Binu Jacob, CEO of Nestle Vietnam. — Photo courtesy of the firm

The two words that best summarise Nestle's 25-year journey in Viet Nam are “sustainable development”, Binu Jacob, CEO of Nestle Vietnam tells Viet Nam News.

“People are at the heart of our business and we continue to work tirelessly to keep our employees, business partners and the communities where we operate healthy and safe during the coronavirus outbreak,” said the CEO about the recurrence of COVID-19 in early 2021.

A few days after the outbreak in Hai Duong, Nestle Vietnam have donated nearly 145,000 drink and nutritional products to localities who were ‘hit hard’ by the pandemic in the province.

The donation included nearly 100,000 different nutritional products to nearly 1,000 children in quarantine areas and field hospitals in Hai Duong Province and more than 30,000 Nescafe products to the frontline healthcare professionals in Ha Noi Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

"As we receive active support from Viet Nam, we always stand side by side with government agencies to create shared values that help enhance Vietnamese lives, striving for sustainable development,” said the CEO.

Since the first brick was laid in Dong Nai in 1995, Nestle has opened six factories in with an investment of US$650 million, becoming the largest Swiss investor in Viet Nam.

Leader of Nestle Vietnam said: "We are also very pleased to receive many awards, certificates of merit and noble recognition from agencies for our achievements for the community, the environment, for the Vietnamese economy during the 25 years of operation."

Binu Jacob considered long-term vision and sustainable development as the driving force in the company's business operations so the firm always grasps market trends, consumer needs and tastes, quickly develop suitable and diverse products that provide health benefits.

The CEO said the firm’s products have not only served individuals and their families, but also the community and the planet.

To serve different life stages for Vietnamese people, the firm has developed medical nutrition products for the elderly, for school-aged children like MILO, Nestle milk and for young people like NESCAFE, KITKAT and for family with products like MAGGI, Lavie and baby nutrition products like NAN and Gerber.

Binu Jacob added the firm has conducted many activities to improve the quality of life for the communities such as the "Activ Vietnam" which promotes the school sports, bringing sports to millions of children across the country; the NESCAFE Plan, which develops sustainable coffee and improves the livelihoods of more than 260,000 coffee farmers; or the Mrs NEST project, which creates the business energy of rural women, help them improve their family health and lives.

He added: "To save the planet, we have worked to reduce waste in the environment, water saving and nylon bag recycling projects and raise community awareness on protecting the environment."

In the future, Nestle Group's 2030 goals are wide-ranging.

Nestle aims to help millions of children lead healthier and happier lives. In Viet Nam.

Binu said: "Each of our markets has a specific pathway to contribute to our global goal. For example, as a leading food and beverage group, creating a circular economy is a major concern in our operations. We have partnered with key industry leaders to establish the Vietnam Packaging Recycling Organization (PRO Vietnam).

"MILO, was the first brand in Viet Nam to replace a plastic straw with a paper straw and even though paper straws are three times more expensive than plastic, we did not increase the price."

The CEO thinks some companies may hesitate to make the change due to economic reasons, but in the long term, replacing plastic packaging with recycled will bring benefits for the environment.

He added: "Once consumers are aware about the importance of protecting the living environment, they will begin to require businesses to change and adapt actively to minimise impacts on the environment."

As of the most recent trend of green and clean living, Nestle has brought out an organic range including NAN Organic and Gerber Organic.

He said: "As the economy improves, consumers demand higher quality and healthier products such as low-sugar or micronutrient products so we will keep working with partners such as the National Institute of Nutrition to develop new product lines to have best products from Nestle Group to meet the consumers demand.

"We are committed to continue the mission of 'Improving the quality of life for Vietnamese people' and further contributing to the community through out activities.

"We want to make each Nestle product an indispensable part of every Vietnamese people's life," said Binu Jacob. — VNS