Living income and living wage

Living incomes play an important role in building resilient communities that make a positive contribution to a sustainable global food system.

We are using our place as an important actor in the food and beverage industry to help enable and support resilient communities built on strong and sustainable livelihoods. Our Living Wage Initiative covers all direct employees, while throughout our supply chain, we work to improve the livelihoods of farming families.

Through both our Nescafé Plan and our Nestlé Cocoa Plan, we have invested in initiatives that are helping farmers improve their yields, access capital to invest in their businesses and diversify their incomes. Some of these initiatives focus on supporting farmers with growing their business through regenerative agriculture that can protect local biodiversity and halt deforestation, helping to tackle several of the issues posed by rural poverty.

Empowering farmers and their communities

Since 2013, Nestlé has been implementing a Living Wage Initiative to ensure that all our direct employees, including temporary ones, earn a living wage. We work with our partner Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) to help us define the living wage threshold in each country where we operate. We use this information to identify and address cases where legal minimum wages do not fulfill basic needs. These figures are updated on a regular basis to ensure that our employees continue to be paid above the living wage.

For farmers and suppliers of our raw materials, we have implemented the Nescafé Plan and the Nestlé Cocoa Plan, addressing, respectively, needs in coffee and cocoa farming. These plans are centered around the principle of spreading better agricultural practices that improve productivity, respect the environment, support biodiversity and prevent deforestation. Collectively, these changes help build more resilient communities. We monitor our progress – in farming economics, social improvements and environmental benefits – in partnership with the Rainforest Alliance.

Income accelerator program helps cocoa-farming families achieve a living income

The income accelerator program rewards farmers not just for the quantity and quality of their cocoa beans, but also for adopting practices that benefit the environment and their community. Through a mix of cash incentives and training programs, we are enabling and incentivizing farmers and their families to close the gap to living income and tackle child labor risks.

Living Wage Initiative

Since 2013, Nestlé has implemented a Living Wage Initiative to ensure all our direct employees, including temporary ones, earn a living wage. We work with Business for Social Responsibility to define the living wage threshold in each country where we operate, then use this information to identify and address cases where legal minimum wages do not cover people’s basic needs. These figures are updated regularly to ensure that employees are always paid above the living income.

Addressing the living income gap in coffee-growing communities

The Nescafé Plan (pdf, 8.7 Mo) was launched in 2010 as the brand’s global sustainability initiative. We set out guided by a profound respect for our farming communities, geared to helping them lead more prosperous lives, with decent incomes, in thriving communities that help farms to flourish. We are working to further narrow the gap to a living income, by training farmers to better manage their farms, improve their financial skills, increase entrepreneurship, access finance and identify additional income streams.

Supporting innovation and entrepreneurship

The Nestlé Cocoa Plan helps farmers improve their incomes through increased productivity. Recent innovations have highlighted the role of pruning and shade management in improving the health, resistance to plant disease and yield of the crop, with pruning demonstrations resulting in a three-to-four-fold increase in yield. We are continuing a program of special coaching for farmers – including female farmers – to cultivate entrepreneurship.