At Nestlé, being a force for good guides and unifies our actions, writes Kieran Conroy, Country Manager, Nestlé Ireland.
We have a responsibility to lead by example, be a force for change and to positively impact people, pets, communities and the planet.
We live in a world with many competing demands and pressing issues, all of which can absorb significant bandwidth.
Despite the challenges, it is incumbent upon all of us to take action, as individuals and collectively to step up and find solutions to issues which impact the world around us.
At Nestlé we are firmly committed to delivering social, environmental and economic value, something which underpins and informs our philosophy as to how we do business.
It is about making an impact at scale and affecting positive change right across the board for current and future generations to come.
INCOME ACCELERATOR PROGRAMME DRIVING CHANGE
Nestlé is now using traceable cocoa ingredients for its KitKat, Quality Street, Aero, After Eight, Yorkie and Rolo products guaranteed to have been sourced from cocoa-farming families that are part of Nestlé’s Income Accelerator Programme.
The programme was created to help close the living income gap of cocoa-farming families and reduce child labour risk.
There are four pillars of activity: School enrolment: financial incentives to families for enrolling all children between six and 16 in school; Good agricultural practices: such as pruning, which increase crop productivity; Agroforestry: performing agroforestry activities to increase climate resilience, like planting shade trees; and part four Diversified incomes: cocoa-farming families will receive mobile payment empowering women and encouraging additional sources of income such as growing other crops, beekeeping or processing other products like cassava.
Data so far shows that there has been a 38% increase in net income by income accelerator communities; a 10% increase in child enrolment rates at school; a 55% increase in household investments and greater income diversification and improved financial access.
After a successful test with 10,000 cocoa farming families, this year marks the first year of a ‘scale up phase’, with 30,000 families now enrolled in the programme across Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
By 2030, the programme aims to reach an estimated 160,000 cocoa-farming families in Nestlé’s cocoa supply chain to create impact at scale.
The cocoa sourcing has full traceability and Nestlé can track the entire journey of cocoa beans from groups of farms to factory, while keeping them physically separated from other cocoa sources.
In another exciting move, and as part of efforts to share the sustainability journey with consumers, KitKat are also featuring on pack information, with consumers invited to scan a QR code to learn more about how the programme works to benefit the livelihoods of cocoa farming families and their communities.
FOCUS ON REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE
As a business, Nestlé has committed to sourcing 20% of ingredients through regenerative practices by 2025 and 50% by 2030.
As an example, an investment of over €1 billion by Nestlé will help coffee farmers transition to regenerative agriculture practices, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve farmers’ livelihoods.
NESTLÉ CEREALS URGE THE NATION TO ‘BRING THE CHEER’ FOR TEAM IRELAND
Nestlé Cereals Ireland, official ‘Breakfast Partner’ of the Irish Paralympics Team, is encouraging the nation to ‘Bring the Cheer’ and get behind Team Ireland for the Paris Games (August 28 to September 8).
Research commissioned to mark the announcement found that Ireland is a nation of true sports fanatics, with over a fifth admitting to crossing continents to cheer on their favourite team or athlete.
As part of its ‘Bring the Cheer’ campaign, Nestlé Cereals have rolled out special cereal boxes, featuring Nestlé Cereals Ambassadors para-table tennis champion Colin Judge and para-cyclist Richael Timothy.
In a first for the brand, boxes also carry a message of support to the team ‘as Gaeilge’.
FOOD FOR SIMON
Nestlé Ireland has a long-standing partnership with Dublin Simon Community, which offers services and supports to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Now, well into its second decade, the partnership involves supplying KitKat bars and all their coffee needs. To date, that is over 4.5 million cups of coffee and over 250,000 KitKat bars.
NESTLÉ IRELAND AND DSPCA RENEW PARTNERSHIP
Nestlé Ireland is a proud partner of the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) for more than 16 years, with Nestlé’s pet care business Purina supplying more than 300,000 meals and tasty treats to the DSPCA.
Nestlé Ireland most recently renewed its partnership with Ireland’s oldest animal welfare charity for a further two years.
The DSPCA projects that the nutritional needs of over 3,500 cats and dogs will be supported by Purina during this time.
Both organisations have also pledged to continue to further promote the importance of animal health and wellbeing and responsible pet ownership.
SUSTAINABILITY IN ACTION
Nestlé Ireland partners annually with An Taisce’s Clean Coasts to improve Ireland’s environmental coastlines by organising beach clean-ups around the country.
The beach clean is part of Nestlé’s global corporate volunteering efforts to protect our precious coastal areas.