Affordable nutrition

Access to adequate food and a nutritious diet is a fundamental human right.

Yet it is estimated that 840 million people regularly go to bed hungry and three billion cannot afford a healthy, nutritious diet. Creating a fair, global food system means making sure that everyone, everywhere can access nutritious, sustainably produced food.

In a world where one-third of all people are affected by some form of malnutrition, and where COVID-19 and climate change are exacerbating poverty, Nestlé is passionate about making better nutrition affordable while inspiring people to explore and enjoy food that supports their health. 

We are committed to ensuring that we don’t harm the environment in achieving that ambition.

Ensuring priority products are affordable

Our Affordable Nutrition Guidelines help ensure lower-income consumers in emerging economies can afford nutrient-rich food. A majority of households live on just USD 2–4 per day. The guidelines recognize how quickly the global population is growing and the likelihood that increasing numbers may struggle to feed themselves in nutritious ways. Pricing takes into account value for money and reflects small serving sizes, and packaging is designed more simply while aligning to our objectives of a waste-free future.

We also fortify products with micronutrients such as vitamins, iron, iodine and zinc to fill nutrient gaps.

In one example in Nigeria, under the Golden Morn brand, we developed a sorghum-based porridge that lower-income families can afford. It upcycles a highly nutritious by-product previously discarded when producing the malt for our Milo chocolate beverage. The porridge will join other new products created to cater to the eating habits of African consumers, such as Cerevita, an instant porridge fortified with iron and Vitamins B1, B5, and C. In India, 70% of households consume Maggi noodles, which are fortified with 15% of recommended daily iron requirements. We are also working to help increase whole grain consumption.

Improving access to nutrition and expertise

To spread knowledge about nutrition, we partner with different groups – governments, universities and civil society organizations – to create educational and social media campaigns to grow families’ understanding of nutrition and increase uptake of the ‘Big 4’ micronutrients: iron, iodine, vitamin A and zinc.

We help teachers educate children about good nutrition and active lifestyles through our schools programs, and create webinars and podcasts to engage adults.

We have worked to identify the most at-risk areas and created publicly accessible data through the Global Nutrition and Health Atlas. We invest in research and innovation to launch thousands of affordable, nutritious products. And we have published guidelines to ensure our most frequently consumed, micronutrient-fortified products are accessible to poorer communities.

Inspiring people to eat healthily

Educational initiatives like Nestlé for Healthier Kids help spread awareness and knowledge about the importance of nutrition and healthy eating. We work with social media influencers to inspire kids in the kitchen, and use storytelling techniques to encourage them to eat more vegetables using ingredients as characters. We help make drinking water more fun by showing how to infuse it with fruits. In Central and West Africa, we have rolled out our ‘Live Strong with Iron’ campaign following a successful pilot promoting iron-rich foods in Ghana during 2021.