Nestle USA, the maker of Haagen-Dazs, Baby Ruth, Lean Cuisine and dozens of other brands, is moving its U.S. headquarters to the Rosslyn area of Arlington, Va., adding roughly 750 jobs to a part of Virginia struggling with widespread office vacancies.
The world's largest packaged-food company -- which bills itself as a nutrition, health and wellness company -- will move into the region's tallest building, which has remained vacant since it was completed in late 2013. Nestle was drawn to the area, executives say, by its proximity to lawmakers, regulators and lobbyists -- and more than $16 million in state and county subsidies.
"Frankly, this brings us closer to the heartbeat of our industry," said Paul Grimwood, chairman and chief executive of Nestle USA, which is part of the global giant Nestle SA, based in Vevey, Switzerland. "It allows us to collaborate not just with consumers but also with other important stakeholders in Washington and on Capitol Hill."
The company's U.S. headquarters is in Glendale, Calif., where it has come under fire in recent years for bottling water during the state's record multiyear drought. In 2015, Nestle -- which has nine brands of water, including Arrowhead -- bottled 36 million gallons of water for sale, prompting public criticism and at least one lawsuit.
Nestle, founded in 1866, has built itself into a global powerhouse with worldwide sales of around $90 billion in 2015. In addition to Nestle Crunch, Butterfinger and Toll House, the company's brands include Hot Pockets, DiGiorno, Nescafe, Boost, Gerber and Purina.
With Nestle's move, the mid-Atlantic region will now boast three major candymakers. Mars, the privately held maker of Snickers, Milky Way and M&M's, is based in McLean, Va., and Hershey is in Pennsylvania.
In recent years, Nestle has made a steady push to remove unnatural flavors and colors from its chocolate bars and reduce the sugar in its Nesquik drink powders. It also has invested in health care companies and medical-device manufacturers, and earlier this year it brought in Ulf Mark Schneider, a former health care executive, as chief executive of its global operations.
Virginia officials wooed Nestle for over a year, said Gov. Terry McAuliffe. The company considered 20 locations across the country but by October had narrowed its search to Rosslyn and Atlanta.
"Relocation of the Nestle USA headquarters was under consideration before the election cycle," said Lisa Gibby, a Nestle spokesman. "We made the decision to come to Washington independent of the election of the president."
Ultimately, Grimwood said, the state's incentive package, combined with easy access to transportation and Arlington's reputation for good public schools, helped seal the deal.
The move takes Nestle closer to its customers and its production facilities -- 80 percent of the company's U.S. products are sold east of the Mississippi River, where three-fourths of its 87 U.S. factories are based, Grimwood said. It also helps move U.S. executives closer to the company's global headquarters and supports the company's government-related efforts. Nestle spent more than $16 million lobbying Congress between 2012 and 2016 on issues related to environmental regulations, trade and labor, according to public records.
Business on 02/02/2017