technology

Water stewardship (incl. bottled water)

Competitiveness and productivity

Product regulation and taxation

Community relations

Business ethics

Responsible marketing 
and brand communication

Product packaging and plastic

Changing consumer behaviors

Nutritional value of the portfolio

Product quality and safety

Animal welfare

Cyber security

Talent attraction and retention

t
n
a
c
fi
n
g
S

i

i

l

s
r
e
d
o
h
e
k
a
t
s
o
t
e
c
n
a
t
r
o
p
m

I

e
t
a
r
e
d
o
M

Acquisitions and investments

Diversity and inclusivity

Zero waste

Accessible nutrition

Moderate

Significant

Major

Impact on Nestlé’s success – Internal Stakeholders

People

Communities

Planet

Maximizing long-term value

45

Nestlé Annual Review 2020 
 
Financial review

46

Nestlé Annual Review 2020

Key figures (consolidated)

In millions of CHF (except for data per share and employees)

Results 
Sales 
Underlying trading operating profit (a) 
as % of sales 
Trading operating profit (a) 
as % of sales 

Profit for the year attributable to shareholders of the parent (Net profit)
as % of sales 

Balance sheet and Cash flow statement
Equity attributable to shareholders of the parent 
Net financial debt (a)

Ratio of net financial debt to equity (gearing)
Operating cash flow 

as % of net financial debt
Free cash flow (a)

Capital additions 
as % of sales 

Data per share
Weighted average number of shares outstanding (in millions of units)

Basic earnings per share 
Underlying earnings per share (a)

Dividend as proposed by the Board of Directors of Nestlé S.A.

Market capitalization, end December

Number of employees (in thousands)

2019

2020

 92 568

 16 260

17.6%

 13 674

14.8%

 12 609

13.6%

 52 035

 27 138

52.2%

 15 850

58.4%

 11 934

 5 482

5.9%

 84 343

 14 903 

17.7%

 14 233 

16.9%

 12 232 

14.5%

 45 695 

 31 319 

68.5%

 14 377 

45.9%

 10 245 

 11 367 

13.5%

 2 929

 2 845 

CHF

CHF

CHF

4.30

4.41

2.70

4.30

4.21

2.75

 301 772

 293 644 

291

 273 

Principal key figures (b) (illustrative) in CHF, USD, EUR

In millions (except for data per share)

Total CHF

Total CHF

Total USD Total USD Total EUR

Total EUR

Sales
Underlying trading operating profit (a)
Trading operating profit (a)

Profit for the year attributable to shareholders of the parent (Net profit)

Equity attributable to shareholders of the parent 

Market capitalization, end December

2019

 92 568

 16 260

 13 674

 12 609

 52 035

2020

 84 343 

 14 903 

 14 233 

 12 232 

 45 695 

2019

 93 218

 16 374

 13 770

 12 698

 53 700

2020

 89 982 

 15 900 

 15 185 

 13 050 

 51 876 

2019

 83 217

 14 618

 12 293

 11 336

 47 921

2020

 78 801 

 13 924 

 13 298 

 11 428 

 42 182 

 301 772

 293 644 

 311 426

 333 364 

 277 911

 271 072 

Data per share

Basic earnings per share 

4.30

4.30

4.33

4.59

3.87

4.02

(a) 

 Certain financial performance measures are not defined by IFRS. For further details, see Foreword on page 48.

(b) 

 Income statement figures translated at weighted average annual rate; Balance sheet figures at year-end rate.

47

Nestlé Annual Review 2020 
Group overview

Foreword
The Financial review contains certain financial 
performance measures, that are not defined by 
IFRS, that are used by management to assess the 
financial and operational performance of the Group. 
They include among others:
 – Organic growth, Real internal growth  

and Pricing;

 – Underlying trading operating profit margin  

and Trading operating profit margin;

 – Net financial debt;
 – Free cash flow; and
 – Underlying earnings per share (EPS) and EPS  

in constant currency.

Management believes that these non-IFRS financial 
performance measures provide useful information 
regarding the Group’s financial and operating 
performance.

The Alternative Performance Measures document 

published under www.nestle.com/investors/
publications defines these non-IFRS financial 
performance measures.

Underlying and Trading operating profit 2019 
comparatives of the operative segments have been 
adjusted following a change of business structure. 
Effective as from January 1, 2020, Nestlé Waters 
has been managed as a Regionally Managed 
Business instead of a Globally Managed Business 
and consequently reported as part of Zone EMENA, 
Zone AMS and Zone AOA.

Introduction
2020 was a year of hardship for so many, yet we are 
inspired by the way it has brought all of us closer 
together. We want to thank our employees and our 
partners – from farmers to retailers – who worked 
with us to ensure the supply of food and beverages 
to communities globally. 

In this unprecedented environment, we achieved 
our third consecutive year of improvement in organic 
growth, profitability and return on invested capital. 
The global pandemic did not slow us down. Our 
nutrition expertise, digital capabilities, decentralized 
structure and innovation engine allowed us to 
adapt quickly to changing consumer behaviors and 
trends. We advanced our portfolio transformation, 
continued to build Nestlé Health Science into a 
nutrition powerhouse and expanded our presence in 
direct-to-consumer businesses. 

48

At the same time, we remained focused on 
sustainability and set out our path to achieve net 
zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This 
journey is expected to support future growth and 
be earnings neutral – it will generate value for 
society and our shareholders.

Looking to 2021, we expect continued 
improvement in organic growth, profitability  
and capital efficiency in line with our value  
creation model.

Group sales
Organic growth reached 3.6% in 2020, the highest 
level in the last five years. RIG accelerated to 3.2%. 
Pricing contributed 0.4% and improved during the 
year, particularly in emerging markets.

Growth was based on strong momentum in 
the Americas and robust sales development in 
EMENA. AOA saw positive growth. Organic growth 
in developed markets was strong at 3.8%. Growth 
in emerging markets improved during the year and 
reached 3.4%.

By product category, the largest contributor 
to growth was Purina PetCare and its premium 
brands Purina Pro Plan, Purina ONE and Felix. 
Dairy saw high single-digit growth, based on 
increased demand for home-baking products and 
fortified affordable milks. Coffee reported mid 
single-digit growth, boosted by strong consumer 
demand for Starbucks products, Nespresso and 
Nescafé. Sales of Starbucks products reached 
CHF 2.7 billion, generating incremental sales of 
over CHF 400 million in 2020. Prepared dishes 
and cooking aids posted mid single-digit growth, 
with robust momentum across most categories 
during lockdowns. Vegetarian and plant-based 
food offerings continued to see strong double-
digit growth, despite reduced demand in out-
of-home channels due to the pandemic. Sales 
in Nestlé Health Science grew at a double-digit 
rate, reflecting higher demand for products that 
support health and the immune system. Growth in 
confectionery was slightly negative, with reduced 
demand for impulse and gifting products. Water 
reported a decrease in sales due to its high 
exposure to out-of-home channels.

Divestitures decreased sales by 4.6%, largely 
related to the divestment of Nestlé Skin Health, the 
U.S. ice cream business and the Herta charcuterie 

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Sales by geographic areas

Differences 2020/2019 (in %)

in CHF

in local 
currency

By principal markets

United States

Greater China Region

France

United Kingdom

Brazil

Philippines

Mexico

Germany

Canada

Japan

India

Russia

Italy

Spain

Australia

Switzerland

Rest of the world 

Total

(a)   Not applicable.

