Questions & answers

• Theme : Water

  Is Nestlé Waters a big water user?
  

  Nestlé Waters is a small water user. Even as the global bottled water leader, Nestlé Waters uses just 0.0009% of all freshwater withdrawn in the world, compared to 70% for agriculture, 20% for industry and 10% for domestic use. Nestlé as a whole uses only 0.005% of freshwater withdrawn worldwide.
  
  

• Theme : Water

  What do you do to properly manage water resources?
  

  Nestlé Waters is a responsible water user. It is not in the company’s long-term business interests to irresponsibly manage water resources: indeed, we depend on a secure supply of water in sufficient quantity and consistent quality. 
  
  Nestlé Waters has developed real expertise in the responsible management of water resources and has a team of dedicated hydrogeologists and water resource champions committed to this purpose. Each factory (Nestlé Waters has about 100 factories) has a water resource champion in charge of monitoring the water resource and ensuring that any preventive actions to protect the source are put in place.
  
  The company undertakes thorough environmental reviews and rigorous monitoring on a continuous basis of the water resources we operate, which allows Nestlé Waters to act quickly to mitigate any impact on the water source. This is coupled with the continuous optimisation of water used during production.
  
  For example, we have reduced the amount of additional water (i.e. the water used for cleaning and cooling purposes) required to manufacture 1 litre of product by 34% (2005-2010).
  
  For the past 20 years, Nestlé Waters has also worked closely with the local community around our Vittel and Contrex sources in France on a programme called Agrivair which aims to preserve the quality of the water resources by, amongst others, improving agricultural practices.  Nestlé Waters in Switzerland has also fostered local partnerships around the Henniez source to help preserve natural resources and maintain farmer income in this region of Switzerland.  In Mexico, the ranch surrounding the Santa Maria source, once used for agricultural land, has begun to be restored to the native pine and oak forests.  This restoration has been important to protect the watershed.
  
  

   

• Theme : Environment

  How do you respond to criticisms that bottled water creates unnecessary waste?
  

  As consumption habits are increasingly on-the-go, consumers are looking for convenient and portable food and beverage options.  Bottled water is part of the beverage market where it provides consumers with a daily healthy hydration option as part of healthy lifestyles. 
  
  Packaging is therefore essential for Nestlé Waters to meet consumer demand and to preserve product quality from source to consumer.  The majority of our bottled water products are sold in PET, a fully recyclable and safe food packaging solution. PET is a 100% recyclable material.
  
  Nestlé Waters is committed to lightweighting the packaging we use (i.e. reducing the weight and amount of packaging used for a bottle of water) and to promoting the recycling of PET bottles. 
  Regarding lightweighting, we reduced the weight of our packaging by 19% between 2005 and 2010. In 2009, Nestlé Waters North America introduced the new-generation Eco-Shape bottle. This 0.5-litre bottle weighs just 9.2g and is 25% lighter than the previous Eco-Shape bottle.
  
  Regarding recycling, we work to help raise consumer awareness on the importance of PET recycling. For example: in 2009 and 2010, Nestlé Waters China launched an online recycling campaign along with in-store promotion and search engine banner ads.  Those that visited the website and participated in the campaign were informed about recycling through facts and environmentally-themed cartoons… We also strive to facilitate collection and work with local collection agencies (like Eco-Emballages in France) and local municipalities. 
  
  

   

• Theme : Environment

  What do you do to reduce the impact of transporting bottled water?
  

  Nestlé Waters is committed to optimising on a continuous basis the performance of our production and distribution wherever possible. In 2010, 95% of our production was sold in its country of origin. Only 5 of our 67 brands are exported, the majority of which is distributed to neighbouring countries.
  
  The Company strives to optimise the modes of transport used: for example, in Italy, where 40% of our products travel by rail, we make the most of the country’s north-south railway network by using an intermodal transport system in which products are loaded onto trucks to go to the nearest train station before then being loaded onto containers to be distributed in the south of Italy by train.
   
  We also carefully follow the development of any new technologies; e.g. our Home and Office businesses in North America and Poland have initiated pilot projects to replace their regular truck fleet with hybrid (gasoline and electric engines).  Nestlé Waters North America, for example, worked with the Maryland Hybrid Truck Initiative in early 2011 to extend its hybrid truck fleet by 25 additional trucks. 
  
