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Nestlé is guided by the principle of creating shared value for shareholders and society in a manner that is integrally linked to its core business strategies and operations. It is called “Creating Shared Value (CSV)”; value created for shareholders, employees, farmers, consumers and the communities where the company operates.

A series of projects that Nestlé carried out to apply this principle can be mentioned as examples.
In line with Nestlé’s policy of creating shared value for both business and local suppliers, Nestlé in Malaysia began engaging local farmers in Kelantan to produce chillies as long ago as 1995. In return for providing the key ingredient for their Maggi chilli sauce, the Contract Chilli Farming Project provides the farmers with a secure market for their produce – via the local Farmers Organisation Board – at a pre-determined price.
Nestlé purchases directly from local coffee farmers in China, 80% of whom are smallholders. Nestlé also supplies plantlets suited to local soil conditions and climate, and advises farmers on techniques to improve both quality and yield.
In collaboration with the TEMA Foundation (the Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats), Nestlé has started a rural development project in south-eastern Turkey. Through the project, 80% of the farmers in the county are being trained in the sustainable production of high-quality pistachios.
Nestlé in South Africa has launched a project to improve the production of local chicory. The project focused on Weenen in KwaZulu Natal province, where available land, good soil and existing irrigation provided an opportunity to revitalise the local economy.
Nestlé has agreed with the Ivorian Government, via the National Agronomical Research Institute (CNRA), to contribute to the renewal of old cocoa plantations. The project has been carried out through the state-of-the-art Research & Development Centre in Abidjan – a centre of excellence for plant propagation and a focus for our work with farmer cooperatives.
Nestlé’s sustainable agriculture strategy is designed to ensure a steady supply of safe, high-quality agricultural commodities and allow rural communities to increase their income as a result. One of the priorities is to reduce the high levels of mycotoxins in cereals, dried fruits and nuts from Central and West Africa, as this natural, fungus-based contamination can cause immune suppression, impaired development in children and liver damage in both humans and animals. Nestlé in Central and West Africa business therefore launched the Grains Quality Improvement Project to reduce mycotoxin contamination levels in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria by 60%.
In Nigeria, a Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) collaboration between Nestlé, which recently joined the Soy Round Table, and the University of Agriculture in Abeokuta has been instigated to increase soybean production in the country. Research, funded by the University, has created a selection of high-yield varieties that make soybeans a more attractive crop for local farmers, and by providing a regular and reliable income, they are helping to reduce rural poverty.