– 9.8%

– 13.4%

– 10.8%

– 1.2%

– 23.5%

+ 4.8%

– 12.6%

– 7.1%

– 2.8%

– 11.5%

– 3.7%

– 8.7%

– 9.9%

– 6.8%

– 5.0%

– 2.6%

– 7.5%

– 8.9%

– 4.4%

– 8.5%

– 7.3%

+ 4.3%

+ 5.7%

+ 6.2%

+ 2.6%

– 3.4%

+ 4.3%

– 8.0%

+ 7.2%

+ 8.6%

– 6.4%

– 3.2%

+ 1.8%

– 2.6%
(a)

(a)

business. Foreign exchange reduced sales by 7.9%, 
reflecting the continued appreciation of the Swiss 
franc versus most currencies. Total reported sales 
decreased by 8.9% to CHF 84.3 billion.

Business impact of COVID-19
The effects of COVID-19 on the Group’s  
organic growth varied by product category and 
sales channel:

 – Product categories: Demand for at-home 

consumption, trusted brands and products with 
nutritional benefits was strong. Purina PetCare, 
dairy, coffee at-home and Nestlé Health Science 
reported robust growth. Sales in confectionery 
and water decreased, reflecting their high 
exposure to out-of-home channels and on-the-
go consumption.

 – Sales channels: Retail sales posted high single-
digit organic growth, reflecting elevated demand 
for at-home consumption. Sales in out-of-home 
channels declined significantly.

E-commerce sales grew by 48.4%, reaching 

12.8% of total Group sales. Coffee, Purina 
PetCare and Nutrition & Health Science were 
the main growth contributors, with strong 
momentum in all other categories.

In 2020, COVID-19-related incremental costs 
were CHF 420 million, including expenses for 
bonuses paid to frontline workers, employee 
safety protocols, donations and other staff and 
customer allowances. Around CHF 260 million of 
these costs impacted underlying trading operating 
profit, partially offset by savings such as travel 
expenses. In addition, the Group absorbed costs of 
CHF 170 million related to staff and facilities made 
idle due to lockdown measures. Overall COVID-19-
related costs decreased in the second half of the 
year, as movement restrictions eased.

in CHF 
millions

2020

26 014 

5 986 

3 946 

2 883 

2 790 

2 769 

2 564 

2 445 

2 122 

1 607 

1 605 

1 555 

1 508 

1 409 

1 394 

1 134 

22 612 

84 343 

49

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Underlying trading operating profit and Trading operating profit

In millions of CHF 

In % of sales

16 260

14 903

14 233

13 674

17.6%

17.7%

16.9%

14.8%

2019

2020

2019

2020

P	 Underlying trading operating profit
P	 Trading operating profit

Underlying trading operating 
profit by operating segment

Trading operating profit
by operating segment

In % of sales

In % of sales

%
2
.
2
2

%
5
0
2

.

%
6
8
1

.

%
6
9
1

.

%
8
9
1

.

%
7
.
7
1

%
5

.
1
2

%
2
.
9
1

P	 Zone AMS
P	 Zone EMENA
P	 Zone AOA
P	 Other businesses (a)

(a)   Mainly Nespresso and Nestlé Health Science.

Underlying trading operating profit
Underlying trading operating profit decreased  
by 8.3% to CHF 14.9 billion. The underlying trading 
operating profit margin reached 17.7%, an increase 
of 20 basis points in constant currency and 10 basis 
points on a reported basis.

Margin expansion was supported by structural 
cost reductions, portfolio management and slightly 
lower consumer-facing marketing expenses1 which 
more than offset commodity inflation and COVID-
19-related costs. In the second half of the year, 
consumer-facing marketing expenses1 returned to 
a normalized level and increased versus the same 
period of 2019.

Restructuring expenses and net other 

trading items decreased by CHF 1916 million to 
CHF 670 million, reflecting lower asset impairments 
and COVID-19-related delays to restructuring 
programs. As a result, trading operating profit 
increased by 4.1% to CHF 14.2 billion. The trading 
operating profit margin reached 16.9%, an increase 
of 220 basis points in constant currency and 
210 basis points on a reported basis.

Net financial expenses and Income tax
Net financial expenses decreased by 14.0% to 
CHF 874 million, reflecting a reduction in average 
net debt and a lower cost of debt.

The Group reported tax rate increased by 
320 basis points to 24.2%, due to exceptional 
items in 2019, including the divestiture of Nestlé 
Skin Health. The underlying tax rate decreased 
by 50 basis points to 21.1%, mainly due to the 
evolution of the geographic and business mix.

1 Excluding the divestiture of Nestlé Skin Health.

50

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Net profit and Earnings per share
Net profit decreased by 3.0% to CHF 12.2 billion. 
The net profit margin increased by 90 basis points 
to 14.5%, due to one-off items related to gains on 
disposals, asset impairments, restructuring costs 
and revaluation of equity investments.

Underlying earnings per share increased by 
3.5% in constant currency and decreased by 4.5% 
on a reported basis to CHF 4.21. Earnings per 
share was unchanged at CHF 4.30 on a reported 
basis. Divestitures had a negative impact of 3.5%. 
Nestlé’s share buyback program contributed 1.4% 
to the underlying earnings per share increase, net 
of finance costs.

Cash flow
Free cash flow decreased from CHF 11.9 billion to 
CHF 10.2 billion. The reduction was mainly due to 
the appreciation of the Swiss franc against most 
currencies and the impact of divestitures. Free cash 
flow margin decreased by 80 basis points to 12.1%. 
Free cash flow is expected to remain at around 12% 
of sales.

Working capital2 decreased by 60 basis points 
to 0.0% of sales, marking 9 consecutive years of 
improvement. This reduction came even as the 
company increased inventory levels materially to 
meet COVID-19-related demand. 

Evolution of the Nestlé S.A. share in 2020

In CHF

110.00

105.00

100.00

95.00

90.00

7.5%

0.0%

–7.5%

–15.0%

–22.5%

| 

| 

| 

| 

| 

| 

| 

| 

| 

| 

| 

|

J  F  M  A  M  J 

J  A  S  O  N  D

P	 Nestlé S.A. share
P	 Nestlé relative to Swiss Market Index

Earnings per share

in CHF

Operating cash flow

in billions of CHF

4.30

4.30

15.8

14.4

2019

2020

2019

2020

Share capital by investor type, long-term evolution (a)

100% 

75% 

50% 

25% 

0% 

Institutions 

81%

Private  
Shareholders 

19%

2 Calculated on a 5-quarter rolling average.

2004

2008

2012

2016 2020

(a)   Percentage derived from total number of registered shares. 

Registered shares represent 58.2% of the total share capital. 
Statistics are rounded, as at 12/31/2020.

51

Nestlé Annual Review 2020 
 
Dividend per share

in CHF

2.70

2.75

2.45

2.30

2.35

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Dividend
At the Annual General Meeting on April 15, 2021, 
the Board of Directors will propose a dividend of 
CHF 2.75 per share, an increase of 5 centimes. 
If approved, this will be the company’s 26th 
consecutive annual dividend increase. The 
company has maintained or increased its dividend 
in Swiss francs over the last 61 years. Nestlé is 
committed to maintaining this long-held practice to 
increase the dividend in Swiss francs every year.

The last trading day with entitlement to receive 
the dividend will be April 16, 2021. The net dividend 
will be payable as from April 21, 2021.

Shareholders entered in the share register with 
voting rights on April 8, 2021 at 12:00 noon (CEST) 
will be entitled to exercise their voting rights.

Share buyback program
During 2020, the Group repurchased 
CHF 6.8 billion of Nestlé shares as part of the 
three-year CHF 20 billion share buyback program 
that began in January 2020.

Net debt
Net debt increased to CHF 31.3 billion as at 
December 31, 2020, compared to CHF 27.1 billion 
at the end of 2019. The increase largely reflected 
share buybacks of CHF 6.8 billion completed 
during 2020. 

