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Bringing together creative minds, ideas and experience is the optimum way to achieve results. That's why Nestlé is collaborating with other stakeholders on improving the food system.

Nestlé - collaboration and food system change

Nestlé is the largest food company in the world, and one of the largest in the UK. Our business, operations and products are embedded in every aspect of the global, regional and UK food systems. We also have unique insights into the food system trends and challenges for the future.

We are actively engaged, on the ground and with policy makers and civil society, on food-system issues ranging from climate change and food security through to the economics of the food chain and the future of retailing. We also have a wide range of successful collaborative initiatives already in place, and a unique network of valued partners, stakeholders and expert advisors.

You can find out more about our industry-leading programmes and commitments to support individuals, families and pets, planet and communities in the sustainability section of our website.

 

The main food system areas where Nestlé is actively engaged

From a Nestlé UK & Ireland perspective, environment, health and societal impact are three key areas where transformation within the UK food system is needed, and where we have prioritised our current activities. We are, of course, open to engaging and contributing to solutions in any area of the food system where we have expertise. 

Some of the ways we're already collaborating and working with others:

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UN Food Systems Summit dialogues

Our CEO Mark Schneider, along with leaders working on nutrition, agriculture and food policy, attended the Pre-Summit discussions in Rome, Italy. He participated in a panel on the role of business and the private sector in food systems transformation. 

The sessions focused on:

  • soil health
  • farmer livelihoods
  • climate change
  • innovation
  • resilience
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Advocacy and scientific dialogues

Also at the first-ever UN Food Systems Summit in September 2021, Nestlé co-hosted a session with Tufts University. With 57 experts from academia, the UN, non-governmental organisations and the private sector present we conferred about food systems transformation. Under discussion were the barriers and potential solutions, including shifting behaviours toward healthy, sustainable diets.

We also co-organised a session with the Swiss Food and Nutrition Valley that brought together over 60 participants from the Swiss government, universities, start-ups, civil society and industry. The focus was on exploring how food systems can be transformed to help produce and consume sustainable and healthy diets by 2030.

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Key opinion leader labs

We frequently run virtual roundtables and one to one meetings with sustainability experts to gain external perspectives. These can be focused on specific brands, or on wider corporate issues.

Key opinion leaders from respected international sustainability organisations appreciate the transparency of the forum and the opportunity to provide their input. The sessions provide expert guidance on the brands’ sustainability strategies and communications, and recommendations for Nestlé to consider.

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Courtauld Commitment 2025

Nestlé UK and Ireland have signed a commitment to transform the food and drinks industry. Its aim is to tackle food and drink waste, greenhouse gas emissions and water intensity. The CC25 is the world’s leading voluntary agreement to work across the entire food chain to reduce the environmental impact of food and drink, from farm to fork and beyond.

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Our flexible friends

Our flexible friends We've joined with Ella's Kitchen, Mars, Ecover and Taylors of Harrogate to form the Flexible Packaging Consortium.

Collectively, we commissioned a report from waste and recycling experts SUEZ.

The report recommends that flexible packaging for recycling be brought into kerbside collections across the UK from 2023.

In a company the size of Nestlé, we know there must be areas where we can do better. We also want to share some of the lessons learned from our experience over the decades, and from the things we’re already doing to move to a net zero, regenerative model and apply this thinking to other issues that the food industry is facing into.

Collaborating and sharing ideas with experts, people with lived experience, governments and organisations working for change is the best way we know to do this.

Collaboration is even more important as the food system changes, allowing us to act quickly and appropriately. This means responding to climate change, changing demographics, geopolitical situations or just changing consumer choices and tastes. Working with others will help produce better decisions and results.