Our approach to responsibly sourced raw materials
At the heart of good food is the quality of the ingredients, the soils and ecosystems in which they are grown, and the conditions of the people who produce them.
For Nestlé, responsible sourcing means improving the traceability of our ingredients and monitoring how they are produced. This involves applying our environmental and human rights requirements - detailed in our Responsible Sourcing Core Requirements (pdf, 2Mb) - at the different stages of our supply chain. Examples of these requirements include that land and resources of Indigenous peoples and local communities are respected and that no deforestation and no conversion of forests and other ecosystems occurs in our supply chain. We implement risk-based due diligence mechanisms, including supplier self-assessments, independent third-party audits, and ongoing training for suppliers to address identified risks.
Our progress
49.8
%
1 In scope for this KPI are Nestlé's 14 key ingredients: cereals and grains; cocoa; coconut; green coffee; dairy (derivatives and fresh milk); fish and seafood; hazelnuts; meat, poultry and eggs; palm oil; pulp and paper; soy; spices; sugar; and vegetables.
Learn more in the Environmental Disclosures section of our 2025 Non-Financial Statement (pdf, 18Mb).
Our approach to responsible sourcing
Our approach to responsible sourcing aims to help build the foundations to advance regenerative food systems at scale.
Our approach means that when we assess an ingredient as responsibly sourced:
- The material is traceable back to its origin
- Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) systems are in place at the direct supplier level
- The volumes Nestlé buys through its direct suppliers are compliant with the Nestlé Responsible Sourcing Core Requirements at production level
In addition to the above, for our KPI reporting, a material is responsibly sourced either when it can be traced to low-risk countries or when it has been assessed as compliant with our Responsible Sourcing Core Requirements through one of the following means:
- Certification or verification
- Second or third-party farm assessments
- On-the-ground programs in which Nestlé directly works with producers (e.g., Nestlé Cocoa Plan, Nescafé Plan or Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality™ Program).
Since 2025, we are assessing our Tier 1 suppliers' HREDD - taking into account their systems, processes and progress in improving these areas.
Key terms explained
Advancing regenerative food systems at scale
Advancing regenerative food systems at scale
- Nestlé’s intention to advance regenerative food systems at scale means: Advancing by raising Nestlé’s voice and using its influence to drive progress, in collaboration with others.
- Regenerative to help conserve and restore farmland and landscapes.
- Food systems encompassing actors, activities, processes and products involved in growing, raising, making, packaging, delivering and consuming food and the management of food and food-related waste.
- At scale because the planet, communities and individuals need global, systems-level change.
Read more about regenerative food systems.
The four key pillars to our approach
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Environment Our Responsible Sourcing Core Requirements includes requirements to identify and mitigate environmental effects and to minimize their impacts.Read more
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Human rights Our work on responsible sourcing is designed to work toward compliance with Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD), which also requires suppliers to cascade down to the next tiers of the supply chain.Read more
We have also developed dedicated action plans to address our salient human rights issues throughout our value chain. The action plans are central to putting our Human Rights Framework and Roadmap into practice.
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Animal welfare In dairy, we use advanced sensors and monitoring techniques to check the well-being of the cattle providing our milk. Introducing more multispecies pastures and grazing models allows cows to graze outdoors for longer periods of the year.Read more
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Transparency We are committed to transparency. Improving the traceability of the origins of our raw materials and understanding how they are produced is an important element of our responsible sourcing practices. Gaining visibility into our supply chain enhances our ability to monitor and improve suppliers' environmental and social practices.Read more
The level of traceability we have varies depending on the complexity of the supply chain. In our dairy and beef supply chains, almost three-quarters of our volumes have been traced to country of origin, and the majority of those are traceable to farm level. For the other ingredients under our Responsible Sourcing Program, we are working to reach further levels of traceability, and our progress will continue to depend on the sourcing context.
