Naturally good

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: Nestlé operations in Beauvais, France use natural refrigerants to reduce ozone depletion.

Nestlé ice cream goes further than taste enjoyment. We work to ensure that our products are produced, packaged and distributed in ways that deliver goodness for you, for others, for the environment, and even for the honey bees that contribute to great tasting ice cream.

Helping honey bees

The world relies on honey bees to pollinate many fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. And yet honey bees have been disappearing at an alarming rate in some parts of the world. 

In the US our Häagen Dazs ice cream team decided to take action – especially since bee pollination is essential for ingredients in nearly 50% of our all-natural super premium flavours. The 'Help the Honey Bees' campaign was launched and is playing a significant role in helping honey bees through research funding, public awareness and action. To learn more, visit the Häagen-Dasz honey bee haven

Packaging improvements

Good packaging is critical to guarantee product safety and high quality, as well as prevent spoilage and food waste (which has its own environmental impact). 

Nestlé is committed to reducing the environmental impact of packaging, without negatively impacting the safety, quality and consumer preference of our products. Our actions include a '4 R' approach:

• Reduction of packaging material
• Use of sustainably-sourced Renewable resource-based materials where possible
• Use of Recycled content in packaging material where possible
• Support Recycling or energy Recovery from used packaging.

An example of a recent Nestlé ice cream packaging improvement is La Laitière in France. The tub is now made of cardboard produced using wood fibre from a forest that was certified to a sustainable forest management standard. The tub is shaped on-site to reduce transportation and related environmental impact.

Transport and distribution

In November 2009 Nestlé’s 'green fleet' initiative was awarded second prize in the International Green Fleet Award. In Europe, we reduced CO₂ emissions by 17%. We’re aiming to lower CO₂ emissions in North America by at least 15%. 

In fact, our US ice cream business (Dreyer’s) has undertaken a number of steps to decrease environmental impact from transportation. By maximising the number of cases per truck, and other related actions, Dreyer’s has been able to save 1 558 shipments, 1 177 million miles and 136 000 tonnes of carbon over the last two years. 

For additional information visit Water & Environmental Sustainability.