ONE of York’s top employers is holding a week of activity looking at how the actions it takes as it seeks to be a more responsible business the products its customers buy in the shops.

Nestle UK & Ireland is in the middle of running a digital campaign which uses facts, statistics and graphics to demonstrate how five of its iconic brands - including Kitkats, made at its factory in York - have been shaped by improvements the company has made.

The five key areas Nestle has focused on are nutrition, rural development, water, environmental sustainability and people.

The activity, across Nestle.co.uk and on Twitter through @NestleUKNews, started with a look at the 80-year-old KitKat brand, before moving on to Nescafe, Buxton Water, Nestle breakfast cereals, and finally Rowntree’s sweets, which though originating in York are now produced in the north-east of England.

KitKats now have a maximum of 250 kilocalories in all single-serve products, with a two-finger bar having 106 kilocalories, with nutritional information on the packaging so people can make an informed choice.

Under the ‘rural development’ heading, KitKat is the first confectionery brand in the world to source 100 per cent certified sustainable cocoa through the Nestle Cocoa Plan, and the company also works with Scottish First Milk farmers to improve the sustainability of their holdings.

A project at Nestle’s York factory is saving 5,000 cubic metres of water by reducing losses and recovering waste water.

The factory has in addition achieved zero waste for disposal, and a project with Sheffield Hallam University to improve waste heat recovery is making energy savings of 15 per cent per year. Also under environmental sustainability, Nestle has planted a wildflower meadow at its York site, as have seven dairy farmers who supply milk for KitKats.

Under the ‘people’ heading, through the Cocoa Plan Nestle works with the Fair Labor Association to eliminate all forms of child labour from its supply chain, and the company has built or refurbished 40 years in four years in West Africa, giving access to education to 11,000 children so far.

It said that since 2013 it had offered more than 300 employment opportunities to young people at its York site, which had received more than £50 million in investment to create a manufacturing facility “fit for competitive production for both the UK and overseas markets”.

Fiona Kendrick, chairman and chief executive of Nestle UK & Ireland, said: “The reality is that everything we do to improve and enhance Nestle’s impact on society can be seen in our products; whether that’s the people who make them, the way we source our ingredients or even the way we power our factories.”