Paul Bulcke is Chairman of the Board of Directors, Nestlé S.A.
Born in Roeselare in western Belgium, Mr Bulcke graduated from the University of Leuven (Belgium) with a degree in commercial engineering, followed by a postgraduate in the Vlerick Management School.
After a brief period as a financial analyst with Scott Graphics International in Belgium, Paul Bulcke joined the Nestlé Group in Vevey, Switzerland, as a marketing trainee in 1979.
Over the next sixteen years he held various positions in marketing and sales, and as division head, in Peru, Ecuador and Chile, before moving to Portugal as Market Head followed by the Czech and Slovak Republic, and finally Germany.
In July 2004, Paul Bulcke joined the Nestlé Executive Board as Executive Vice President with responsibility for Zone Americas, where he played a decisive role in transforming this region into the Group’s largest and most profitable zone.
In 2008, and with a career of almost 30 years with the Nestlé Group, Paul Bulcke was appointed Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Bulcke is a board member of Roche Holding Ltd., Vice-Chairman of Nestlé Health Science S.A. and of Nestlé Skin Health S.A. and co-chairman of the Supervisory Board of Cereal Partners Worldwide. He is member of the Consumer Goods Forum Board of Directors and of the Governance Committee, member of the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council and of the European Roundtable of Industrialists (ERT). He is also member of the Board of Trustees, Avenir Suisse, the JP Morgan International Council and the IMD Foundation Board.
Married with three children, he speaks six languages and enjoys various activities, including flying and hiking.
“We are proud to be part of Champions 12.3. I am convinced that by working together, we can develop effective solutions to reduce food loss and waste, to help the world meet Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3. Nestlé will play its part. Bold action is what matters, and we are already committed to sending zero waste for disposal from our sites by 2020. Such actions benefit society by supporting rural development, water conservation and food security, and help us ensure that our sourcing is more sustainable.” — Paul Bulcke
The Nestlé Commitment to Reduce Food Loss and Waste
As the leading nutrition, health and wellness company, Nestlé is committed to further playing its part in helping to reduce food loss and waste. Not only will this help Nestlé secure supplies of the agricultural raw materials it sources, but it will also have a positive impact on society by supporting rural development, water conservation and food security. This is in line with Nestlé’s Creating Shared Value approach to doing business.
In 2015, Nestlé launched The Nestlé Commitment to reduce food loss and waste. This public commitment serves to guide and align Nestlé’s efforts to address food loss and waste.
Prevention, minimisation and valorisation
Nestlé is continuously making efforts to improve the environmental performance of its operations in order to preserve natural resources and to be successful in the long term. Since 2005, it has reduced total waste for disposal from its factories by 62 percent. With 105 Nestlé factories achieving zero waste for disposal at the end of 2015, now Nestlé is working towards zero waste for disposal in its sites by 2020.
Nestlé also looks to the beginning of its supply chain on environmental issues, supporting farming communities where it sources agricultural raw materials to help them avoid pre-harvest losses through yield improvement and reduce post-harvest losses through optimizing delivery of raw materials up to the factory. For example, in 2015 Nestlé distributed 26.8 million high-yield, disease-resistant coffee plantlets to farmers, taking its cumulative total to 100.7 million.
To further reduce food losses and waste occurring in its supply chain, Nestlé analysed all potential causes of milk wastage in its dairy supply chain in Pakistan, applying the Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard. The total milk loss in the company’s supply chain was estimated to be only 1.4 percent, significantly lower than average country estimates. Indeed, approximately 15 to 19 percent of milk sold by Pakistani farmers is wasted in route to the market, according to a 2004 Asian Development Bank report. Nestlé found that sharing best practices among farmers contributes to an increase in milk production and less milk being rejected by chilling centres, while improved management at the retail stage could further reduce product losses.
Information and education
At the end of the supply chain, Nestlé helps to raise awareness among consumers on the issue of food waste. Nestlé wants to help consumers make informed choices through credible, substantiated communication and by providing tips and recipes that can help them reduce food waste. Nestlé has also been developing creative solutions that can help consumers make the most of leftovers. These include a range of different doughs that can be filled with leftover food from the fridge, while in France, Maggi has brought out a smartphone app full of recipes and ideas to use leftovers.
Stakeholder engagement and partnerships
Moreover, Nestlé is committed to proactive long-term engagement and partnerships – directly and through industry – with stakeholders, including regulators, scientists, customers, business partners, civil society organizations and the community, in order to define, implement and evaluate solutions to food loss and waste. For example, Nestlé has co-steered on behalf of CGF the development of the Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard and actively participated in its launch in June 2016. This global standard initiated by the World Resources Institute allows companies, countries and other interested organisations to quantify food loss and waste in a harmonised way.
These actions contribute to ensuring that Nestlé products are not only tastier and healthier but also better for the environment along the entire value chain.