Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of Nestlé, has repeatedly warned that water is becoming a scarce resource. Water tables are falling particularly fast in regions where agricultural output is increasing, such as in India. “The water crisis that seems possible within the next 10 to 20 years will therefore quite probably trigger significant shortfalls in cereal production and, as a result, a massive global food crisis,” he says.
A member of the European Roundtable of Industrialists and of the World Economic Forum’s foundation board, Brabeck-Letmathe has not been shy about using his public platforms to speak out on water issues. But what is Nestlé itself doing to conserve water? McKinsey Quarterly asked Peter Brabeck-Letmathe in October. His written responses to our questions follow.