Return on invested capital (ROIC)
The Group’s ROIC increased by 240 basis points to 
14.7%, as a result of disciplined capital allocation 
and improved operating performance.

Portfolio management
Nestlé completed acquisitions and divestments 
with a total value of around CHF 8.4 billion in 2020.

 – Divestments: In January, Nestlé completed 
the sale of its U.S. ice cream business for 
USD 4 billion to Froneri. In June, the Group 
closed the sale of a 60% stake in its Herta 
charcuterie business to Casa Tarradellas. On 
December 31, 2020, Nestlé completed the sale 
of the Yinlu peanut milk and canned rice porridge 
businesses in China to Food Wise Co., Ltd.

52

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Outlook
2021 outlook: Continued increase in organic sales 
growth toward a mid single-digit rate. Underlying 
trading operating profit margin with continued 
moderate improvement. Underlying earnings per 
share in constant currency and capital efficiency 
expected to increase.

Mid-term outlook: Sustained mid single-digit 
organic sales growth. Continued moderate 
underlying trading operating profit margin 
improvements. Continued prudent capital 
allocation and capital efficiency improvements.

 – Acquisitions: In April, Nestlé completed the 

acquisition of Lily’s Kitchen, a premium natural 
pet food business. Nestlé also expanded its 
presence in direct-to-consumer meal delivery 
services through the acquisition of Freshly in the 
United States in November and the purchase of 
a majority stake in Mindful Chef in the United 
Kingdom in December.

Nestlé Health Science continues to build its 
presence and leadership in the field of nutritional 
science. The Group completed the purchase of 
the Zenpep business in May, the acquisition of 
a majority stake in Vital Proteins in July and the 
purchase of Aimmune Therapeutics in October.

On February 17, 2021, Nestlé announced that it 
had reached an agreement to sell its regional 
spring water brands, purified water business and 
beverage delivery service in the U.S. and Canada 
to One Rock Capital Partners, in partnership 
with Metropoulos & Co. for USD 4.3 billion. The 
transaction is expected to close in spring 2021.

Sales, employees and factories by geographic area

AMS
EMENA (a)

AOA

Sales

Employees

Factories

2019 

45.7%

28.6%

25.7%

2020

44.7%

29.1%

26.2%

2019

33.1%

34.3%

32.6%

2020

35.8%

35.5%

28.7%

2019

156

141

106

2020

 146 

 133 

 97 

(a)   8541 employees in Switzerland in 2020.

Employees by activity

In thousands

Factories 

Administration and sales

Total

2019

145

146

291

2020

134   

139   

273 

53

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Product category and operating segment review

In millions of CHF

Powdered and Liquid Beverages
Soluble coffee/coffee systems

Other

Total sales

Underlying trading operating profit 

Trading operating profit

Water
Total sales

Underlying trading operating profit 

Trading operating profit

Milk products and Ice cream
Milk products

Ice cream

Total sales

Underlying trading operating profit 

Trading operating profit

Nutrition and Health Science
Total sales

Underlying trading operating profit 

Trading operating profit

Prepared dishes and cooking aids
Frozen and chilled

Culinary and other

Total sales

Underlying trading operating profit 

Trading operating profit

Confectionery
Chocolate

Sugar confectionery

Snacking and biscuits

Total sales

Underlying trading operating profit 

Trading operating profit

PetCare
Total sales

Underlying trading operating profit 

Trading operating profit

*  2019 comparatives adjusted, see Foreword on page 48.

54

2019 *

2020

Proportion of total sales (%)

RIG (%)

OG (%)

9 144

14 077

23 221

5 197

4 701

8 616 

13 640 

22 256 

5 008 

4 824 

7 391

6 421 

914

748

639 

522 

10 433

2 835

13 268

2 706

1 678

10 087 

920

11 007 

2 652 

2 615 

14 990

12 160 

3 314

3 092

2 640 

2 490 

6 092

6 096

5 694 

5 829 

12 188

11 523 

2 170

1 857

2 171 

2 147 

5 930

722 

1 236

7 888

1 332

1 241

5 265 

585 

1 125 

6 975 

990

874

13 622

14 001 

2 919

2 741

3 081 

3 089 

38.7%

61.3%

22.5%

21.7%

10.0%

8.1%

91.6%

8.4%

24.1%

23.8%

21.7%

20.5%

49.4%

50.6%

18.8%

18.6%

75.5%

8.4%

16.1%

14.2%

12.5%

22.0%

22.1%

+ 2.8%

+ 3.2%

– 5.5%

– 7.0%

+ 5.6%

+ 7.9%

+ 1.2%

+ 1.7%

+ 4.7%

+ 4.7%

– 1.1%

– 1.5%

+ 9.7%

+ 10.2%

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Review of Zones and Other businesses

Zone Americas (AMS)

Sales

Organic growth

Real internal growth

Underlying trading operating profit margin

CHF 34.0 billion

+ 4.8%

+ 4.1%

20.5%

Underlying trading operating profit margin

+ 40 basis points

Trading operating profit margin

19.8%

Trading operating profit margin

+ 220 basis points

 – 4.8% organic growth: 4.1% RIG; 0.7% pricing.
 – North America saw mid single-digit organic 

growth, with strong RIG and negative pricing.
 – Latin America reached high single-digit organic 

growth, with positive RIG and pricing.

 – The underlying trading operating profit margin 

increased by 40 basis points to 20.5%.

Organic growth was 4.8%, with robust RIG of 4.1% 
and pricing of 0.7%. Divestitures reduced sales 
by 5.0%, largely related to the divestment of the 
U.S. ice cream business. Foreign exchange had a 
negative impact of 9.9%, reflecting broad-based 
currency depreciations against the Swiss franc. 
Reported sales in Zone AMS decreased by 10.1% to 
CHF 34.0 billion.

North America posted mid single-digit organic 

growth, with strong RIG across most product 
categories. The largest growth contributor was 
Purina PetCare, which saw strong momentum 
in e-commerce. Its science-based and premium 
brands Purina Pro Plan, Purina ONE and Fancy 
Feast all grew at a double-digit rate. Beverages, 
including Starbucks products, Coffee mate and 
Nescafé, posted double-digit growth, supported by 
a strong innovation pipeline. Frozen food reported 
high single-digit growth, led by Stouffer’s, DiGiorno 
and Hot Pockets. Home-baking products, including 
Toll House and Carnation, saw elevated consumer 
demand. Gerber baby food posted positive 
growth, based on strong sales development in 
e-commerce and for the organic range. Water and 
Nestlé Professional reported a sales decrease, 
reflecting reduced demand in out-of-home 
channels during lockdowns.

Latin America reported high single-digit 

organic growth, with positive contributions across 
geographies and most product categories. Brazil 
posted double-digit growth, with strong broad-
based demand, particularly for Ninho, NAN and 
Nescafé. Growth in Chile reached a double-digit 
rate, led by dairy, confectionery and ice cream. 

Zone AMS 

In millions of CHF

United States and Canada

Latin America and Caribbean

Powdered and Liquid Beverages

Water

Milk products and Ice cream

Prepared dishes and cooking aids

Confectionery

PetCare

Nutrition and Health Science

Total sales

Underlying trading operating profit 

Trading operating profit

Capital additions

* 

 2019 comparatives adjusted, see Foreword on page 48.

