jump to navigation search nestle redirects here . for other uses see nestle disambiguation . soci t des produits nestl s.a. good food good life aerial view of nestl s corporate headquarters building in vevey vaud switzerland type soci t anonyme traded as six nesn otc pink nsrgy bse 500790 nse nestleind industry food processing founded 1866 ; 150 years ago 1866 as anglo swiss condensed milk company 1867 1867 as farine lact e henri nestl 1905 1905 as nestl and anglo swiss condensed milk company founder henri nestl charles page george page headquarters vevey vaud switzerland area served worldwide key people peter brabeck letmathe chairman paul bulcke ceo fran ois xavier roger cfo products baby food coffee dairy products breakfast cereals confectionery bottled water ice cream pet foods list ... revenue chf 88.8 billion 2015 1 operating income chf 13.4 billion 2015 1 profit chf 9.0 billion 2015 1 total assets chf 133.45 billion 2014 2 total equity chf 71.88 billion 2014 2 number of employees 335 000 2015 1 3 website official website nestl s.a. french pronunciation n sle ; english n sle n s l n sli is a swiss transnational food and drink company headquartered in vevey vaud switzerland . it is the largest food company in the world measured by revenues 4 5 and ranked 72 on the fortune global 500 in 2014 . 6 nestl s products include baby food medical food bottled water breakfast cereals coffee and tea confectionery dairy products ice cream frozen food pet foods and snacks . twenty nine of nestl s brands have annual sales of over chf1 billion about us 1.1 billion 7 including nespresso nescaf kit kat smarties nesquik stouffer s vittel and maggi . nestl has 447 factories operates in 194 countries and employs around 339 000 people . 8 it is one of the main shareholders of l oreal the world s largest cosmetics company . 9 nestl was formed in 1905 by the merger of the anglo swiss milk company established in 1866 by brothers george page and charles page and farine lact e henri nestl founded in 1866 by henri nestl born heinrich nestle . the company grew significantly during the first world war and again following the second world war expanding its offerings beyond its early condensed milk and infant formula products . the company has made a number of corporate acquisitions including crosse & blackwell in 1950 findus in 1963 libby s in 1971 rowntree mackintosh in 1988 and gerber in 2007 . nestl has a primary listing on the six swiss exchange and is a constituent of the swiss market index . it has a secondary listing on euronext . in 2011 nestl was listed no. 1 in the fortune global 500 as the world s most profitable corporation . 10 with a market capitalisation of us 239.6 billion nestl ranked no. 11 in the ft global 500 2014 . 11 contents 1 history 2 products 3 corporate affairs 4 joint ventures 5 safety of food products 5.1 maggi noodles 5.2 milk products and baby food 5.3 cookie dough 6 sponsorships 7 controversy and criticisms 7.1 nestl baby formula boycott 7.2 bottled water 7.3 ethiopian debt 2002 7.4 child labour 7.5 chocolate price fixing 7.6 packaging claims 2008 7.7 water bottling operations in california and oregon 7.8 ukrainian boycott of russian manufactured nestl products 7.9 forced labour in thailand fishing industry 8 corporate social responsibility 9 recognition and awards 10 bibliography 11 see also 12 notes and references 13 external links history edit henri nestl nestl s origins date back to 1866 when two separate swiss enterprises were founded that would later form the core of nestl . 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 . 12 a 1915 advertisement for nestl s food an early infant formula in september 1866 in vevey henri nestl developed 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 chocolate manufacturing process . nestl was the crucial co operation 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 nestl retired in 1875 but the company under new ownership retained his name as soci t farine lact e henri nestl . in 1877 anglo swiss added milk based baby foods to their products ; in the following year the nestl company added condensed milk to their portfolio which made the firms direct and fierce rivals . in 1879 nestle merged with milk chocolate inventor daniel peter . in 1904 fran ois louis cailler charles am d e kohler daniel peter and henri nestl participated in the creation and development of swiss chocolate marketing the first chocolate milk nestl . 