Nestlé
Profile
Nestlé is a multinational processed foods company that manufactures products like KitKat, Nespresso and Perrier. In 2021, it acknowledged that 60 percent of its food portfolio was unhealthy. It has been sued in the U.S for buying cocoa from suppliers in West Africa linked to child and slave labor. (The case was rejected for lack of jurisdiction.)
The company came under fire in the 1970’s for aggressively marketing infant formula to mothers in the Global South, that was linked to hundreds of thousands of infant deaths. This is because baby formula is only safe if it is prepared with clean water, stored in sterilized bottles and refrigerated, but many of the mothers pressured into using the formula did not have the financial resources to do so.
Chocolate, confectionery, baked goods, baby food, coffee, dairy products, breakfast cereals, bottled water, ice cream, pet foods
Violations
TOP 5 OFFENSE GROUPS (GROUPS DEFINED) | PENALTY TOTAL | NUMBER OF RECORDS |
---|---|---|
employment-related offenses | $11,578,785 | 23 |
consumer-protection-related offenses | $4,425,000 | 3 |
environment-related offenses | $2,385,893 | 40 |
healthcare-related offenses | $950,000 | 1 |
safety-related offenses | $873,896 | 43 |
(January 3, 2024)
Stories
Activism
Philippines: Activists send plastic waste back to Nestle, call out company for greenwashing
Greenpeace | March 23, 2022
Today, Filipino activists from Break Free From Plastic sent plastic waste back to Nestle together with letters from youth and communities to demand that the company stop greenwashing its plastic pollution.
USA: Nestlé’s Latest Exploits: The case against Nestlé hasn’t stopped growing.
Lakota People's Law Project | January 13, 2021
We stand arm in arm with our fellow global citizens who abstain from its lengthy list of products. In 2018, we penned “The Case Against Nestlé” and launched the Nestlé Pledge: a commitment consumers can make to disavow themselves from Nestlé.
Canada: No Water to Waste
Council of Canadians | 2021
Blue Triton, formerly Nestlé, would have enough groundwater to fill as many as 14 billion plastic bottles. Laid end to end, those bottles would stretch 5.6 million kilometres – enough to circle the globe 70 times. This is unacceptable. Water is a human right – not a commodity to be bought and sold.
USA: Thousands protest Nestlé's request to bottle a MILLION gallons of water every day from Florida springs as water flow reaches historic low
Stacy Liberatore | Daily Mail | November 11, 2019
Nestlé has come under fire for its plans to bottle more than a million gallons of water a day from natural springs in Florida.
The fight to stop Nestlé from taking America's water to sell in plastic bottles
Tom Perkins | The Guardian | October 29, 2019
Though it’s on federal land, the Swiss bottled water giant paid the US Forest Service and state practically nothing, and it profited handsomely: Nestlé Waters’ 2018 worldwide sales exceeded $7.8bn.
USA: Six Nations youth leads protest against Nestlé
Emma Lui | Council of Canadians | January 1, 2019
“I don’t want my friends’ babies or their babies to ever worry about not having water,” Makasa Looking Horse (photo above) said to the audience who gathered at JC Hill Elementary School on a rainy morning.
In Sweeping War on Obesity, Chile Slays Tony the Tiger
Andrew Jacobs | The New York Times | February 7, 2018
New regulations, which corporate interests delayed for almost a decade, require explicit labeling and limit the marketing of sugary foods to children... According to AB Chile, a food industry association, more than 1,500 items, or 20 percent of all products sold in Chile, have been reformulated in response to the law. Nestlé reduced the sugar in its Milo chocolate powder drink...
Mexico: Protesters are blocking access to Nestlé Tlahuapan to demand the water supply be handled with more care
Cecilia Espinoza Galindo | Municipios Puebla | January 16, 2017
The protesters claim that the bottling giant extracts one million liters from the spring per day since its arrival in the municipality 20 years ago. This activity has generated "juicy" profits for the multinational, which does not contribute much to the municipality.
USA: We 'Slayed the Dragon': Community Wins as Nestle Drops Water Extraction Plans
Andrea Germanos | Common Dreams | June 10, 2016
After facing community resistance, bottled beverage giant Nestle Waters North America this week ditched its plans to extract water from a Monroe County, Penn. spring.
