Nestlé Vietnam honoured as most sustainable enterprise in Vietnam

Nestlé Vietnam was picked as the No.1 most sustainable enterprise in Vietnam by VBCSD

This is the third year in a row that Nestlé Vietnam is ranked in the group of the three most sustainable businesses and the first year that the company has been honoured as the most sustainable business in Vietnam.

From more than 600 businesses, the organising committee has selected the 100 most typical enterprises, which are taking the lead in implementing sustainable development. To achieve this noble recognition, Nestlé Vietnam has met the Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI) for 2021 with 119 criteria related to business performance, governance process, environmental protection, and society.

On this occasion, the VBCSD has also coordinated with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Vietnam Business Coalition for Women's Empowerment (VBCWE) to honour Nestlé Vietnam as a typical enterprise with a commitment to gender equality in the workplace.

The principle of gender equality is reflected in Nestlé's policies and strategies for human resource development, from recruitment and succession planning to promotion. The percentage of women holding senior management and leadership positions has continuously increased. Nestlé also extends its commitment to the entire value chain and community.

Since 2020, the company cooperates with the Vietnam Women's Union to implement the "Nestlé accompanies women" campaign. It not only holds communication activities on nutrition as well as building a model to support women to become business owners. After just over a year of implementation, the programme has attracted more than 4,000 members in 700 communes across 10 provinces, creating positive impacts and changes to women's life.

Nestlé Vietnam was also awarded as a champion of gender equality at the workplace

Speaking at the ceremony, Pham Tan Cong, chairman of VCCI said that, “Besides the positive response from businesses, the CSI Index and Program also received great recognition from the government for its effectiveness and positive impacts in promoting sustainable development. It is necessary to identify building a culture of sustainable development as a solution for recovery and development in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic."

"Businesses with a strong, persistent commitment to persistently pursuing a sustainable development strategy for many years have created their own 'antibodies' before the pandemic. They can maintain stable operations and grew in the near future, thereby supporting the government, management agencies, and the community in realising dual goals.”

Binu Jacob, general director of Nestlé Vietnam and co-chairman of VBCSD, shared the honour of being awarded as the most sustainable enterprise. Nestlé cooperates closely with partners in all activities in Vietnam to "Create Shared Value", contributing to the development of society while ensuring long-term success in business.

"We believe that sustainable development is not enough to have positive impacts on regenerating the ecosystem as well as maintaining the self-healing and regenerative capacity of nature, thereby helping combat climate change and conserving resources for the future. This is the new approach that Nestlé has incorporated into the company's sustainable development programmes and initiatives," he said.

Since 2020, Nestlé has determined that its sustainable development strategy should not stop at sustainable actions but move towards a comprehensive approach focusing on renewable and regenerative goals, fighting climate change, and preserving resources for the future.

Nestlé is one of the world’s leading corporations with a strong commitment to combating climate change. The company has committed to halving its emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero by 2050.

Nestlé has been pioneering regenerative agriculture in Vietnam through the NESCAFÉ Plan project. The company will deliver on this commitment by reducing carbon emissions throughout its operations and supply chain.

After 10 years of implementation, NESCAFÉ Plan has worked closely with farmers in the Central Highlands to improve the quality of coffee beans, improve farming methods, replant old coffee trees, and increase income for farmers.

NESCAFÉ Plan has so far distributed more than 53 million high-yield, disease-resistant coffee saplings to farmers and helped rejuvenate 53,000 hectares of aged coffee plantations in the Central Highlands. It has also provided over 246,000 training courses on sustainable coffee farming to 300,000 farmers and helped over 21,000 farmers achieve the Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C) international certification.

Nestlé Vietnam will continue to accompany farmers to promote the development of regenerative agriculture

Nestlé Vietnam will continue to accompany farmers to promote the development of regenerative agriculture, thereby bringing a positive impact to restore ecosystem, combat climate change, and conserve resources for the future.

Nestlé Vietnam is also one of the pioneers in environmental protection activities. On December 8, Nestlé Vietnam announced its commitment to neutralise plastics until 2025. Specifically, December aims to make 100 per cent of its packaging recyclable or re-usable by 2025. This commitment goes hand in hand with its vision: "None of its packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfill or as litter."

At the same day, the Vietnam Environment Agency and Nestlé Vietnam signed an MoU with the aim of disseminating and raising awareness about environmental protection and promoting activities on sustainable packaging management.

To promote the circular economy, all Nestlé factories in Vietnam are designed and built to meet the highest standards of quality consistent throughout the group. Since 2018, all factories of Nestlé Vietnam have achieved zero waste to landfill through recycling and reuse of wastewater and waste. The company continues to make efforts to achieve neutral environmental impact in production and business by 2030."

Established in 1995, Nestlé Vietnam has continuously expanded the investment and diversified products to serve food and nutrition demand and improve the quality of lives in Vietnam. To date, Nestlé has invested $730 million in Vietnam, and currently employs 2,200 labourers and operates four factories. The company was honoured by the Ministry of Finance as a Top 30 Exemplary Taxpayer.

Nestlé is currently the largest coffee buyer with a total annual purchase value of about 20-25 per cent of Vietnam's total coffee output, which is equivalent to $700 million per year. With the above achievement, Nestlé Vietnam has been awared the Prestigious Exporter of 2020 certificate by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.