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Nestlé continues pandemic support with further financial donations and extra help for the hospitality industry

  • CHF 1 million pledged to support the global search for COVID-19 vaccine 
  • More than £200,000 donated to the Red Cross and £170,000 for pet charities in the UK & Ireland 
  • Raft of measures announced to support hospitality industry 
CEPI support
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Nestlé is making a CHF 1 million contribution in the fight to develop a COVID-19 vaccine alongside separate donations to the Red Cross and pet charities, while a separate package of measures to support the nation’s hospitality industry has also been announced. 

Nestlé has pledged 1 million CHF (Swiss Francs) to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which is playing an important role in funding and speeding up the development of possible COVID-19 vaccines available across the world. 

Mark Schneider, CEO of Nestlé, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has created a lot of pain and hardship in communities around the world. A safe and effective vaccine will be needed to return to normality. That is why it was important to us to get on board when CEPI issued their call. We hope others will join us and support this important mission.” 

Separately, Nestlé is donating CHF 10 million to the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) around the world. The partnership will see the British Red Cross receive £155k and the Irish Red Cross around €60,000 to support local relief efforts. Nestlé is also matching the donations of individual employees on a 1:1 basis. 

Stefano Agostini, CEO of Nestlé in the UK and Ireland said: “I am proud to work for Nestlé here in the UK and Ireland as we adapt and work to help those who need it in this unprecedented time. 

“The Red Cross is doing vital work and I am pleased that we are able to make this donation to support their activities in communities across the UK and Ireland. Now is the time, more than ever, for businesses like Nestlé to step up the support for those hardest hit.  

“We will continue that support through product donations, encouraging our employees to volunteer, matching employee donations, in addition to our corporate financial contribution. Across Nestlé, our teams are working hard to maintain the supply of food and drink and, in all of our communities, we will continue play our part in the collective response to this global crisis.” 

Meanwhile, with the majority of restaurants, café and hotels still closed in the UK and Ireland, Nestlé Professional, Nespresso Professional and Nestlé Waters are providing a helping hand through a new “Always Open For You” initiative aimed at the out-of-home and hospitality industry. 

All three businesses will extend and offer flexibility on payment terms, suspend rental fees on coffee machines and offer additional, bespoke support for their most vulnerable customers. 

Nestlé’s brands, San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, are supporting The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and Perrier is supporting The World’s 50 Best Bars; both organisations are helping bars and restaurants as they look to reopen. 

Nestlé Professional is also supporting local initiatives that include:  

  • Free Garden Gourmet burgers to several NHS and key workers sites, including NHS Nightingale in Manchester. 

  • Free coffees for NHS staff from Nescafé Azera machines in Co-op stores in Southampton. 

  • Tom Kerridge’s Meals from Marlow, which provides bottles of water and more than 1,000 meals a day for key workers and vulnerable people in Buckinghamshire. 

  • The Open Kitchens scheme, which makes use of commercial kitchens that would otherwise be closed to provide food for those in need. More than 25 kitchens have so far provided over 83,000 free meals to people who are struggling. 

For Meals for Marlow and Open Kitchens, Nestlé Professional has donated a range of products including chef sauce, stock and jus, as well as water. 

Katya Simmons, BEO for Nestlé Professional said: “Our out-of-home customers have been hit very hard by the current pandemic. We want to support our fellow chefs, restaurateurs and caterers by letting them know that we are always open for them. We are also looking at additional ways we can support businesses once they begin to reopen in the coming weeks and months.” 

At the same time, Nestlé’s pet food business, Nestlé Purina, is helping to ensure that four legged friends are not forgotten in the crisis. Purina is donating £50,000 each to Cats Protection, Canine Partners, the RSPCA and €20,000 to the DSPCA in Ireland. The donations are aimed at helping charities struggling with the loss of their usual income while still providing ongoing care for animals. Further donations are also being made across Nestlé in the form of food and drink to NHS hospitals, ambulance services, care homes and food banks.  

Nestlé has previously announced it is donating more than £4 million of products to food banks, the NHS and other key workers in the UK and Ireland while continuing to supply the nation with food and drink, working closely with trade union partners GMB and Unite to ensure a safe working environment across its manufacturing, supply and distribution operations. 

Notes to Editors: 

You can read more about Nestlé’s response to COVID-19 globally here and in the UK & Ireland here  

For more information about Always Open for You, visit here. 

  • CEPI is an innovative global partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organizations launched in Davos in 2017 to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics. 

  • Nestlé would like to thank Economiesuisse and the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce, who are supporting CEPI’s donation drive in Switzerland. 

  • Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, said of Nestlé support: "It will take a monumental effort to tackle this virus, but through global cooperation and financial contributions towards the COVID-19 response, businesses can play their part in helping to change the course of this devastating pandemic.  We are grateful for Nestlé’s leadership in supporting our efforts to rapidly develop a safe, effective and globally accessible vaccine against COVID-19. At this pivotal moment in time, we call on other businesses to follow Nestlé’s initiative and provide the vital support necessary to get our lives, society and economies back on track.” 

  • More about Nestlé support for the CEPI alliance can be read here

For more information, please contact the Nestlé UK press office at [email protected] or call us on 020 8667 6005. 

Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage company. 
With more than 2000 brands ranging from global icons to local favourites, we are present in 191 countries around the world. www.nestle.co.uk – Follow our UK and Ireland team Follow us on Twitter @NestleUKI