Nestlé in society - Full Report 2016

Why is CSV important for investors?

The

Nestlé Articles of Association

state that Nestlé shall, in pursuing its

business purpose, aim for long‑term, sustainable value creation. This is

entirely consistent with our fundamental belief that Creating Shared Value is

the way we should do business – that what is good for shareholders should

also be good for society.

Investors are increasingly recognising that the value of companies is in intangibles and that looking

only at the financial balance sheet is no longer sufficient. Global initiatives such as the Principles for

Responsible Investment and the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative, which is supported by

Nestlé, are playing an increasing role in promoting responsible investment and integrating

sustainable development into the mainstream.

For long‑term investors particularly, Creating Shared Value is important in that it supports the

long‑term health of the company. With its emphasis on both shareholders and society, the CSV

approach to business helps us define which products and services are in line with the expectations

of society.

For example, we have recently analysed the performance of our businesses with an above‑average

Nutrition, Health and Wellness (NHW) dimension in terms of performance against our 60/40+ and

Nutritional Foundation criteria. This showed that these businesses performed better than those

businesses where the NHW dimension was below average.

Our forward‑looking materiality analysis

) helps us anticipate consumer trends including

potential legal challenges and ensures we continue to meet consumer expectations of sustainable

behaviour. The latest matrix shows that issues such as over‑ and under‑nutrition, water and

responsible marketing are central to the delivery of our business strategy, while climate change and

human rights are vital for our business success.

Our

Creating Shared Value

report gives investors an insight into our performance on a range of

issues by outlining our commitments, targets and progress annually while also explaining the

broader context of our operations. Our detailed online report gives a fuller narrative and uses the

Global Reporting Initiative G4 guidelines and other leading frameworks such as the UN Guiding

Principles Reporting Framework to provide data that can also be compared with others in the sector.

The information in our reports is also used by leading indices to assess our performance and our

progress (see

With the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals, companies and investors have an

opportunity to collectively make a huge contribution to the creation of a sustainable society.

We welcome feedback on our report and look forward to dialogue with investors on the topics

raised here.

Investor benefits

For investor benefit information by

impact area, see page

Nestlé in society – Creating Shared Value and meeting our commitments 2016