2019 *

27 159 

10 669 

2020

24 763 

9 247 

5 654

4 499

7 291 

5 598 

2 514 

9 370

2 902

5 032 

4 049

5 288 

5 381 

2 177 

9 543 

2 540 

37 828 

34 010 

7 608 

6 646 

2 367 

6 975 

6 724 

3 562 

Proportion of total sales (%)

RIG (%)

OG (%)

72.8%

27.2%

14.8%

11.9%

15.5%

15.8%

6.4%

28.1%

7.5%

20.5%

19.8%

10.5%

+ 4.1%

+ 4.8%

55

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Mexico saw mid single-digit growth, supported 
by La Lechera and Nescafé. By product category, 
dairy, Purina PetCare, coffee and culinary all posted 
double-digit growth. Led by Brazil, confectionery 
reported positive growth reaching a high single-
digit rate in the second half. Sales in Nestlé 
Professional decreased, with growth turning 
almost flat in the fourth quarter led by delivery 
businesses and on-the-go products.

The Zone’s underlying trading operating profit 

margin increased by 40 basis points. Operating 
leverage, portfolio management and structural cost 
reductions more than offset commodity inflation 
and COVID-19-related costs.

Zone Europe, Middle East and North Africa 
(EMENA)

Sales

Organic growth

Real internal growth

Underlying trading operating profit margin

CHF 20.2 billion

+ 2.9%

+ 3.3%

18.6%

Underlying trading operating profit margin

+ 50 basis points

Trading operating profit margin

17.7%

Trading operating profit margin

+ 60 basis points

 – 2.9% organic growth: 3.3% RIG; –0.4% pricing.
 – Western Europe saw low single-digit organic 
growth with solid RIG, partially offset by  
negative pricing.

 – Central and Eastern Europe reported mid  

single-digit organic growth, with strong RIG  
and negative pricing.

 – Middle East and North Africa posted low single-
digit organic growth, entirely driven by pricing.
 – The underlying trading operating profit margin 

grew by 50 basis points to 18.6%.

Organic growth reached 2.9%, with robust RIG of 
3.3% supported by favorable mix. Pricing decreased 
by 0.4%. Divestitures reduced sales by 2.1%, largely 
related to the divestment of a 60% stake in the Herta 
charcuterie business. Foreign exchange negatively 
impacted sales by 6.6%. Reported sales in Zone 
EMENA decreased by 5.8% to CHF 20.2 billion.

Zone EMENA recorded its best organic growth 
in the last five years. Each region saw broad-based 
positive growth, with strong momentum in Russia, 
Germany, the United Kingdom and Israel. The Zone 
continued to see market share gains, led by pet food, 
portioned and soluble coffee, as well as vegetarian 
and plant-based food products.

Zone EMENA 

In millions of CHF

Western Europe

Eastern and Central Europe

Middle East and North Africa

Powdered and Liquid Beverages

Water

Milk products and Ice cream

Prepared dishes and cooking aids

Confectionery

PetCare

Nutrition and Health Science

Total sales

Underlying trading operating profit 

Trading operating profit

Capital additions

* 

 2019 comparatives adjusted, see Foreword on page 48.

56

2019 *

13 481

3 794

4 189 

2020

12 909 

3 547 

3 770 

5 291

2 378 

987 

3 853 

3 319 

3 624 

2 012 

5 239 

1 967 

849 

3 473 

3 038 

3 786 

1 874 

21 464 

20 226 

3 878 

3 662 

1 340 

3 766 

3 575 

1 432 

Proportion of total sales (%)

RIG (%)

OG (%)

63.8%

17.5%

18.7%

25.9%

9.7%

4.2%

17.2%

15.0%

18.7%

9.3%

18.6%

17.7%

7.1%

+ 3.3%

+ 2.9%

Nestlé Annual Review 2020By product category, coffee, Purina PetCare and 
culinary were the largest contributors to growth. Coffee 
was supported by strong demand for Nescafé and 
Starbucks products. Purina PetCare reported sustained 
momentum, supported by premium brands, successful 
innovation and strong demand in e-commerce and 
specialist channels. Felix, Purina Pro Plan, Tails.com and 
the newly acquired Lily’s Kitchen all grew at a strong 
double-digit rate. Culinary saw elevated consumer 
demand across all segments, particularly for Maggi 
and plant-based products. Garden Gourmet reported 
almost 60% growth, supported by new product 
launches and continued distribution expansion across 
its 20 markets. Infant Nutrition posted positive growth, 
supported by Russia and the Middle East. Growth in 
confectionery was almost flat, as increased demand 
for baking products and tablets was offset by sales 
declines in impulse and gifting products. Water gained 
market share but recorded negative growth due to a 
sales decrease in the out-of-home channels. Nestlé 
Professional saw a significant sales decline.

The Zone’s underlying trading operating profit 

margin increased by 50 basis points. Lower consumer-
facing marketing expenses, structural cost reductions 
and portfolio management outweighed COVID-19-
related costs.

Zone Asia, Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa  
(AOA)

Sales

Organic growth

Real internal growth

Underlying trading operating profit margin

CHF 20.7 billion

+ 0.5%

0.0%

22.2%

Underlying trading operating profit margin

– 30 basis points

Trading operating profit margin

21.5%

Trading operating profit margin

+ 470 basis points

 – 0.5% organic growth: flat RIG; 0.5% pricing.
 – China posted a high single-digit decrease in 

organic growth, with negative RIG and slightly 
negative pricing.

 – South-East Asia saw low single-digit organic 

growth, with positive RIG and pricing.

 – South Asia reported mid single-digit organic 

growth, with positive RIG and pricing.

 – Sub-Saharan Africa recorded double-digit organic 
growth, led by strong RIG and positive pricing.
 – Japan, South Korea and Oceania combined saw 

almost flat organic growth. Positive RIG was offset 
by negative pricing.

 – The underlying trading operating profit margin 

decreased by 30 basis points to 22.2%.

Zone AOA

In millions of CHF

ASEAN markets

Oceania and Japan

Other Asian markets

Sub-Saharan Africa

Powdered and Liquid Beverages

Water

Milk products and Ice cream

Prepared dishes and cooking aids

Confectionery

PetCare

Nutrition and Health Science

Total sales

Underlying trading operating profit 

Trading operating profit

Capital additions

* 

 2019 comparatives adjusted, see Foreword on page 48.

2019 *

7 248 

3 040 

9 394 

2 437 

6 289 

515 

4 982 

2 737 

2 001 

628 

4 967 

2020

7 105 

2 888 

8 394 

2 343 

5 969 

405 

4 862 

2 667 

1 739 

673 

4 415 

22 119 

20 730 

4 977 

3 724 

888 

4 599 

4 466 

941 

Proportion of total sales (%)

RIG (%)

OG (%)

34.3%

13.9%

40.5%

11.3%

28.8%

2.0%

23.4%

12.9%

8.4%

3.2%

21.3%

22.2%

21.5%

4.5%

 0.0%

+ 0.5%

57

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Organic growth was 0.5%, with flat RIG and pricing 
of 0.5%. Divestitures had a negative impact of 
0.1%. Foreign exchange reduced sales by 6.7%. 
Reported sales in Zone AOA decreased by 6.3% to 
CHF 20.7 billion.

Zone AOA reported positive organic growth. A 
sales decline in China was more than offset by mid 
single-digit organic growth in the other regions.

China posted negative growth due to the timing 

of Chinese New Year, declines in out-of-home 
channels and limited consumer stockpiling during 
lockdowns. Coffee posted high single-digit growth, 
supported by strong momentum in e-commerce 
for Nescafé and Starbucks products. Culinary 
and ice cream delivered mid single-digit growth. 
Ambient dairy posted positive growth, led by 
home-baking products and nutritional offerings 
for adults. Sales in infant formula declined, with 
improvement in the second half. A positive sales 
development for NAN was more than offset by 
negative growth for S-26 and illuma. The roll-out 
of the locally produced Belsol brand saw good 
progress. Infant cereals saw double-digit growth. 
Sales for Purina PetCare grew at a strong double-
digit rate, supported by Purina Pro Plan and the 
launch of veterinary products. Nestlé Professional 
reported a sales decrease, with growth improving 
to almost flat in the fourth quarter.

