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Globally, for nearly 150 years, Nestlé’s mission has been all about enhancing people’s lives wherever they may live by offering the highest quality of tasty and healthy food and beverage choices at all stages of life and at all times of the day.
Our heritage in the Middle East goes back over 80 years to 1934 when the first import operation was set up in Lebanon. Building a foundation of trust among consumers has since made us the region’s leading Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company. Today, Nestlé owns and operates 18 factories that cater to the region, and provides direct employment to more than 11,000 people, more than half of whom work for Nestlé Waters. Nestlé also provides indirect employment to several thousand more.
The Nestlé Middle East entity itself was formed in 1997, with headquarters in the United Arab Emirates, consolidating the Company’s presence in the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), Levant (Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Syria), Iran, Iraq and Yemen – covering a population of over 220 million.
With total investments in the region of US $400 million over the last five years, for Nestlé, the Middle East means growth, future potential, talent, and innovation. It also means a challenging business, considering security and political volatility in the region, which reflects directly on the wellbeing of its people.
Nestlé understands the health challenges of the region and ensures that our products cater to the latest nutrition recommendations for healthy living. Nestlé’s mission is to enhance people’s quality of life with good food and beverages everywhere. In the Middle East, we strive to do that by offering an array of tasty and healthy products that meet local needs for quality, safety, taste and pleasure – while addressing specific nutritional requirements to help achieve healthyand balanced diets across all life stages.
Nestlé Products in the Middle East
The Nestlé portfolio in the Middle East currently exceeds 60 innovative product brands in a wide range of categories: dairy and
infant nutrition, bottled water, chocolate and confectionery, coffee, creamers, breakfast cereals, culinary products, and pet food, among others. Nestlé Nido, Nestlé NAN, S-26, Progress, Maggi, Nescafé, Kit Kat, Coffeemate, Nestlé Cerelac, Nestlé Pure Life, Nespresso and Nestlé Fitness are just some of the brands available in the Middle East.
Nestlé in Lebanon – heritage and trust
Nestlé operations in Lebanon employ close to 200 people and encompass sales, warehousing and distribution. The local operations also provide indirect employment to almost 150 more people.
A heritage of over 80 years in the country has developed trust and love for our wide range of food and beverage brands, all of which are more and more available in over 5,000 stores across all governorates, thanks to ongoing widening of distribution into more remote areas.
In addition, Nestlé Waters bottles and distributes two brands, Nestlé Pure Life, which is bottled in the Ain Zhalta factory near the Shouf Cedar Reserve, and Sohat, which is bottled in Falougha and distributed in Lebanon and the Middle East since 1971. To promote compliance in trading and address counterfeiting through strategic collaborations, Nestlé signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Lebanese Directorate General of Customs that aims to fight against counterfeiting and smuggling.
