April 26, 2021: -Nestle is maintaining growth even after committing billions of dollars to improve the company’s environmental footprint, CEO Mark Schneider told CNBC on Thursday.

“Today’s consumer asks for sustainability more than before. They want to know that we are treating the planet well; if we’re taking care of the coming generation,” he said in an interview with Jim Cramer.

As laid out in its sustainability strategy, Nestle is planning to reduce emissions within its business and supply chains, taking out its carbon footprint by the year 2050.

In the near term, the food and beverage maker from Switzerland, whose portfolio includes Gerber, KitKat, and Nespresso, has announced its moves to end its dependence on deforestation by the coming year and shift operations entirely renewable electricity by 2025.

According to its website, Nestle is advocating for regenerative agriculture practices and campaigning to plant 20 million trees each year.  “The younger, the better educated and the wealthier consumer, the more interested they are in environmentally sound products and practices,” Schneider said.

“Digital these days means that there’s total transparency about your supply chain, so people do understand what you’re doing for the planet, and they reward the companies that are leading this trend,” he added.

The comments come after the first quarter results report of a consumer-packaged-goods company that well exceeded the expectations of Wall Street. Switzerland-based Nestle reported organic growth of 7.7% from the same quarter last year, above double the expected growth rate of 3.3%.

Compared to its levels before the pandemic, Nestle’s total revenue of nearly $23 billion in the first three months was 5% more than the year 2019. Shares of Nestle increased 2.38% on Thursday, closing the session at $119.71.