Reference no: EM133031490

Projects have been started by Nestlé, the beer conglomerate SABMiller, and a number of mining companies.

The increasing involvement of business in the management of global water resources has led the UN Global Compact to set up a special forum called 'The CEO Water Mandate'. Here, CEOs of many major companies, including those mentioned in this case, have committed themselves to implement sustainable water management practices in their operations. 

Beverage companies have raised further criticism for their heavy investment in another increasingly contentious business, bottled water. For Nestlé, for example, its main beverage business is in bottled water, and the firm markets more than 70 brands globally, including the iconic Perrier and Vittel brands. The main ethical concerns faced by companies such as Nestlé in the marketing of bottled water centre around issues of wastefulness (it currently takes approximately three litres of water to produce one litre of bottled water), packaging, transport costs, the exploitation of non-renewable aquifers (such as the water from the Fiji Islands), and, more generally, the fact that in most developed countries where bottled water is sold, tap water is a perfectly healthy and adequate alternative. Nestlé's contention that 'bottled water is the most environmentally responsible consumer product in the world'! Further embarrassments ensued for the company in 2008 when a Swiss television station revealed that Nestlé had hired a security firm to spy on the NGO ATTAC, with a particular focus on a Brazilian activist who had targeted the company's bottled water operations in Brazil. 

QUESTION:

1. Describe and assess the role of Nestlé in this case in terms of CSR. 
2. Critically assess Nestlé's contention that 'bottled water is the most environmentally responsible consumer product in the world.