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The great story of Henri Nestlé | Nestlé

Our founder Henri Nestlé

Henri Nestlé’s sense of scientific innovation, combined with an instinct for marketing and a global ambition continues to shape and drive the company today.

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Henri Nestlé

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A portrait of Henri Nestlé (1867)
A portrait of Henri Nestlé (1867)
A portrait of Henri Nestlé (1867)
Henri Nestlé started as a pharmacist’s apprentice. In the late 1860s, troubled by the high infant death rate, he used his scientific knowledge to create an infant formula. By the time he was 60, the Nestlé company was an international success. And his milk-based baby food, Farine Lactée, was being sold across five continents.
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Meet Clémentine Therese Nestlé (1867)
Meet Clémentine Therese Nestlé (1867)
Meet Clémentine Therese Nestlé (1867)
Henri Nestlé's wife Clémentine played an important role in the development of the infant cereal business. As the daughter of a charity doctor, she recognized the potential of the new invention. Her great personal commitment and dedication helped expand the family business far beyond the borders of Switzerland.
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The Nestlé trademark (1868)
The Nestlé trademark (1868)
The Nestlé trademark (1868)
Gifted with a strong instinct for marketing, Henri Nestlé recognized the importance of branding from the very beginning. His logo, which features baby birds being fed in a nest, was based on his family’s crest. That initial image has been updated over the years. Yet it still remains the recognizable and distinctive logo of Nestlé today.
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Vevey: home to the Nestlé business
Vevey: home to the Nestlé business
Vevey: home to the Nestlé business
Henri Nestlé began his business in the small Swiss lakeside town of Vevey. There was an abundance of fresh milk in the local area, which he used to start creating his infant cereal. A lot has changed since 1870. But Vevey is still home to Nestlé’s global headquarters today.
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Vevey’s Pharmacie Centrale
Vevey’s Pharmacie Centrale
Vevey’s Pharmacie Centrale
Henri Nestlé’ was a pharmacist’s assistant in Vevey between 1839 and 1843. His training in chemistry shaped his attitude and his future approach to business. As a constant innovator, he experimented with the production of everything from lemonade to cement, before focusing on infant cereal. In the late 1860s he invented Farine Lactée, a product that would change his fortune and the world.
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