South-East Asia posted low single-digit 
growth. Sales in the Philippines and Indonesia 
grew at a high single-digit rate, led by increased 
consumer demand for BEAR BRAND and Milo. 
Other South-East Asian markets were impacted 
by sales decreases in the out-of-home channels. 
South Asia continued to perform well, with high 
single-digit growth in India and a return to positive 
growth in Pakistan. In India, Maggi, Nescafé and 
KitKat posted robust growth and e-commerce 
sales saw sustained momentum. Sales in Sub-
Saharan Africa grew at a double-digit rate, 
reflecting strong sales development across most 
countries and categories. Oceania posted robust 
broad-based growth, led by Purina PetCare, coffee 
and confectionery. Sales in South Korea grew 
at a strong double-digit rate, driven by coffee. 
Japan saw a sales decline, with improvement 
in the second half led by coffee. KitKat sales in 
Japan were negatively impacted by a reduction of 
inbound tourists.

58

By product category, the largest growth 
contributors were dairy, culinary and coffee. In 
coffee, there was continued strong demand for 
Starbucks products. Outside of China, Infant 
Nutrition saw mid single-digit growth, led by 
South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Indonesia. 
Nestlé Professional posted negative growth, with 
improving sales development in China in the 
second half.

The Zone’s underlying trading operating profit 
margin decreased by 30 basis points. Commodity 
inflation and COVID-19-related costs outweighed 
lower consumer-facing marketing expenses.

Other businesses

Sales

Organic growth

Real internal growth

Underlying trading operating profit margin

CHF 9.4 billion

+ 7.9%

+ 7.3%

19.6%

Underlying trading operating profit margin

+ 90 basis points

Trading operating profit margin

19.2%

Trading operating profit margin

+ 100 basis points

 – 7.9% organic growth: 7.3% RIG; 0.6% pricing.
 – Nespresso reported 7.0% organic growth, with 

strong RIG and positive pricing.

 – Nestlé Health Science saw 12.2% organic 

growth, entirely driven by RIG.

 – The underlying trading operating profit margin 
of Other businesses increased by 90 basis 
points to 19.6%.

Organic growth of 7.9% was based on strong RIG 
of 7.3% and pricing of 0.6%. Divestitures reduced 
sales by 17.6%, due to the divestment of Nestlé 
Skin Health. Foreign exchange negatively impacted 
sales by 6.3%. Reported sales in Other businesses 
decreased by 16.0% to CHF 9.4 billion.

Nespresso sales reached CHF 5.9 billion, with 
organic growth accelerating to 7.0%, the highest 
level in the last six years. E-commerce and the 
Vertuo system saw strong double-digit growth, 
more than offsetting sales declines in out-of-
home channels. Growth was also supported by 
innovations such as Reviving Origins, limited-
edition products and the launch of Nespresso’s 
first organic coffee. By geography, the Americas 

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Nespresso and Nestlé Health Science will be 
reported as stand-alone operating segments in 
Nestlé’s published accounts from 2021 onwards. 
This change reflects their increased financial 
contribution and provides greater transparency on 
their performance.

and AOA posted double-digit growth. North America 
continued to see market share gains, with the United 
States becoming Nespresso’s largest market. In 
Europe, a sales decrease in the out-of-home channels 
was partially offset by mid single-digit growth in the 
at-home business.

Nestlé Health Science sales reached 

CHF 3.3 billion, with organic growth accelerating 
to 12.2%. Growth was supported by high demand 
for products that support health and immunity. 
In Consumer Care, Garden of Life and Pure 
Encapsulations were the largest contributors to 
growth, with continued strong momentum in 
e-commerce. The recently acquired Vital Proteins, 
America’s leading collagen products brand, saw 
strong growth. Healthy-aging products posted 
double-digit growth, reflecting successful innovations 
by Boost in North America and Nutren in Brazil. 
Persona, the subscription-based personalized  
vitamin business, more than tripled its sales.  
Medical Nutrition posted high single-digit growth,  
led by pediatric food allergy and adult medical  
care products.

The underlying trading operating profit margin of 
Other businesses increased by 90 basis points, based 
on operating leverage and structural cost reductions.

Other businesses (a)

In millions of CHF

Total sales

Underlying trading operating profit 

Trading operating profit

Capital additions 

2019 

11 157 

2 089 

2 026 

606

2020

9 377 

1 841 

1 796 

5 154 

(a)   Mainly Nespresso, Nestlé Health Science and in addition, Nestlé Skin Health in 2019 (until beginning of October 2019).

RIG (%)

+ 7.3%

OG (%)

+ 7.9%

19.6%

19.2%

55.0%

59

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Principal risks and uncertainties

The Group adopts a risk profile aligned to our 
purpose and business strategy. We aim to create 
long-term value through a balance of sustainable 
growth and resource efficiency. Our culture and 
values – rooted in respect for ourselves, others, 
diversity and the future – guide our decisions and 
actions. Our Creating Shared Value approach 
helps to prioritize those areas that maximize value 
creation for shareholders and cultivate positive 
societal and environmental impacts.

The Nestlé Group Enterprise Risk Management 

(ERM) framework is designed to identify, assess 
and mitigate risks in order to minimize their 
potential impact and support the achievement of 
Nestlé’s long-term purpose and business strategy. 
A top-down assessment is performed at Group 
level once a year to create a good understanding 
of the company’s key risks, to allocate ownership 
to drive specific actions around them and to take 
any relevant steps to address them. A bottom-up 
assessment occurs in parallel, resulting in 
aggregation of the individual market assessments.

Additionally, Nestlé engages with external 
stakeholders to better understand the issues that 
are of most concern to them. The materiality matrix 
(included on page 45) rates the degree of external 
stakeholder concern and potential business 
impact. These different risk mappings allow the 
Group to make sound decisions on the future 
operations of the company.

Risk assessments are the responsibility of 
line management and any mitigating actions 
identified in the assessments are the responsibility 
of the individual line management. If Group-level 
intervention is required, responsibility for mitigating 

actions will generally be determined by the 
Executive Board. The Group risk assessment is 
reported annually to the Executive Board, Audit 
Committee and Board of Directors. Further detail of 
the ERM processes can be found in the Corporate 
Governance Report 2020.

As a business leader, we are committed to 
transparency and action on climate-related risks 
and opportunities. Climate change has been 
identified as a principal risk to Nestlé with potential 
impacts in the short-, medium- and long-term. As 
such, we have aligned our reporting disclosures 
with the recommendations of the Taskforce on 
Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Our 
TCFD-aligned disclosures, including the scenario 
modelling undertaken in 2020, can be found on 
www.nestle.com/investors.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to 
profound changes on operating environments 
across our markets. The exact impacts remain 
difficult to predict and will depend on the evolution 
and duration of outbreaks, as well as the policy 
actions and restrictions taken to mitigate the 
impacts. The Group assessed the potential impacts 
of the pandemic across our risk universe and 
the factors are reported under the relevant risks 
disclosed here. The Group continues to monitor 
and respond to these areas of increased risk for 
any material changes.

The risks listed below are considered the 

most relevant for our business and performance. 
Many of the long-term mitigation strategies are 
expanded on in our Creating Shared Value and 
Sustainability Report.

