Nestlé S.A. (French pronunciation: [nɛsle]) is a multinational packaged food company founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, and listed on the SWX Swiss Exchange with a turnover of over 87 billion Swiss francs. It originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company for milk products established in 1866 by the Page Brothers in Cham, Switzerland, and the Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé Company set up in 1866 by Henri Nestlé to provide an infant food product. The two world wars both affected growth: during the first, dried milk was widely used but the second war caused profits to drop by around 70%.

However, sales of the instant coffee Nescafé were boosted by the US military. After the wars, growth was stimulated by acquisitions expanding its range and taking control of several well known brands, so they now include Maggi, Thomy and Nescafé, that are known globally. Today, in English-speaking countries, "Nestlé" is most commonly pronounced /ˈnɛstli/).

However, the original pronunciation was /ˈnɛsəl/, as in the English verb "nestle". This pronunciation was common throughout much of the 20th century, but changes in its spoken form in advertising influenced it to become more akin to its native pronunciation [nɛsle] in French-speaking Switzerland. The old pronunciation, however, is still used today in some regions such as the Black Country.

"Nestle" in Alemannic German (Alemannisch - as spoken in southwestern Germany and in Switzerland) refers to a small nest (Nest being the same word in English and German). The -le ending to German words in the Alemannic dialect implies that the newly formed word is a smaller version of its original.

Similar to 0 things you like: