In a ceremony at the Natural History Museum in London, the company was particularly praised for its work around disability in France. The manufacturer is one of the signatories of the first Disability Group Agreement in the French food industry, ensuring disabled people have equal access to job opportunities in the sector.
The judges, who included Google head of diversity and inclusion EMEA Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe, praised Nestlé for "enabling management and social workers to address other key issues that go beyond disability, such as stress in the workplace and longer working lives".
Other winners on the night included healthcare provider Novartis, who walked away with the award for outstanding employee network group for their Diversability Support Network.
European Diversity Awards founder and managing director Linda Riley said all those nominated should "rightly feel proud" of their contribution to diversity in the workplace.
"I am particularly pleased with the number of businesses that were nominated," she said. "These business leaders are dynamic and reflect the huge efforts corporate organisations are now making to improve diversity and inclusion. We should never forget how far we've come but there is still much more to do."
Full list of 2014 European Diversity Award winners:
Hero of the Year: Councillor Rabina Khan (Independent Tower Hamlets Councillor & community worker)
Campaigner of the Year: Igor Kochetkov (Chairman, Russian LGBT network)
Community Project of the Year: West End Women's and Girl's Centre
Diversity Champion of the Year: Aongus Hegarty(President Europe, Middle East & Africa) DELL
Journalist of the Year: Evan Davis / Ade Adepitan (joint winner)
Most Inclusive Employer of the Year: Nestle
Marketing Campaign of the Year: Barclays
Company of the Year: Royal Air Force
Outstanding Employee Network Group: Diversability Support Network (Novartis)
Charity of the Year: Caretrade Charitable Trust
Inspirational Role Model of the Year: Sophie Ward (actress and gay parenting advocate)
Diversity Team of the Year: BBC Expert Women Campaign Team
Supplier Diversity of the Year: IBM
Global Diversity Award: Sylvia Ann Hewlett (economist, author and expert on gender and workplace issues)
Lifetime Achievement Award: April Ashley MBE
