2020 Annual Report
Despite the challenges of COVID-19 in 2020, Nestlé delivered strong results,
achieving improvements in organic sales growth, profitability and capital
efficiency for the third year in a row. Nestlé also continued to make progress
on its portfolio transformation through targeted acquisitions and divestments
that focus on attractive, high-growth businesses.
A key contributor to Nestlé's growth is its consumer-driven innovation that
also strives to reduce the company's environmental footprint. Some examples
highlighted in the report include the launch of Sensational Vuna, a
plant-based tuna alternative, and the increased use of paper packaging for
brands such as Maggi. The company further reduced the average time to market
of such innovative products by another 10% and increased the number of
multi-market launches by 23%.
Nestlé's continued digital transformation enabled it to accelerate growth and
better engage with consumers in a year that saw a surge in online shopping.
Nestlé's e-commerce sales grew by 48.4% and accounted for 12.8% of total Group
sales in 2020. Additionally, more than 60% of all of the company's digital
media campaigns used a data-driven, audience-first approach to personalize
messaging to consumers.
In the Creating Shared Value (CSV) section of the report, Nestlé highlights
that it has fully achieved 28 of the 36 commitments it had previously defined
to support the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Those
commitments focus on promoting healthier lives, improving livelihoods and
protecting and restoring the environment. The full CSV and Sustainability
Report will be published on March 23.
The full Annual Report contains Nestlé's Annual Review as well as the
Corporate Governance & Compensation Reports and the Financial Statements,
which were published on February 18, 2021.
Read about these topics and more in the Annual Report:
https://www.nestle.com/investors/annual-report
Annual General Meeting and Sustainability
In addition to the traditional AGM agenda items, Nestlé will ask its
shareholders to support its recently published climate roadmap in an advisory
vote at this year's meeting. In December 2020, the company published its
detailed, time-bound plan for cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in half
by 2030 and for achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The reporting of
non-financial performance is becoming increasingly important, and as
previously announced, the company believes that shareholders should have a say
on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters. Nestlé welcomes
upcoming changes to Swiss legislation in this area. In the interim, the Board
of Directors is seeking the support from shareholders on its climate roadmap.
Each year at the AGM, shareholders have the opportunity to vote on the total
compensation of Nestlé's Board of Directors and Executive Board. This year,
Nestlé is changing the structure of Executive Board members' short-term bonus.
Fifteen percent of that bonus will now be linked to the achievement of
ESG-related objectives. The Nestlé Board of Directors sets those objectives at
the beginning of each year, in line with the company's strategy.
As already communicated, Nestlé is also splitting the existing Nomination and
Sustainability Committee into a separate Nomination Committee and a focused
Sustainability Committee. This reflects the importance of sustainability in
Nestlé's corporate governance and allows Board members to dedicate more time,
focus and action on each of these important topics.
Ahead of the upcoming AGM on April 15, Nestlé will also publish its first Task
Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Report. The TCFD report
assesses the strength and resilience of the company's strategy and business
model under different climate scenarios.
Read the:
Annual Review:
https://www.nestle.com/sites/default/files/2021-03/2020-annual-review-en.pdf
Corporate Governance Report:
https://www.nestle.com/sites/default/files/2021-02/corp-governance-report-2020-en.pdf
Financial Statements:
https://www.nestle.com/sites/default/files/2021-02/2020-financial-statements-en.pdf