Nestlé Tops Global Corporate Responsibility Survey
KPMG has named Nestlé as one of the world’s top ten companies reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility. Nestlé is also the only food and beverage company to be among the top tier of firms analysed as part of KPMG’s 2013 Survey of Corporate Responsibility.
The survey, first published in 1993, assesses reporting by firms in 41 countries and 4,100 companies across 15 industry sectors.
KMPG evaluated the quality of reporting against key criteria including the firms’ assessment of risks, and responses to those risks, and materiality – the issues and areas where action can have the greatest impact.
It also assessed how the firms reported about their suppliers and value chain and the level of transparency and balance in their reporting.
Nestlé is among a cluster of just 10 leading firms who scored more than 90 out of 100 in these criteria.
Nestlé’s believes that for a company to be successful over the long term and create value for shareholders it must create value for society. It calls this Creating Shared Value. Specifically, Nestlé does business in ways that help address global and local issues in the areas of nutrition, water and rural development.
Janet Voûte, Global Head of Public Affairs at Nestlé, explains that the firm’s focus on Creating Shared Value was underlined by the publication of the annual Creating Shared Value report, which is externally assured and released at the same time as the annual report and financial results.
“High-level commitment to transparency is very important to the quality of the report you end up with. Transparency helps us address problems, and there’s no doubt it contributes to better interactions with external stakeholders,” she says, explaining that Nestlé also regularly holds forums, as well as face-to-face meetings with key stakeholders, including NGO and civil society representatives.
The KPMG recognition comes just a few months after Nestlé was named the leading food products company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as well as achieving the maximum score for the second year running in the CDP ‘Climate Disclosure Leadership Index’ and the CDP ‘Climate Performance Leadership Index’.
