The Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD), under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), has just named Nestlé as Vietnam’s most sustainable company in 2021 in manufacturing.
This is the third consecutive year Nestlé Vietnam has made it to the top-three sustainable businesses and is also the first year in which it is announced as Vietnam’s most sustainable company.
From a list of 600 businesses, the organizer selected 100 leading ones in implementing sustainable development targets. To be chosen, Nestlé Vietnam has met the 2021 CSI set which includes 119 indices.
On this occasion, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Vietnam Business Coalition for Women’s Empowerment (VBCWE), VBCSD appraised and honored Nestlé Vietnam as the typical company with commitment to gender equality at work.
Speaking at the announcement ceremony, Mr. Pham Tan Cong, VCCI Chairman, said, “In addition to the full participation of companies, the CSI has received the Government’s recognition of the efficiency in and positive impact on the promotion of corporate sustainable development. It is necessary to enhance sustainable development and build the culture of sustainable development as measures for recovery and growth in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Companies with strong, endurable and consistent strategies for sustainable development over the years have created their own “antibodies” against the pandemic, and been able to retain stable operations and growth in business, substantially supporting the Government, agencies and communities in realizing the dual goal.”
Mr. Binu Jacob, Nestlé Vietnam CEO, and co-chairman of VBCSD, shared the honor to be announced as Vietnam’s most sustainable company. All Nestlé Vietnam’s operations are in cooperation with partners in Vietnam for “Creating Shared Value” which is the contribution to common social development while still ensuring long-term success in business, and for those targets to be sustainable, it needs to attach the vision to the future, said Mr. Jacob. Moreover, he added, Nestlé Vietnam believes that sustainable development is not enough, but we need to interfere in the process to have positive impact on the regeneration of the ecosystem whereby we can retain the self-recovery and regeneration of nature, contribute to the efforts to fight climate change, and preserve resources for future generations. “This is the new approach we have oriented and attached to our programs and initiatives on sustainable development,” said Mr. Jacob.
“For 2021, I feel very proud of my team who, despite the challenges of Covid 19, continued to accelerate efforts to contribute to better sustainable operations in Vietnam, whether it is on regenerative coffee farming, creating a road map to become plastic neutral by 2025, supporting women’s empowerment through the Vietnam Women’s Union, reduction of greenhouse gases through our operations or water conservation in areas where we operate,” Mr. Jacob shared.
Since 2020, Nestlé Vietnam’s sustainable development strategy entails not only sustainable goals and actions but also comprehensive approach focusing on the goals that seek to recover and regenerate natural ecosystems. As a result, commitments to sustainable development for three impact areas including enabling healthier and happie lives, helping develop thriving, resilient communities and stewarding resources and the environment will be combined so that all can share the common goal of preservation of resources for future generations.
In order to join hands to cope with climate change, Nestlé Group has built the roadmap for cutting carbon emissions in stages to move forward to Net Zero by 2050 via the reduction of carbon emissions in all operations and supply chains.
Since it was implemented in Vietnam more than 10 years ago, the NESCAFÉ plan has been closely associated with farmers in the Central Highlands to raise the quality of the coffee, improve cultivation techniques, replant old coffee trees and boost farmers’ income. The project has distributed more than 53 million disease-resistant, high yielding coffee trees to farmers and has improved 53,000 hectares of old coffee farms in the Central Highlands.
Nestlé Vietnam is among the businesses pioneering in environmental protection. On December 8, Nestlé Vietnam announced its commitment to plastic neutrality by 2025. The same day Nestlé Vietnam also announced the partnership with Vietnam Environment Administration under Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, aiming to enhancing environmental education and awareness raising activities as well as promoting sustainable packaging which includes reducing, reusing, recycling, sorting and treating used packaging. The partnership will contribute to advancing the implementation of Law on Environment 2020. As for operations promoting the circular economy, all Nestlé’s factories in Vietnam are designed and constructed in line with the highest quality standards in the entire the group. In 2018, all Nestlé’s factories in Vietnam reached the goal of “zero waste to landfill” via their recycling and reusing wastewater and waste substances in a bid to carry out the circular economy. The effort will continue so that by 2030, Nestlé Vietnam make no environmental impact in operations.
Established in 1995, Nestlé Vietnam has continuously expanded investment and diversified products to serve the demand for food and nutrition aiming at the maximization of the role of food in improving the quality of life of all people, today and tomorrow. After many times of expansion and capital increases, Nestlé’s investment in Vietnam has amounted to US$730 million. The company has hired 2,2000 staff and operated four factories. It has also been named by the Ministry of Finance among the Top-30 Taxpayers.
In addition, Nestlé Vietnam each year buys between 20% and 25% of Vietnam’s total coffee production for manufacturing and export, contributing to the national economy value worth some US$700 million per year by these operations. Nestlé Vietnam was given a certificate of merit for “Creditable Exporter in 2020.”
