Henri Nestlé chose his own coat of arms to represent the company's philosophy: a bird's nest, with a mother feeding her young.

The image represents our core values: care, family values, nutrition, healthy growth, safety and comfort. It is a guarantee of quality and a commitment to our responsibilities as a food company and experts in nutrition.

Over the years we have reaffirmed our commitment to wellness, helping our consumers to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives, no matter their age, gender or socioeconomic status.

Three vital ingredients lie at the heart of Nestlé and come together in our brands: our people, our research and development, and our commitment to quality.

The 250,000 dedicated people who make up the Nestlé family are our source of strength and energy. Realising this, we offer them constant professional development, and feel our cultural diversity is one of our greatest assets.

Today, we are one of the largest investors in food technology. R&D is the cornerstone of the Nestlé guarantee of quality.

We consider quality in three key dimensions: health, sensory pleasure, and social applicability. Thus we try to provide nutritious, tasty meals that offer value and are culturally relevant.

As the world changes, we at Nestlé evolve and adapt to new circumstances and environments. Nevertheless our business practices are founded on certain tenets that reflect the basic ideas of fairness, honesty, and concern for people.

We are committed to the following business principles in all countries, taking into account local legislation, cultural and religious practices:

• Nestlé's business objective is to manufacture and market the Company's products in such a way as to create value that can be sustained over the long term for shareholders, employees, consumers, and business partners.

• Nestlé does not favour short-term profit at the expense of successful long-term business development.

• Nestlé recognises that its consumers have a sincere and legitimate interest in the behaviour, beliefs and actions of the Company behind brands in which they place their trust, and that, without its consumers, the Company would not exist.

• Nestlé believes that, as a general rule, legislation is the most effective safeguard of responsible conduct, although in certain areas, additional guidance to staff in the form of voluntary business principles is beneficial in order to ensure that the highest standards are met throughout the organisation.

• Nestlé is conscious of the fact that the success of a corporation is a reflection of the professionalism, conduct and the responsible attitude of its management and employees. Therefore, recruitment of the right people and ongoing training and development are crucial.