Food Security, Research Paper Example

Introduction

There are multiple Health and Wellness nutrition firms scattered across the United States. Amongst the largest of these is the Nestle Group that has regional offices throughout North America. This paper focuses upon the results of an interview from one local regional office.

About Nestle

The firm was established by Henri Nestle in 1867.  One of the first major health and wellness firms who developed the first formula to produce healthy baby milk. Nutrition has been the very foundation the firm has built its international reputation on.  The Swiss Based Company has now over a century of experience in the health and wellness business with nutrition being at the core of its business. Their philosophy is based upon the theory that every food contributes an important role in the achievement of a balanced diet. Nestle is committed to conducting extensive research in support of providing the very best nutritional foods to help consumers to manage their health and diets. (Nestle, 2011)

The firm is truly a global enterprise and employs around 280,000 people throughout the world.  This includes factories in virtually every country in the world. They believe in regional self-autonomy allowing the management the flexibility of decision making for conditions specific to that country.  The Nestle Brand has become world famous and noted for high quality products.

Products and Marketing

Fig 1 illustrates the extensive range of nutritional products that Nestle provides on a global basis.  Many associate the firm to its Chocolate and Milk brands but the firm has achieved a wide degree of product diversification.

The endorsement of Nestle in the healthcare nutrition range is that many of the products are extensively used in hospitals and medical clinics.  Nestle provide a navigational aid to the use of nutrition and the incorporation of their product range. This is termed the Compass and an illustration of this is provided in Fig 2.   The customer market for Nestle is of immense proportions; consider “Every day of the year, over one billion consumers choose to buy a Nestlé Product” (Bauer, W. 2011).

Nestle Means of Success

The Company has been extremely successful by provision of large amounts of capital funding transferred to Research and Development of its product range. In Health and Wellness this has included being ahead in the nutritional market and providing high quality products in order to meet consumer demands.  The global reach of having manufacturing plants throughout the world has enabled the firm to introduce a high degree of customisation into the regional supply and demand models.  Nestle invests more than $1.5 billion Swiss Francs in Research and Development each year.   Nestle are committed to the sustainment of a loyal customer base and providing the highest level of quality and service over their products – “Although it’s important, nutrition is only one aspect of

“Good Food, Good Life“. Consistent quality and safety, as well as value-for-money and convenience, all play a part. Above all, great taste is fundamental to our products and our consumers  appreciation of good food. (Nestle, 2011). It is the Corporate Wellness Business Unit that drives the Nutrition requirements for the global enterprise of Nestle “ We have a global network of Wellness Champions in all our business units and in every country. Their job is to facilitate, inspire, motivate and drive wellness initiatives.” (Nestle, 2011).

The Nestle Foundation

The Swiss based firm has a Foundation that provides funding for its research and development activities throughout the world.  This enables taking modern research and development techniques to third worlds countries and others who wish to take advantage of the Nestle Corporate facilities – “One of the Foundation’s main aims is the transfer of scientific and technological knowledge to target countries. In cases where Foundation-sponsored research projects are realized in collaboration with scientists at universities and research institutes in high-income countries, at least 75% of the budget has to be earmarked for use within the low-income country.” (Nestle Foundation, 2011).

Education

The firm offers information through a series of informative websites and through instructional procedures relative to the ‘Compass’ navigational model as illustrated in Fig 2 above.  The firm’s foundation also provides a valuable outlet for information from the Research and Development Laboratory in Switzerland, covering a range of nutritional projects and supporting information. The firm maintain active help lines through both its websites and regional offices in support of the products they sell.

References

Bauer, W. (2011, 12 14). Presentation Werner Bauer. Retrieved from Nestle : http://www.research.nestle.com/NR/rdonlyres/A0B6A926-179C-439E-906F-AC1E996D44E6/0/WernerBauerPresentation.pdf

Nestle. (2011, 12 14). Nestle. Retrieved from About Us: http://www.corporate.nestle.ca/en/aboutus/Pages/aboutus.aspx

Nestle. (2011, 12 14). Nestle Family – Health and Nutrition. Retrieved from Nestle: http://nestle-family.com/our-company/english/assets/downloads/The-World-of-Nestle.pdf

Nestle Foundation. (2011, 12 14). Nestle Foundation. Retrieved from Current Funding Policy: http://www.nestlefoundation.org/e/funding.html