60

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Principal risk 

Description

Potential impact

Key mitigations

Product quality 
and safety

Major event triggered by a serious 
food safety or other compliance 
issue

Consumer 
preferences

Failure to adequately anticipate 
evolving consumer preferences, 
failure to innovate relevant, 
competitive products and brands, 
and failure to execute at speed

Discriminatory 
regulation

Prolonged negative perceptions 
concerning health implications 
of processed food and beverage 
categories

Customer and channel 
management

Customer concentration, channel 
dynamics accelerating pressure on 
distribution, pricing and trade

Human rights

Failure to identify and/or prevent 
human rights violations in direct 
operations and supply chain, e.g. 
forced labour, child labour, working 
hours, fair wages, etc.

Climate change 

Climate-related physical (including 
extreme weather events, water 
shortages) and transitional 
disruption (including policy actions, 
technological advances, market 
sentiment) affecting our operations 
and/or consumer demand

Product and plastic 
packaging

Failure to comply with current 
or future regulation on plastic 
packaging and/or failure to meet 
commitments on packaging  
and the environment

 – Negative effect on Nestlé’s 
reputation and/or brands
 – Failure to meet evolving  
regulatory requirements

 – Loss of consumer trust

 – Policies, processes and controls  
to ensure high-quality products 
and prevention of health risks 

 – Negative effect on Nestlé’s 
reputation and/or brands

 – Strengthen consumer-centricity  

of innovation process

 – Failure to achieve growth targets, 

 – Apply scientific and nutritional 

loss of market share

know-how to enhance nutrition, 
health and wellness

 – Improve the accessibility of safe 

and affordable food

 – Increase in regulation on industry 

 – Focus scientific and nutritional 

and/or specific categories

 – Erosion of consumer confidence  

in industry

 – Limitations on marketing and 

distribution

know-how to enhance nutrition, 
health and wellness

 – Policies including Responsible 

Marketing to Children and 
Marketing of Breast Milk 
Substitutes in place

 – Reduced distribution of our 

 – Strategic customer relationship 

products to consumers
 – Restricted ability to price 

impacting margin

 – Failure to achieve growth targets, 

loss of market share

 – Negative effect on Nestlé’s 
reputation and/or brands

 – Corporate fines and/or penalties
 – License to operate challenges

management

 – Accelerate digital capabilities, 
expansion of e-commerce and 
online communication

 – Human rights due diligence
 – Responsible Sourcing  

programs (e.g. Nescafé Plan, 
Nestlé Cocoa Plan, animal  
welfare commitment, etc.)

 – Policies, processes and controls to 
respect and promote human rights

 – Grievance mechanisms and 
consequence management 

 – Supply constraints impact 
ensuring supply as well as 
reputational damage

 – Policy, e.g. carbon tax, land use 
restrictions, agricultural subsidy 
shifts, etc. impacts operating costs

 – Promote regenerative agricultural 
practices and support local rural 
development

 – Climate adaptation and mitigation 
actions as outlined in Nestlé’s Net 
Zero Roadmap

 – Increased consumer and/or 

 – Nestlé’s CDP questionnaire 

stakeholder concern on climate 
impacting reputation

responses

 – Adoption of TCFD framework

 – Specific packaging (e.g. Single 
Use Plastic) and/or elements  
(e.g. straws) taxed, banned  
and/or delisted

 – Stigmatization of products,  
brands and/or categories

 – Failure to achieve growth targets, 

loss of market share

 – Waste-free future: recycable 

or reusable packaging; pioneer 
new packaging materials; 
collaborations to drive recycling 
penetration; educate via brand 
communications

Environmental 
health

Failure to comply with legislation  
or meet expectations concerning  
the environment including 
biodiversity impacts, use of natural 
resources, air emissions and waste 
discharges, etc.

 – Negative effect on Nestlé’s 
reputation and/or brands

 – Corporate fines and/or taxation on 

products/categories

 – License to operate challenges, e.g. 

access to water 

 – Caring for Water plan to  

implement water stewardship 
initiatives

 – Member of One Planet Business 
for Biodiversity (OP2B) to scale 
up efforts to protect and restore 
biodiversity

 – Commitments to improve 

operational efficiencies, e.g.  
switch to renewable energy 
sources, reduction in air 
emissions, etc.

61

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Principal risk

Description

Potential impact

Key mitigations

Health and safety

Failure to comply with health and 
safety regimes in all countries where 
Nestlé operates

 – Negative effect on Nestlé’s 
reputation and/or brands

 – Procedures in place to comply with 

health and safety legislation

 – Corporate fines and/or penalties

 – Long-term initiatives to promote 

Systems, security 
and privacy

Supply chain 
disruption

Strategic 
investment 
choices

Business 
transformations

People 
engagement

Threat of cyber-attacks or failure 
of internal systems and digital 
networks may disrupt the reliability, 
security and privacy of data and/or 
ability to operate

 – Inability to run operational 

activities

 – Loss of confidential information 
impacting corporate reputation

 – Loss of consumer trust 

safe and healthy behaviors

 – Contingencies and policies  

in place to protect hardware  
and software

 – Privacy policy and program to 

monitor and comply with privacy 
laws and regulations

Major event impacting raw material 
sourcing and/or internal or external 
manufacturing facilities, e.g. 
commodity shortages, strikes, 
sanctions, natural disasters, 
pandemics, etc. 

 – Impacts ability to ensure supply  

of key products including sourcing, 
transporting to operational 
facilities and distribution  
to customers

 – Policies and procedures in place to 
ensure the health and safety of our 
people, products and sites

 – Business continuity and disaster 

recovery plans for key sites

 – Increase in input prices and/or 

 – Active price risk management on 

production and distribution costs 

key commodities

 – Broader exposures for the Group
 – Acceptance of higher risk and 

return metrics

 – Group’s investment choices are 
aligned with our strategy and 
prioritized based on the potential 
to create value over the long-term

Investment choices evolve over 
time and may include emerging 
technologies; new business models; 
creation of, or entry into, new 
categories; geographic expansion

Failure of strategic transformations 
such as large-scale change 
management projects, restructuring, 
mergers and acquisitions, etc.

 – Failure to realize anticipated 

benefits

 – Impairments
 – Low employee morale  
and/or engagement

Failure to attract and retain skilled, 
talented employees in a competitive, 
dynamic market place

 – Adversely impact our corporate 

reputation

 – Failure to equip the workforce with 

the skills for the digital age

Ethics and 
compliance

Failure to act with integrity, or 
behave in a manner inconsistent 
with our purpose and values

 – Adversely impact our corporate 

reputation and brands
 – Regulatory penalties/fines

 – Transformations receive executive 
sponsorship with aligned targets 
and appropriate levels of resource 
to support successful execution

 – Initiatives in place to improve 
gender balance and cultural 
diversity

 – Development of strategies to cope 
with the demands of a changing 
workforce and workplace 
environment

 – Corporate Business Principles 
and Code of Business Conduct 
outlining the Group’s commitment 
to integrity

 – Compliance program and systems 
including grievance mechanisms 
in place

 – Developed a framework for ethical 

use of technology

Macro financial 
factors

Volatility and/or sudden shocks 
impacting macro factors (currencies, 
interest rates, cost of capital, credit 
ratings, pension liabilities)

 – Government intervention (e.g. 
capital controls, price controls) 
impacting operations and financial 
performance

 – Appropriate governance and risk 
mitigation measures to actively 
manage exposures and long-term 
asset and liability outlook

Geo-political factors

Adverse instability and/or 
uncertainty, e.g. political instability, 
conflicts, trade wars, pandemics, 
labor and/or infrastructure-related 
risks, etc.

