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Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage company. It has more than 2000 brands ranging from global icons to local favourites, and is present in 189 countries around the world. In line with its purpose – enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future, Nestlé is committed to fostering responsible practices in its supply chain and ensuring that its raw materials are sourced responsibly. “Responsibly sourced” means that the company knows where its ingredients come from and that they are produced in a manner that respects people and the planet.
Earthworm Foundation is helping Nestlé to identify the origin of its raw materials, to engage their suppliers and to develop and implement strategies to reach the Nestlé Responsible Sourcing standards in their pulp & paper, palm oil and coconut supply chains.
In 2015, Nestlé’s first Rurality Palm oil project was initiated in Malaysia and in 2016, Nestlé’s first Rurality PP project was initiated in Vietnam.
As of 2018, 91% of the palm oil volumes were traced back to mill, 54% to plantation and 91% of the virgin fiber volumes (for pulp & paper products) were traced back to country of harvest.
In 2018, Nestlé was one of first brands to publish lists of direct suppliers and mills for its’ palm oil & pulp and paper supply chains online.
In 2018, Nestlé committed to digital solutions by announcing 100% satellite monitoring for deforestation of palm oil supply chain & piloting a cloud-based tool developed with SupplyShift to improve collection, analysis and access to pulp & paper supply chain data.
With Earthworm Foundation’s help, Nestlé is tracing their palm oil and pulp & paper sourcing all the way back to mills, plantations and small holders from which the materials came. This is the first step to establishing transparency on the environmental or social issues that may be present. Earthworm Foundation conducts field visits to see first-hand how suppliers’ practices align with Nestlé’s Responsible Sourcing standards, and identify activities that Nestlé can support on to help suppliers come into alignment.
Pulp & Paper
For pulp and paper, Nestlé sources paper products within scope from 31 different countries. With the help of Earthworm Foundation, Nestlé has traced 91% of the known virgin volume back to 45 countries of harvest and by using the online supply chain database system “SupplyShift”, has ambitions to reach out to 100% of suppliers within scope by the end of 2019. Since 2011, Nestlé and Earthworm Foundation have analysed and prioritised high priority pulp and paper sources for on the ground engagement to drive transformation on the ground in line with the Nestlé’s expectations. This work continues today and is supplemented by projects in key sourcing areas through Healthy Forest Landscape approaches on specific issues such as Intact Forest Landscapes and with Indigenous Communities as well as emerging technologies such as satellite imagery to monitor No-Deforestation commitments.
Palm oil
For palm oil, Earthworm Foundation leads on establishing transparency in Nestlé’s palm oil supply chain, including gathering traceability information and tracking suppliers’ progress on implementing Nestlé’s Responsible Sourcing Standard. We also initiate and collaborate on a large number of transformation & verification projects, such as forest conservation in Peru, access to safe drinking water in Papua New Guinea, deep-dives on labor rights for workers in Indonesia, addressing the issue of children in plantations in Malaysia, Starling satellite monitoring of deforestation – the list goes on.
Coconut
For coconut, Earthworm Foundation is joining Nestlé in the start of their work on Responsible Sourcing of coconut products. In 2019, we are starting to map Nestlé’s coconut supply chain and conduct baseline assessments in sourcing regions. Findings from this work will enable development of a 2025 roadmap to Responsible Sourcing for coconut. Stay tuned!
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