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    Nestle

    Nestlé SA history, profile and history video

     Nestlé SA is a nutrition, health and wellness company, which manufactures, supplies and produces prepared dishes and cooking aids, milk-based products, pharmaceuticals and ophthalmic goods, baby foods and cereals. The company offers products, including Baby foods under the brands Cerelac, Nestum, Gerber Graduates and Gerber; Bottled Water under the brands Perrier, Poland Spring, S.Pellegrino and Pure Life; Cereals under the brands Chocapic, Estrelitas, Fitness, Nesquik Breakfast Cereal and Chocapic; Chocolates and Confectionery under the brands Aero, Crunch, Kit Kat, Butterfinger and Cailler; Coffee under the brands Nescafe Cappuccino, Nescafe Classic, Nescafe Decaff and Nescafe Dolce Gusto; Culinary, Chilled & Frozen Food under the brands Buitoni, Hot Pockets, Herta, Lean Cuisine and Maggi. Dairy under the brands Nestle Coffe-Mate, Nestle Nido and Carnation; Drinks under the brands Juicy Juice, Nestea, Nesquik and Milo; Food Service-Nestle Professional under the brands Chef, Minors, Milo and Sjora; Healthcare Nutrition under the brands Boost, Nutren Junior, Resouce and Peptamen; Ice Cream under the brands Dreyers, Extreme, Movenpick and Haagen-Dazs. Petcare under the brands Alpo, Beneful, Cat Chow and Dog Chow; Sport Nutrition under the brand PowerBar; Weight Management under the brand Jenny Craig. It also offers chocolate and malt-based drinks, break fast cereals, roasted and ground coffee, milk, soy milk, dietetic foods, coffee creamers, ice cream, frozen foods, cold meat products and chilled pasta, ingredients for the food and hotel industries, chocolate and confectionery products. Nestlé products are divided in to six segments, which include Beverages, Milk Products Nutrition and Ice Cream, Prepared Dishes and Cooking Aids, Confectionery, PetCare and Pharmaceutical products. The company was founded by Henri Nestlé in 1866 and is headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland.

    “Nestle History

    Nestlé’s origins date back to 1866, when two separate Swiss enterprises were founded that would later form the core of Nestlé. In the succeeding decades, the two competing enterprises aggressively expanded their businesses throughout Europe and the United States.

    In August 1867, Charles (US consul in Switzerland) and George Page, two brothers from Lee County, Illinois, USA, established the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in Cham, Switzerland. Their first British operation was opened at Chippenham, Wiltshire, in 1873.

    In September 1866, in Vevey, Henri Nestlé developed a milk-based baby food, and soon began marketing it. The following year saw Daniel Peter begin seven years of work perfecting his invention, the milk chocolatemanufacturing process. Nestlé’s was the crucial cooperation that Peter needed to solve the problem of removing all the water from the milk added to his chocolate and thus preventing the product from developing mildew. Henri Nestlé retired in 1875 but the company, under new ownership, retained his name as Société Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé.

    In 1877, Anglo-Swiss added milk-based baby foods to their products; in the following year, the Nestlé Company added condensed milk, such that the firms became direct and fierce rivals.

    In 1905, the companies merged to become the Nestlé and Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company, retaining that name until 1947, when the name ‘Nestlé Alimentana SA’ was taken as a result of the acquisition of Fabrique de Produits Maggi SA (founded 1884) and its holding company, Alimentana SA, of Kempttal, Switzerland. Maggi was a major manufacturer of soup mixes and related foodstuffs. The company’s current name was adopted in 1977. By the early 1900s, the company was operating factories in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain. The First World War created demand for dairy products in the form of government contracts, and, by the end of the war, Nestlé’s production had more than doubled.

    Nestlé felt the effects of the Second World War immediately. Profits dropped from US$20 million in 1938, to US$6 million in 1939. Factories were established in developing countries, particularly in Latin America. Ironically, the war helped with the introduction of the company’s newest product, Nescafé (“Nestlé’s Coffee”), which became a staple drink of the US military. Nestlé’s production and sales rose in the wartime economy.

