Nestlé S.A. is a Swiss multinational nutritional, snack food, and health-related consumer goods company headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It is the largest food company in the world measured by revenues. Nestlé’s products include baby food, bottled water, breakfast cereals, coffee, confectionery, dairy products, ice cream, pet foods and snacks.
Nestlé owns the coffee brands Nescafé and Nespresso as well as the chocolate and confectionary brands Kit Kat, Areo, Rowntree and Smarties, to name a few.
Nestlé was formed in 1905 by the merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company and Farine Lactée Henry Nestlé. The company originally specialized in condensed milk and infant formula products before branching out into other areas, mainly coffee, cereals and confectionary.
Like other companies that were formed around the turn of the 20th century, Nestlé experienced major growth and success throughout the First World War and the Second World War, the latter being mainly due to the launch of their immensely successful instant coffee brand, Nescafé.
In recent years, Nestlé has been refocusing and rebranding as a nutrition and wellness company. Current areas that Nestlé is involved include skincare and weight loss as well as nutritional products designed for people with genetic or chronic disorders.