Nestlé continued to progress towards its net-zero target, surpassing its near‑term climate target in 2025 and expanding its regenerative agriculture sourcing.
The largest food and beverage company also reduced methane emissions by over 20% year over year, mostly through dairy and livestock interventions. SBTi scope 3 FLAG emissions – in which methane is a major component – dropped by nearly a third against baseline.
Nestlé 2025 environmental reductions
24.52% net GHG emissions reduction vs baseline
32.4% reduction in Scope 3 FLAG (Forest, Land & Agriculture) emissions
17.0% reduction in Scope 1, 2 & 3 energy/industry emissions
98.6% renewable electricity across manufacturing, R&D and distribution sites
28.0% cut in virgin plastic use vs baseline
2.9 million m³ water use reduction in factories (with 2.0 million m³ saved in water‑stressed areas)
96.7% of primary supply chains assessed as deforestation‑free (meat, palm oil, pulp & paper, soy, sugar, cocoa, coffee)
27.6% of key ingredients sourced from farmers using regenerative agriculture
Here are four takeaways from the Swiss major’s environmental disclosures.
Nestlé beats its regenerative ag target
In 2025, the CPG major surpassed its internal target for sourcing from regenerative ag producers. The company was aiming to source 20% of ingredients from farmers who adopt regenerative practices by 2025 – and achieved 27.6% instead. The company is next aiming to expand this share to 50% by 2030.
As part of its regenerative efforts, dairy and livestock sourcing and farming-based interventions reduced GHG emissions by around 17% versus baseline, the company said, while soil and forest sourcing and farming-based interventions brought in reductions of around 37%.
Share of packaging emissions rises
Nestlé achieved an overall reduction in its absolute emissions from packaging, but the share of these emissions across the group increased slightly versus baseline – highlighting slower overall progress in that domain. This means Nestlé’s GHG packaging footprint rose from 11.5% to 12.9% since 2018.
This is due to a mix of factors. For one, Nestlé’s packaging needs remain significant: the company used 3.3 million tons of packaging last year, and 318 billion packaging pieces were placed on the market.
Secondly, food-grade recycled polymers are in short supply while recycled materials are also more energy-intensive to produce – raising packaging lifecycle emissions even when recycled content increases.
The latter is further complicated by the fact that global recycling systems continue to be underdeveloped, in turn causing manufacturers to resort to virgin materials.
Reusable packaging across Nestlé’s portfolio is also extremely low – at under 1% (0.51%) – further increasing reliance on virgin or recycled materials.
Responsible cocoa and egg sourcing slips
Supply shocks derailed Nestlé’s responsible sourcing targets across cocoa and eggs.
In 2025, the CPG major expected to source all of its cocoa volumes through producers that adhere to its Nestlé Cocoa Plan – but fell just short, at around 96%.
“Our performance by the end of 2025, reflects the steps we have taken to strengthen our processes,” said the company. “This has occurred alongside challenges in the global cocoa supply chain (caused by increased market volatility), supply shortages, and the need to secure a continuity of cocoa supply for our products. We are incorporating lessons learned from the challenges outlined above as we work on our plans for the coming years.”
As for eggs, Nestlé increased the volume of cage-free eggs to around 82% (up from around 74% in 2024) but remained below its 100% target. The company said switching to cage-free eggs entirely was “currently not feasible in certain geographies due to limited availability and an uncertain market-enabling environment”.
Reformulation efforts fall short of expectations
Recipe reformulation is one of Nestlé’s key decarbonisation levers and part of its strategy to lower scope 3 emissions from ingredients and products.
The company’s efforts revolve around using plant-based proteins as alternatives to animal-derived ingredients; shifting to lower‑emission dairy and livestock ingredients, and reducing reliance on ingredients tied to deforestation.
During R&D, the company considers how recipe reformulation impacts emissions, including the lifecycle emissions of ingredients.
In 2025, just 6% of Nestlé’s GHG emissions reductions came as a result of recipe reformulation: an outcome that didn’t match Nestlé’s expectations.
The company noted that portfolio transformation – especially reformulation – is delivering “less than initially expected in the short-term”. This is due to constraints around taste, nutritional value, texture and manufacturing processes.
Overall, Nestlé’s sustainability efforts remain central to the company’s operational strategy, but progress, expectedly, isn’t always linear: highlighting the need for further innovation in ingredients and climate-friendly farming, sourcing and packaging solutions.