 – Access to capital markets

 – Reduction in consumer demand 

across categories and/or channels
 – Disruption of Nestlé’s ability to do 
business in a country or region

 – Monitoring and ad-hoc continuity 
plans to mitigate against events

 – Group-wide geographical 

and product category spreads 
represents a natural hedge

62

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Factories

Americas (AMS)

Europe, Middle East and North Africa (EMENA)

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

Canada

Chile

Colombia

Cuba

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Guatemala

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Peru

Trinidad and Tobago

United States

Uruguay

Venezuela

6

1

12

6

9

5

3

2

4

2

13

1

2

1

1

72

1

5

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

Asia, Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa (AOA)

Angola

Australia

Bangladesh

Cameroon

Côte d’Ivoire

Ghana

1

7

1

1

2

1

Greater China Region

23

India

Indonesia

Japan

Kenya

Malaysia

Myanmar

New Zealand

Nigeria

Pakistan

Papua New Guinea

Philippines

Republic of Korea

Senegal

Singapore

South Africa

Sri Lanka

Thailand

Vietnam

Zimbabwe

7

3

3

1

6

1

2

3

4

1

5

1

1

2

5

1

8

6

1

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

Algeria

Bahrain

Belgium

Bulgaria

Czech Republic

Denmark

Egypt

Finland

France

Germany

P

Greece

P

P

Hungary

Iran

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Jordan

Lebanon

Morocco

Netherlands

Poland

Portugal

P

P

Qatar

Republic of Serbia

Romania*

Russia

Saudi Arabia

P

Slovak Republic

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Syria*

Tunisia

Turkey

P

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

2

1

1

1

3

1

2

2

15

12

2

2

2

1

8

7

1

2

1

1

5

2

1

1

1

6

7

1

10

1

10

1

1

3

3

4

9

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

P

The figure in black after the 
country denotes the number  
of factories.

P

* Idle factory

P   Powdered and Liquid Beverages
P  Water
P  Milk products and Ice cream
P  Nutrition and Health Science
P   Prepared dishes and  

cooking aids
P  Confectionery
P  PetCare

63

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Corporate 
Governance and 
Compliance

64

Nestlé Annual Review 2020

Corporate Governance

In 2020, Nestlé remained a dependable company.
We responded to COVID-19 based on three clear 
priorities: Safeguarding people’s health, ensuring 
business continuity and supporting communities.
Our value creation model continued to balance 
the pursuit of top-line and bottom-line growth with 
capital efficiency. We bring relevance to consumers 
through science- and consumer-driven innovation 
and develop solutions to meet fast-changing 
consumer needs.

We refreshed our company purpose statement 
to reflect our strategy: We unlock the power of food 
to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for 
generations to come.

We continued to engage on environmental, social 

and governance (ESG) issues which are material 
to our business and impactful on society. We use 
our scale, resources and influence to be a force for 
good, creating shared value through ESG.

We engaged on climate action, aiming to 

achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in our 
value chain by 2050. We focused on sustainable 
packaging pursuing our vision that none of our 
packaging ends up in a landfill or as litter. We 
managed our human and social capital based on our 
values of respect, openness and inclusiveness.

Our diverse Board of Directors was engaged to 

effectively oversee the direction of our company. 
Since 2015, we have strengthened the Board 
through ten new independent directors with diverse 
experience and expertise directly relevant to Nestlé 
including e.g. additional digital, strategic and food 
& beverages expertise. We already meet the gender 
quota which Swiss law requires as from 2026.

We listened to our shareholders through our 
roadshows, investor meetings and analyst calls. Our 
Chairman’s Roundtables took place in Singapore, 
New York, Zurich, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London 
and Paris. Through virtual meetings, we continued to 
listen to all our shareholders and other stakeholders 
despite the pandemic.

In 2020 our Board of Directors reviewed our Board 

Regulations and Committee Charters to reflect all 
aspects of its ESG responsibilities and make our risk 
management framework more explicit.

Our Chair’s and Corporate Governance 
Committee regularly reviews aspects of our 
governance, as well as our asset and liability 
management. Additionally, it receives regular reports 

Share capital distribution by geography

P  Switzerland 
P  United States 
P  United Kingdom 
P  Germany 
P  Japan 
P  Canada 
P  Luxembourg 
P  Belgium 
P  Sweden 
P  Australia 
P  Others 

34.9%
33.5%
6.6%
4.4%
2.6%
2.5%
2.2%
1.7%
1.5%
1.3%
8.8%

on quality, cyber risk as well as significant legal 
matters. In 2020 it reviewed our governance structure 
and internal reporting.

Our Nomination and Sustainability Committee, 
chaired by our Lead Independent Director, evaluates 
Board composition, structure and succession 
planning. It assesses candidates for nomination to 
the Board. Additionally, it reviews all aspects of our 
environmental and social sustainability. It oversees 
our response to climate change, our human rights 
due diligence program and our human capital 
management at Board level including our strategies 
for diversity and inclusion. In 2020 it helped develop 
our new Commitments framework, which will be 
rolled out in 2021.

Our Compensation Committee sets our 

remuneration principles and submits the proposals 
for remuneration to the Board and the AGM. It 
ensures the alignment of our values, strategies and 
performance. Our compensation proposals and our 
compensation report are submitted to annual votes 
by our shareholders. In 2020 it helped develop a set of 
ESG-related KPIs.

Our Audit Committee oversees internal and 
external audit, financial reporting, internal controls, 
compliance and risk management. It reviews 
reports regarding compliance, fraud, enterprise 
risk management and the Group’s annual risk 
assessment. Last year, it oversaw the rotation of our 
external auditors.

We recognize that for our company to be 

successful over time and create sustainable value for 
shareholders, we must also create value for society. 
We see state-of-the-art governance as a driver of 
long-term value creation and broad-based prosperity.

65

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Board of Directors of Nestlé S.A.

Board of Directors of Nestlé S.A. 
at December 31, 2020

Paul Bulcke (1, 2, 4)
Chairman
U. Mark Schneider (1, 2)
Chief Executive Officer

Henri de Castries (1, 2, 4, 5)
Vice Chairman
Lead Independent Director
Former Chairman and CEO, AXA
Pablo Isla (1, 2, 3)
Executive Chairman Inditex
Renato Fassbind (1, 2, 5)
Vice Chairman, Swiss Re AG
Ann M. Veneman (1, 4)
Former Secretary, U.S. Department 
of Agriculture, 
and Executive Director, UNICEF
Eva Cheng (1, 4, 5)
Former Chairwoman and CEO, 
Amway China & Southeast Asia
Patrick Aebischer (1, 3)
President Emeritus of the  
Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology Lausanne (EPFL)

Ursula M. Burns (1, 3)
Former Chairwoman and CEO, 
Xerox Corporation
Kimberly A. Ross (1, 5)
Former CFO, Baker Hughes LLC,  
Avon Products Inc. and  
Royal Ahold N.V.
Kasper Rorsted (1)
CEO adidas AG
Dick Boer (1, 3)
Former President and CEO,
Ahold Delhaize N.V.
Dinesh Paliwal (1, 4)
Former President and CEO, 
Harman International 
Industries Inc.
Hanne Jimenez de Mora (1)
Co-founder and Chairperson, 
a-connect Group

Peter Brabeck-Letmathe
Chairman Emeritus
David P. Frick 
Secretary to the Board
EY (1)
Independent auditors

66

(1)  Term expires on the date of the
Annual General Meeting 2021.

(2)  Chair’s and Corporate 
  Governance Committee.
(3)  Compensation Committee.
(4)  Nomination and Sustainability 

Committee.
(5)  Audit Committee.

For further information on the Board of 
Directors, please refer to the Corporate 
Governance Report 2020.

Nestlé Annual Review 2020 
 
Paul Bulcke

U. Mark Schneider

Henri de Castries

Pablo Isla

Renato Fassbind

Ann M. Veneman

Eva Cheng

Patrick Aebischer

Ursula M. Burns

Kimberly A. Ross

Kasper Rorsted

Dick Boer

Dinesh Paliwal

Hanne Jimenez de Mora

David P. Frick
Secretary to the Board

67

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Executive Board of Nestlé S.A.