13 in 1905 the companies merged to become the nestl and anglo swiss condensed milk company retaining that name until 1947 when the name nestl 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 nestl s production had more than doubled . nestl 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 nescaf nestl s coffee which became a staple drink of the us military . nestl s production and sales rose in the wartime economy . the logo that nestl used until 1966 after the war government contracts dried up and consumers switched back to fresh milk . however nestl s management responded quickly streamlining operations and reducing debt . the 1920s saw nestl 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 douard muller till his death in 1948 . the end of world war ii was the beginning of a dynamic phase for nestl . growth accelerated and numerous companies were acquired . in 1947 nestl 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 nestl made its second venture outside the food industry by acquiring alcon laboratories inc. in the 1980s nestl s improved bottom line which allowed the company to launch a new round of acquisitions . carnation was acquired for 3 billion in 1984 and brought the evaporated milk brand as well as coffee mate and friskies to nestl . the confectionery company rowntree mackintosh was acquired in 1988 for 4.5 billion which brought brands such as kit kat smarties and aero . the brazilian president lula da silva inaugurates a factory in feira de santana bahia in february 2007 the first half of the 1990s proved to be favourable for nestl . 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 and ralston purina 2002 . there were two major acquisitions in north america both in 2002 in june nestl merged its us 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 nestl entered in a joint bid with cadbury and came close to purchasing the iconic american company hershey s one of its fiercest confectionery competitors but the deal eventually fell through . 14 another recent purchase included the jenny craig weight loss program for us 600 million . nestl sold the jenny craig business unit to north castle partners in 2013 . 15 in december 2005 nestl 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 . 16 in november 2006 nestl purchased the medical nutrition division of novartis pharmaceutical for us 2.5 billion also acquiring in 2007 the milk flavoring product known as ovaltine . in april 2007 returning to its roots nestl bought us baby food manufacturer gerber for us 5.5 billion . 17 18 19 in december 2007 nestl entered into a strategic partnership with a belgian chocolate maker pierre marcolini . 20 nestl 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 . 21 on 1 march 2010 nestl concluded the purchase of kraft foods s north american frozen pizza business for us 3.7 billion . since 2010 nestle has been working to transform itself into a nutrition health and wellness company in an effort to combat declining confectionery sales and the threat of expanding government regulation of such foods . this effort is being led through the nestl institute of health sciences under the direction of ed baetge . the institute aims to develop a new industry between food and pharmaceuticals by creating foodstuffs with preventative and corrective health properties that would replace pharmaceutical drugs from pill bottles . the health science branch has already produced several products such as drinks and protein shakes meant to combat malnutrition diabetes digestive health obesity and other diseases . 22 in july 2011 nestl sa agreed to buy 60 percent of hsu fu chi international ltd. for about us 1.7 billion . 23 on 23 april 2012 nestl agreed to acquire pfizer inc. s infant nutrition formerly wyeth nutrition unit for us 11.9 billion topping a joint bid from danone and mead johnson . 24 25 26 in february 2013 nestl health science bought pamlab which makes medical foods based on l methylfolate targeting depression diabetes and memory loss . 27 in february 2014 nestl sold its powerbar sports nutrition business to post holdings inc. 28 later in november 2014 nestl announced that it was exploring strategic options for its frozen food subsidiary davigel . 29 in recent years nestl health science has made several acquisitions . it acquired vitaflo which makes clinical nutritional products for people with genetic disorders ; cm & d pharma ltd. a company that specialises in the development of products for patients with chronic conditions like kidney disease ; and prometheus laboratories a firm specialising in treatments for gastrointestinal diseases and cancer . it also holds a minority stake in vital foods a new zealand based company that develops kiwifruit based solutions for gastrointestinal conditions . 30 in december 2014 nestl announced that it was opening 10 skin care research centres worldwide deepening its investment in a faster growing market for healthcare products . that year nestl spend about 350 million on dermatology research and development . the first of the research hubs nestl skin health investigation education