Embed nature-related metrics into sourcing decisions

Nestlé is a global food and beverage company with a large agricultural sourcing footprint. As the nature metrics landscape evolves rapidly, companies have a growing interest in identifying supply chain metrics that are both credible for disclosure and practical for strategic guidance to drive supply chain action. In this context, Nestlé moved from largely qualitative reporting to quantified indicators. Building on its early nature-impact assessment work from 2022 and insights from the first SBTN pilot wave, Nestlé selected metrics that strengthen disclosure credibility while helping to focus action across its agricultural supply chain.

Location of the initiative: Global / multiple sourcing countries

Nestlé is turning biodiversity metrics into practical tools for sourcing and supplier engagement. Nestlé used emerging biodiversity disclosure requirements as an opportunity to define two practical supply chain metrics that could support both external reporting and internal prioritization. The first, land footprint in agriculture, gives Nestlé a baseline view of the agricultural land associated with sourced ingredients and helps quantify land-related pressure across the upstream value chain. Understanding its land footprint allows Nestlé to prioritize actions and geographies to help address pollinator decline, soil erosion, deforestation, and intensive farming. The second, percentage of key ingredients sourced from priority ecosystems, combines traceability and biodiversity indicators to identify sourcing regions where ecological sensitivity and business exposure are highest. For additional information on the methodology used to calculate these metrics, refer to Nestlé's Non-Financial Statement 2025.

What makes the approach distinctive is how these metrics are used. Rather than treating these metrics as standalone reporting KPIs, Nestlé uses them within existing responsible sourcing, supplier engagement and landscape processes to help teams decide where to focus intervention, monitoring, and stronger data collection. Nestlé is also developing GIS-based visualizations to help internal teams better interpret the results and integrate them into decision-making processes.

Nestlé’s approach shows how biodiversity-related metrics can move beyond disclosure and become practical tools for prioritization. By strengthening the robustness and auditability of its reporting, while also helping teams focus supplier engagement, monitoring and data improvement where they matter most, Nestlé created a more decision-useful approach to managing biodiversity-related issues across a complex supply chain.

Sustainability Impact

Nature

The introduction of these new metrics:

• Provides a baseline view of land-related pressure across sourced ingredients.

• Helps identify sourcing regions where biodiversity sensitivity and business exposure are highest.

• Supports more targeted action in upstream supply chains through better prioritization and more usable internal visualization.

Climate

The metrics highlight sourcing regions where land-use practices may help reduce emissions and strengthen resilience. By improving traceability and focusing efforts where land pressure is highest, they help support agricultural sourcing approaches that are climate-smart and regenerative.

People

The approach also reinforces people-related outcomes by improving visibility into sourcing regions where social risks intersect with environmental pressures. Stronger traceability and sensitive-areas identification help direct responsible sourcing efforts, supporting engagement with farming communities.

Business Impact

Benefits

This approach helps turn biodiversity-related data into decision-useful information for prioritization and stronger reporting:

• Strengthens credibility of disclosures through stronger alignment between KPIs and double materiality outcomes.

• Helps reduce risks by identifying sourcing regions with high biodiversity dependencies and exposure.

• Optimizes use of data in sourcing, supplier engagement, and landscape interventions.

• Improves visibility into the company’s biodiversity approach for both internal and external stakeholders.

Costs

The main resource demands relate to consolidating fragmented data, refining methodologies, maintaining auditable calculation approaches, and improving internal usability of the outputs to support reporting and operational choices.

Typical Business Profile

This approach is most relevant for companies with large agricultural sourcing footprints, complex upstream supply chains and biodiversity impacts linked primarily to land use and sourcing-region exposure. It is particularly useful where companies already have some traceability data and need practical metrics to support prioritization and business integration. A key lesson is that metrics only become useful when embedded into existing sourcing and supplier engagement processes, supported by continuous improvements in data quality and usability.

Approach

Nestlé’s approach follows a clear sequence:

1. Build a traceability-based data foundation

   Nestlé consolidated internal traceability information to create a stronger basis for assessing sourcing locations and linking them to nature-related datasets.

2. Identify material biodiversity pressures

   Nestlé started with its double materiality results and broader biodiversity assessment work to identify where upstream land-related pressures were most significant across the supply chain.

3. Establish a baseline pressure indicator

   Nestlé introduced land footprint in agriculture as a baseline metric to quantify the agricultural land associated with sourcing and provide a more credible basis for disclosure and assessment.

4. Develop a prioritization metric

   Nestlé combined footprint data with geospatial and biodiversity-related information to identify priority ecosystems and rank sourcing regions according to relative risk and sensitivity.

5. Integrate outputs into existing processes

   Rather than creating a standalone biodiversity workflow, Nestlé applies these metrics through existing responsible sourcing and supplier engagement processes. Improved map-based visualization of sourcing, risk, and interventions is intended to help internal teams use the insights more effectively for data-driven focus and action.

6. Refine over time

   Nestlé continues to strengthen the approach by improving data quality, increasing the use of primary data and refining how metrics guide where to act and how to intervene.

Stakeholders Involved

• Internal: Biodiversity and ESG reporting teams, procurement teams, responsible sourcing leads and operational teams involved in data collection or implementation, leveraging existing governance and decision-making processes.

• External: Engagement with suppliers and technical partners to collect data, improve practices, monitor compliance, and scale Nestlé’s actions on the ground through responsible sourcing and regenerative agriculture practices. Methodological guidance and engagement with frameworks such as Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) and Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).

Key Parameters To Consider

• Foundational parameters

  A credible starting point requires a sufficient traceability base, adequate data coverage, and access to datasets that can be linked to sourcing locations. It also depends on internal capacity and long-term commitment to maintain, refine and embed the approach over time.

• Methodology parameters

  When designing the approach, companies need to define the purpose of the metrics, determine how different datasets and indicators will be combined, and ensure that outputs are usable for strategic and operational choices across functions such as procurement and responsible sourcing.

• Ongoing considerations

  Because biodiversity methodologies remain evolving and non-prescriptive, companies should expect continuing refining their approach as data quality improves, internal systems mature, and external guidance develops further.

Implementation And Operations Tips

• Choose metrics that serve both reporting and management needs.

• Embed biodiversity into existing sourcing, procurement, and climate processes rather than creating a separate workflow.

• Translate technical outputs into practical tools such as clear maps, visual summaries, and decision-focused outputs.

Nestlé's Non-Financial Statement 2025