  Executive Board of Nestlé S.A.  
  at December 31, 2020

  1  U. Mark Schneider 

Chief Executive Officer

  2  Laurent Freixe 

EVP, CEO Zone Americas

  3  Chris Johnson 

EVP, CEO Zone Asia, Oceania, 
sub-Saharan Africa

  4  Patrice Bula 

EVP, Strategic Business Units, 
Marketing, Sales, Nespresso

  5  Marco Settembri  

EVP, CEO Zone Europe, 
Middle East, North Africa

  6  François-Xavier Roger 

EVP, Chief Financial Officer

  7  Magdi Batato

EVP, Operations

  8  Stefan Palzer 

EVP, Innovation Technology, 
Research and Development
  9  Béatrice Guillaume-Grabisch 

EVP, Human Resources 
and Business Services

10  Leanne Geale 

EVP, General Counsel, 
Corporate Governance  
and Compliance

11  Greg Behar 

Deputy EVP, CEO, 
Nestlé Health Science

12  Sanjay Bahadur 

Deputy EVP, Group Strategy 
and Business Development

EVP: Executive Vice President
CEO: Chief Executive Officer

For further information on the  
Executive Board, please refer to the 
Corporate Governance Report 2020.

68

Institutes, such as our Nestlé Research 
Center, are at the heart of our efforts  
to translate ground-breaking research  
into leading innovations.

Nestlé Annual Review 2020 
12

11

5

8

9

4

1

3

7

10

2

6

Nestlé Annual Review 2020

69

supported by our iLEARN@NESTLÉ platform. 
We also upgraded the Compliance requirements 
in our internal audit manuals, our ‘Know Your 
Suppliers’ questionnaires and our Enterprise Risk 
Management assessments.

We continued to implement our IT Roadmap, 

which enables Compliance through new 
automated tools for managing our CARE audits, 
mandatory trainings and conflict of interest 
declarations.

We monitor Compliance through our corporate 

functions, our internal audit function and our 
external auditors. Through our CARE program, 
which engages independent external auditors, 
we regularly assess specific aspects of our social 
Compliance. In 2020, 124 CARE audits were 
conducted and gaps were addressed.

Our Reporting Systems allowed us to address 

2228 concerns from employees and third 
parties. All complaints are investigated and 
remedial actions taken. Trend analysis enables 
us to focus on monitoring key risks, the quality 
of consequence management decisions and the 
improvement action plans. In total, 533 cases 
were substantiated covering issues such as 
166 cases of abuse of power and/or mobbing/
bullying, 78 of labor practices, 93 of discrimination 
and harassment, 61 fraud cases and 10 cases of 
non-compliance with the WHO Code. 61 sexual 
harassment complaints were received, 20 of which 
were substantiated. Due to our consequence 
management, 181 employees had to leave  
our Company.

We will continue to evolve our strong 

Compliance culture to create sustainable value for 
our shareholders and our other stakeholders. It is  
a condition for making Nestlé a ‘force for good’.

Compliance

Business ethics and compliance are the foundations 
of how we do business and the conditions for 
creating shared value. We conduct business in an 
ethical and principles-based manner even in the 
absence of applicable regulatory requirements. Our 
commitments to integrity, fairness and authenticity 
are enshrined in our Purpose and Values, the Nestlé 
Narrative, the Corporate Business Principles and 
our Code of Business Conduct. Our comprehensive 
Compliance Management System enables our 
employees and managers to do the right thing  
for the right reason, while protecting and 
strengthening Nestlé’s reputation. Compliance 
supports our advocacy strategy in environmental 
and social matters.

In 2020, we updated our Corporate Business 

Principles. While our values and our ethical principles 
remain the same, our culture and society continue to 
evolve. The revised principles reflect this evolution 
and emphasize areas that are even more important 
to society and our company today. These include 
our principles on sustainability, human rights, 
diversity and inclusion, transparency and open 
communication.

Our Board of Directors and our Executive Board 
oversee and promote good practices throughout the 
Company. Line management is supported by our 
dedicated corporate Compliance function, which 
provides guidance and functional leadership, as well 
as by all other functions engaged in our risk- and 
principles-based Compliance program. Our Group 
Compliance Committee ensures a continuous 
evolution of our Integrated Assurance Framework. 
Market Compliance Officers and Committees ensure 
a consistent approach across the Group and help 
identify local Compliance priorities.

This year, we further strengthened the 

governance for corporate mandatory trainings 

70

Nestlé Annual Review 2020Shareholder information

Stock exchange listing
At December 31, 2020, Nestlé S.A. shares  
are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, Zurich 
(ISIN code: CH0038863350).
American Depositary Receipts (ISIN code: 
US6410694060) representing Nestlé S.A. 
shares are offered in the USA by Citibank,  
N.A., New York.

April 15, 2021
154th Annual General Meeting, 
Nestlé S.A. 
Vevey (Switzerland) 

April 16, 2021
Last trading day with entitlement to dividend

April 19, 2021
Ex-dividend date

April 21, 2021
Payment of the dividend

April 22, 2021
2021 three-month sales figures

July 29, 2021
2021 half-year results

October 20, 2021
2021 nine-month sales figures

February 17, 2022
2021 full-year results

April 7, 2022
155th Annual General Meeting

Registered Offices
Nestlé S.A.
Avenue Nestlé 55
CH-1800 Vevey (Switzerland)
tel. +41 (0)21 924 21 11

Nestlé S.A. (Share Transfer Office)
Zugerstrasse 8
CH-6330 Cham (Switzerland)
tel. +41 (0)41 785 20 20

For additional information, contact:  
Nestlé S.A.  
Investor Relations
Avenue Nestlé 55
CH-1800 Vevey (Switzerland)
tel. +41 (0)21 924 35 09
e-mail: ir@nestle.com

As to information concerning the share  
register (registrations, transfers,  
dividends, etc.), please contact:
Nestlé S.A. (Share Transfer Office)
Zugerstrasse 8
CH-6330 Cham (Switzerland)
tel. +41 (0)41 785 20 20
fax +41 (0)41 785 20 24
e-mail: shareregister@nestle.com

The Annual Review is available online  
as a PDF in English, French and German.  
The consolidated income statement, balance 
sheet and cash flow statement are also 
available as Excel files.

www.nestle.com

© 2021, Nestlé S.A., Cham and Vevey 
(Switzerland)

The Annual Report contains forward-
looking statements which reflect 
Management’s current views and 
estimates. The forward-looking 
statements involve certain risks and 
uncertainties that could cause actual 
results to differ materially from those 
contained in the forward-looking 
statements. Potential risks and 
uncertainties include factors, such as 
general economic conditions, foreign 
exchange fluctuations, competitive 
product and pricing pressures,  
and regulatory developments.

The Annual Report is published  
in English, German and French.  
The English version is binding for  
the content.

The brands in italics are registered 
trademarks of the Nestlé Group.

Visual concept and design
Société des Produits Nestlé S.A., 
Corporate Identity & Design, 
with Gavillet & Cie

Photography
Gaëtan Bally,
Mareen Fischinger/Getty Images,
Getty Images Custom Content,
Nestlé S.A.

Prepress
Images3 S.A. (Switzerland)

Production
Stämpfli AG (Switzerland)

Paper
This report is printed on Lessebo 
Smooth White, a paper produced 
from well-managed forests and other 
controlled sources certified by the 
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Printed Matter

myclimate.org/01-21-688940

Nestlé Annual Review 2020

71