  

   

• Theme : Water

  What is Nestlé doing to improve access to safe drinking water?
  

  As part of our commitment to Creating Shared Value (CSV), Nestlé engages with specialised partners to help facilitate access to safe drinking water in communities.
  
  Since 2006, Nestlé has a global partnership on clean drinking water and sanitation with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).  The partnership, renewed in 2010, focuses on water sanitation for 65,000 people in the Ivory Coast over the next three years.
  
  In parallel, Nestlé is also involved in other notable water access projects:      
  
          - The company has instigated 184 clean drinking water projects in village schools near its factories in South East Asia, benefitting over 100,000 students.
          - The water filtration plant at our Kabirwala factory in Pakistan provides clean drinking water to almost 5,000 people in the local community.
          - Nestlé has also worked with Aquasure and the French Red Cross on a pilot programme to bring safe drinking water to villages in Senegal.
  
  Bottled water can be an alternative source of safe drinking water in emergency situations when water supply infrastructure is temporarily damaged or unavailable.  For example, Nestlé Waters donated 3 million bottles of water to support survivors of the earthquake in Haiti.
  
  

   

• Theme : Water

  What is your position on the human right to water?
  

  Nestlé recognises the right of all people to have access to clean water to meet their basic needs, which include daily hydration, cooking and hygiene.
  

   

• Theme : Water

  How do you engage with local communities?

  
  

  Nestlé Waters is sensitive to the fact that we are often one of many water users in a community and therefore work with the local community to sustain strong and open relationships.

  
  

  In the US, for example, a Community Framework, published in 2011, seeks to guide engagement in every community where the company hopes to source spring water, and attain mutual cooperation and benefit between Nestle and the people in those communities.

  
  

  Nestlé Waters also partners with Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), the world’s leading water education organisation, on educating millions of children a year on good water management.  On World Water Day, Nestlé Waters factories around the world invite children and other members of the local community to take part in pedagogical activities on water developed by Project WET.  In 2010, 25 countries and over 15,000 children took part in these events.  

  
  

   

• Theme : Price

  Why is bottled water so much more expensive than tap water?

  While complementary, bottled water and tap water respond to different needs and are therefore difficult to compare; indeed bottled water is part of the packaged beverage market and is distributed in a bottle, while tap water is provided on a wide-scale basis via pipes.  

  
  

  The price of bottled water, as that of all packaged beverages, reflects the investments necessary to ensure its convenience, safety and quality.

  
  

  These investments include testing, bottling, storage and transport, all costs inherent to the packaged beverage business. In the case of Nestlé Waters, we also invest in water resource management and preservation; for example Nestlé Waters invests in technical assistance, amongst others, as part of the Agrivair resource protection programme around the Vittel and Contrex sources in France.  Nestlé Waters in Switzerland has also fostered local partnerships around the Henniez source to help preserve natural resources and maintain farmer income in this region of Switzerland.  

  
  

  Bottled water is not a substitute for, nor does it compete with tap water as the major source of drinking water for any population.  Bottled water provides consumers with a healthy, convenient packaged beverage option, which consumers choose to buy for taste, health, quality and/or convenience and portability reasons.

  
  

   

• Theme : Nestlé Pure Life

  What is the Nestlé Pure Life model?

  Nestlé Pure Life (NPL) is a popular brand for a broader group of consumers (particularly middle-income families) looking for a great tasting, accessible, healthy beverage option, with the Nestlé quality guarantee. It is an accessible brand: it is affordable offering good value to a broad group of consumers, and can be easily found there where our consumers expect to find it.

  
  

  Nestlé Pure Life is a global brand with a local touch: it is produced using a multi-source model, which allows Nestlé Waters to produce it as close to our consumers as possible, and for it to be adapted to suit the preferences of local consumers in terms of taste (more or less minerals) and sizes (bigger or smaller formats).

  
  

   

• Theme : Hydration

  How much water do I need to drink?

  1.5 litres of water a day is generally recommended: this is the necessary amount of water to maintain the water balance for a sedentary adult living in a temperate climate.
  
  

  Understand why we need to drink