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Our Response to COVID-19

At Nestlé Canada, the health and safety of our employees, our consumers and our partners has always been our highest priority and never more so than during this challenging time.

OUR RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS

We are in unchartered territory and for months, together, we have been acting swiftly to lessen the impact of COVID-19. As a food and beverage company, our work has never been more important than it is right now as we play a critical role in delivering the products that Canadians depend on.

The health and safety of our employees, our consumers and our partners has always been our number one priority, which has been especially evident throughout this pandemic. At the onset of the pandemic, we made significant safety enhancements to our factories and distribution centres immediately and swiftly to ensure the safety of our employees who are essential in making and distributing food for Canadians across the country. As individuals and as a company we have adjusted our routines and ways of operating:

  • We have a flexible Work from Home policy and over the last few weeks, our office employees have moved to home-based work
  • Our KIT KAT CHOCOLATORY and Nespresso boutiques have reopened safely
  • In addition to our normal strict standards, we have taken significant measures to enhance the safety & hygiene across all our operations - including our factories, offices and distribution centres. We have reconfigured the lines and processes to ensure a two-metre physical distance, enhanced cleaning, implementation of PPEs and a number of other safety enhancements
  • We are working  with  our  supply  chain,  distribution  and  retail  partners to meet demand for our products
  • The health and safety of our employees is our top priority and any employee who is feeling unwell is directed to stay home
  • Only essential people enter our facilities and when they do, they follow our mandatory and rigorous protocols 

 

OUR PEOPLE

We want to thank and acknowledge all of our dedicated employees who are the heart of our organization, and work tirelessly to ensure that our products continue to be available to Canadians. Our teams have come together with speed and agility to ensure measures are in place to enhance the safety and wellness in all our operations and manufacturing practices, and we could not be more proud.

To acknowledge the efforts of these employees, during the most challenging days of the crisis, we were one of the first companies globally and in Canada to institute a temporary increase of $3/hour effective March 16, 2020 for our factory, distribution and service teams. At this time, we also instituted a monthly bonus for factory salaried employees. Also, employees in our retail operations which were temporarily closed, received full pay up to twelve weeks. We are fortunate we can control most of the variables coming into our factories. For more information, please refer to our press release

Despite the uncertainty that rests in our near future, please know that we remain dedicated to making the food and beverages that Canadians need and are working closely with our retail partners to ensure that products are available on store shelves.  

SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITIES

In challenging times such as these, we understand that our communities need our help more than ever. At Nestlé Canada, we are proud to be supporting our charitable partners, Food Banks Canada, the Canadian Red Cross and Kids Help Phone with product and/or monetary donations:

Food Banks Canada

Food banks are on the front lines doing critical work ensuring that the most vulnerable Canadians receive access to food. They are facing funding shortages and a loss of volunteers that they desperately rely on due to social distancing guidelines. That is why, we are proud to donate over $2 million in food donations to Food Banks Canada – an organization that has seen a significant increase in demand from millions of vulnerable families. Our contribution includes much-needed items such as bottled water, baby/infant food and pet food to support local shelters. For more information, please refer to our press release here.

CDN Red Cross

In addition, as part of a larger global initiative with the International Federation of the Red Cross organization, Nestlé Canada is also pleased to be donating $150,000 to the Canadian Red Cross to support its response to COVID-19. These initiatives include:

  • Distribution of emergency supplies such as cots, blankets and hygiene kits as requested by local authorities, in response to COVID-19 as well as future emergencies including floods and wildfires;
  • Support for Red Cross personnel providing comfort and care for Canadians; and
  • Support with call centres to help people through the uncertainty by providing well-being support, key information, and referrals to available community services.
Kids Help Phone

Nestlé Canada has been a long-standing partner of Kids Help Phone, Canada’s only 24/7, national support service for young people. As a Founding Partner of Kids Help Phone, Nestlé Canada has increased financial support to enhance the charity’s capabilities to respond to the increased volume of calls, texts and emails from vulnerable youth who are experiencing anxiety, isolation and fear with this new, uncertain world. In addition, Nestlé continues to be able to respond to various requests for product from local healthcare and emergency services to support front line workers. 

We ask you to join us in helping our community and consider making a donation to Food Banks Canada, the Canadian Red Cross and Kids Help Phone.

In addition:

Nestlé continues to be able to respond to various product requests and has donated thousands of cases of water to local foodbanks and homeless shelters, like the Seeds of Hope Foundation, with additional food and water donations to various healthcare and emergency services to support our frontline workers.

Nestlé Professional has been lending support to our community to get products to the United Way to help with food provision at their locations that continue to provide meal service. Nestlé Professional along with Nestlé’s Confectionery and Beverages teams are also supporting Torontonians by donating over $2 million dollars with of food products to “Bringing Toronto back to its feet,” a Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment initiative that prepares and delivers meals to hospitals and shelters across the GTA.

During this crisis, Nestlé Purina PetCare Canada continues to support pets and the people who love them, dedicating resources to shelters and rescues across the country. To date, Nestlé Purina PetCare Canada has donated more than 200,000 meals to shelter and rescue pets in need to ensure animals waiting for their forever homes are well fed.

Nestlé’s mission has not changed: we remain dedicated to enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future, for individuals and families, for our thriving and resilient communities, and for our planet. In these times of need, we will prioritize supporting and caring for those who need it most.

We will update this page as the situation develops.