    After the war, government contracts dried up, and consumers switched back to fresh milk. However, Nestlé’s management responded quickly, streamlining operations and reducing debt. The 1920s saw Nestlé’s first expansion into new products, with chocolate-manufacture becoming the company’s second most important activity. Louis Dapples was CEO till 1937, when succeeded by Édouard Muller till his death in 1948.

    The end of World War II was the beginning of a dynamic phase for Nestlé. Growth accelerated and numerous companies were acquired. In 1947 Nestlé merged with Maggi, a manufacturer of seasonings and soups. Crosse & Blackwell followed in 1950, as did Findus (1963), Libby’s (1971) and Stouffer’s(1973). Diversification came with a shareholding in L’Oreal in 1974. In 1977, Nestlé made its second venture outside the food industry, by acquiringAlcon Laboratories Inc.

    In 1984, Nestlé’s improved bottom line allowed the company to launch a new round of acquisitions, notably American food giant Carnation and the British confectionery companyRowntree Mackintosh in 1988, which brought the Willy Wonka brand – among others – to Nestlé.

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    The first half of the 1990s proved to be favourable for Nestlé. Trade barriers crumbled, and world markets developed into more or less integrated trading areas. Since 1996, there have been various acquisitions, including San Pellegrino (1997), Spillers Petfoods (1998), andRalston Purina (2002). There were two major acquisitions in North America, both in 2002 – in June, Nestlé merged its U.S. ice cream business into Dreyer’s, and in August a US$2.6 billion acquisition was announced of Chef America, the creator of Hot Pockets. In the same time-frame, Nestlé came close to purchasing the iconic American company Hershey’s, one of its fiercest confectionery competitors, although the deal eventually fell through. Another recent purchase included the Jenny Craig weight-loss program, for US$600 million.

    In December 2005, Nestlé bought the Greek company Delta Ice Cream for €240 million. In January 2006, it took full ownership of Dreyer’s, thus becoming the world’s largest ice cream maker, with a 17.5% market share.

    In November 2006, Nestlé purchased the Medical Nutrition division of Novartis Pharmaceutical for US$2.5 billion, also acquiring, in 2007, the milk-flavouring product known as Ovaltine.

    In April 2007, returning to its roots, Nestlé bought US baby-food manufacturer Gerber for $5.5 billion.

    In December 2007, Nestlé entered into a strategic partnership with a Belgian chocolate maker, Pierre Marcolini.

    Nestlé agreed to sell its controlling stake in Alcon to Novartis on 4 January 2010. The sale was to form part of a broader US$39.3 billion offer, by Novartis, for full acquisition of the world’s largest eye-care company.

    On 1 March 2010, Nestlé concluded the purchase of Kraft Foods’s North American frozen pizza business for $3.7 billion.

    In July 2011, Nestlé SA agreed to buy 60 percent of Hsu Fu Chi International Ltd. for about $1.7 billion. On 23 April 2012, Nestlé agreed to acquire Pfizer Inc.’s infant-nutritionunit for $11.9 billion. Before the acquisition, there was a ‘bidding war’ between the three shareholders Nestlé, Mead Johnson Nutrition and Danone. Each of the companies held a share, with Nestlé holding the biggest share (17%) (Johnson held 15%, Danone 13%).

    As of 28 May 2013, Nestlé has announced that it will expand R&D in its research center in Singapore. With a primary focus on health and nutrition, Nestlé is investing $4.3 million in its Singapore center, creating 20 jobs for experts in related R&D fields. In 2013 Nestle Nigeria successfully pioneered and implemented the use of compressed natural gas as a fuel source to power their Flowergate factory.”

    *Information from Forbes.com and Wikipedia.org

    **Video published on YouTube by “Business Casual

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