Nestlé to introduce Nutri-Score nutrition labelling in Europe

Nestlé has announced plans to use Nutri-Score nutrition labelling in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland, starting in the first half of 2020.

The company will implement Nutri-Score across brands of its wholly owned businesses over a two-year period. In total, more than 5,000 products in the five countries will feature Nutri-Score.

Cereal Partners Worldwide, the international breakfast venture between Nestlé and General Mills, will also implement Nutri-Score on its product packaging in the same countries.

Nutri-Score is a voluntary front-of-pack scheme that classifies food and beverages according to their nutritional profile. It is a colour-coded system with a scale ranging from A (healthier choices) to E (less healthy choices).

“Our ambition is to have one of the healthiest options in every product category we offer,” said Marco Settembri, CEO of Nestlé for Europe, Middle East and North Africa. “Nutri-Score will motivate us and help track our progress.

“I am proud that Nestlé is the first company to roll out Nutri-Score at this scale in Europe. We now want to move quickly as we are sure this is the right way forward.”

Brands such as KitKat, Maggi and Buitoni will feature the labels.

Nestlé and Cereal Partners Worldwide are beginning the roll-out of Nutri-Score in those European countries that already support the system. The two companies said they are ready to implement it in further countries that request it. 

Nestlé brands on which Nutri-Score labels will appear include Garden Gourmet, Nesquik, Buitoni, Nescafé, Maggi and KitKat.

Cereal Partners Worldwide will use Nutri-Score on its breakfast cereals, including Fitness and Chocapic.

David Clark, president and CEO of Cereal Partners Worldwide, said: “Our pursuit of a better breakfast is never finished. As leaders in the breakfast cereal sector, we can help everyone have a healthy, nutritious and tasty start to the day with our cereals.

“Our consumers are at the heart of this quest – past, present and future. That’s why we’re using Nutri-Score to guide the development and communication of the nutritional value of our products.”