What’s Wrong with Nestlé?
Nestlé boycott, March 21-28, 2025.
Remember that a week-long boycott is symbolic. It does not affect the company’s bottom line and will not harm workers there. The point is to put the worst corporate actors on notice that Americans know the corporations are not being responsible.
What does Nestlé do that makes it worthy of boycott?
- Slave and Child Labor
- Dealing with Dictators
- Price Fixing, Pollution, Poison, and More
- Water Bottling Issues: Bottled water is a bad idea in general. It takes about 1.4 gallons (5.3 liters) of water to produce a typical single-use water or soda bottle. [source: foodprint.org] Nestlé makes a water product called PureLife that has drawn so much water out of water-sources that local people no longer have water for themselves. It’s happened overseas and in America (Flint, MI).
- Baby Formula scandal : This is where I first heard about Nestlé as a bad- actor. Back in the 70’s, Nestle aggressively started selling baby formula. Yes, some babies need formula, but the marketing discouraged breast feeding.
The boycott in the 1970’s was because Nestlé marketed formula in developing countries where it could not be used (because there was not a reliable water supply!) One study says that infant mortality increased by 27% in places where there was no clean water supply; these babies might have survived on their mother’s milk, but that natural milk dried up when the mothers depended on formula. The boycott lasted seven years.
This site, Done Good, has the details. Even more details about Nestlé
My history with Nestlé:
When I was a child, Nestlé made my favorite chocolate bars, the best hot chocolate, and the best chocolate milk (Quik). They had a spokes-puppet who was adorable, named Farfel. Ask any baby boomer: “N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestlés makes the very best.. chocolate.”
When I was a teen, I coveted a Nescafé world cup. I finally got one in college. The advertising for the instant coffee was exotic. “If Nescafé can please the whole wide world, it can sure please you.” The coffee was miserable (but this was the age of instant coffee).
By the time I was truly an adult, I had outgrown instant coffee and sugary milk chocolate. I never got into the habit of bottled water (mostly because I am frugal and it seemed like a waste of money as well as a misuse of plastic). So, Nestlé and I parted company long ago, to a large extent.
However, if I am to fully divorce from Nestlé, I find two weak spots:
- I drink Perrier or San Pellegrino in glass bottles. OK, I can do without that.
- I need to have a conversation with my cats. They eat Friskies. Purina has its hands in many pet food brands. It may take some time to find something else that the finicky felines will accept.
My take on being a conscious consumer is that it is a long-game. Products fail when people stop buying them. Nestlé doesn’t care that I have forsaken their products. Maybe they lost $1000 over a lifetime, from me. But if tens of thousands of people withdrew their purchasing…
Some people are looking at their dependence on Amazon, and are considering doing more Local First shopping. The same can happen with Nestlé; there’s lots of chocolate, coffee, and pet food out there. What can you change, to keep money out of the pockets of big companies who hurt people?
These one-week boycotts are for awareness building. If you just learned that Nestlé is a bad corporate actor, I did my job this week. If you spend less on Nestlé products next week, and over the rest of your lifetime, then I am employee of the month on my blog.
