Nestlé Reformulates Products to Improve Nutrition

Rising obesity rates have increased the scrutiny of processed food and beverage companies, often criticized for promoting convenience foods with lower nutritional value. Nestlé, the largest food company in the world,[i] long ago recognized that both malnutrition and obesity impact the health, wellness, and livelihoods of its consumer base, and saw an opportunity to differentiate itself by using rigorous nutritional criteria in its product development while working to remain the preferred choice in blind taste tests.

At a global level, Nestlé has prioritized product innovation for improved health and nutrition, reformulating over 6,500 products over the past decade.  Over 75% of Nestlé’s product portfolio now exceeds the company’s World Health Organization-inspired nutrition criteria.[ii] Product reformulations range from fortifying products to meet geographic-specific nutritional deficiencies, such as iodine, iron, calcium, and vitamins in Latin America, to reducing sodium or fat content. Furthermore, Nestlé’s CEO announced in 2012 that the company would accelerate its plan to meet its public nutritional commitments. These commitments establish plans to increase the nutritional value of all of Nestlé’s products, comply with high nutritional standards for all infant products, and promote children’s nutritional education and healthy living at the global level. [iii]

Through its Popularly Positioned Products (PPP) initiative, Nestlé aims to create products “with good nutrition and great taste…for consumers in emerging markets.”[iv] In Chile, Nestlé has 109 PPP products that increased in sales from US$187 million to US$225 million between 2009 and 2010 and contributed 19% of Nestlé’s 2010 total Chilean sales.[v] One example is the Acticol product line, which Nestlé Chile launched in 2012 to help control cholesterol and support heart health in a country where an estimated 38.5% of adults have elevated cholesterol.[vi] With increasing sales in Chile and an 11% growth in sales of PPP products globally, Nestlé’s investments in nutrition have increased the variety of healthy options available to consumers globally and have the potential to improve consumer health outcomes moving forward.