USA: Nestle bottled water operations spark protests amid California drought
Rose Hackman | The Guardian | May 20, 2015
Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of two Nestle bottling plants in California on Wednesday to deliver petitions demanding the company stop bottling operations in the drought-stricken state.
Nestlé: Stop draining water from Pakistani communities and ensure that villages have access to safe drinking water
Ekō (formerly SumOfUs) | 2013
Nestlé’s aggressive water grab is already descending like a plague on parts of Pakistan. In the small village of Bhati Dilwan, villagers have watched their water table sink hundreds of feet since Nestlé moved in. Children are getting sick from the foul-smelling sludge they’re forced to choke down.
Nestlé: Groundbreaking boycott saves millions of infant lives
Corporate Accountability International | January 1, 1984
Corporate Accountability (then Infact) launched the historic Nestlé Boycott in 1977. It was the first boycott to force a major corporation to heed the concerns of the global public and commit to major changes in its practices.
International:
- ActionAid
- Attac
- Baby Milk Action
- Break Free From Plastic
- ClientEarth
- Ekō (formerly SumOfUs)
- Ethical Consumer
- European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR)
- European Consumer Organization (BEUC)
- Fair Labor Association (FLA)
- FIAN
- Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA)
- Global Labor Justice - International Labor Rights Forum
- Global Witness
- Greenpeace
- Health Care Without Harm
- International Baby Foods Action Network (IBFAN)
- International Rights Advocates (IRA)
- International Union of Food Workers (IUF)
- Rainforest Rescue
- Surfrider Foundation Europe
USA:
- Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
- Corporate Accountability
- Corporate Crime Reporter
- Courage California
- Eat Drink Politics
- Food and Water Watch
- Lakota People's Law Project
- Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation
- Story of Stuff
- US Right to Know
Austria:
- Austrian Smallscale- and Mountain Farmers Association (ÖBV)
- Food Sovereignty (Nyéléni) Austria
- Social Responsibility Network (NeSoVe)
- Südwind Association
Other:
- Canada - The Council of Canadians
- Colombia - National Union of Food Industry Workers (SINALTRAINAL)
- France - Zero Waste France
- India - Federation of All India Nestle Employees
- Philippines - EcoWaste Coalition
- Philippines - Mother Earth Foundation
- Spain - General Union of Workers (UGT)
- Spain - Trade Union Confederation of Workers' Commissions (CCOO)
- Switzerland - Swiss Coalition of Development Organisations (Swiss Aid)
- United Kingdom - Changing Markets Foundation
- United Kingdom - War on Want
& Lawsuits
Major international brands sourcing palm oil from Brazilian plantations linked to violence, torture and land fraud
Global Witness | September 26, 2022
Major international brands – ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Danone, Ferrero, Hershey’s, Kellogg, Mondelez, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Unilever and others – continue to purchase palm oil from BBF and/or Agropalma despite the situation in Pará, contributing to the violations of Indigenous and traditional peoples’ rights.
Nestle now to face lawsuit over slave labor in West Africa
John O'Brien | Legal Newsline | April 4, 2022
After almost three years, plaintiff lawyers have finally come up with a complaint that adequately alleges Nestle falsely labeled products to mislead consumers about the use of child and slave labor in the West African cocoa supply chain.
Child Slavery Case Against Nestlé Rejected
Heidi A. Darvell | Organization for World Peace | June 24, 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Nestlé and Cargill cannot be sued in the U.S. for child slavery that takes place on farms they buy cocoa from in Africa.
USA: Nestlé doesn't have valid rights to water it's been bottling, California officials say
Ian James & Janet Wilson | Desert Sun | April 24, 2021
California water officials on Friday issued a draft order telling Nestlé to "cease and desist" taking much of the millions of gallons of water it pipes out of the San Bernardino National Forest to sell as Arrowhead brand bottled water.
Russian police suspects Nestle of land theft
RPA | October 30, 2020
According to the Kaluga region department of Rosreestr (Federal Service for State Registration, Cadaster and Cartography), it was one of Nestlé's managers who was engaged in the transaction with individual entrepreneur Arabadzhi.
USA: Nestle must face lawsuit in connection with G.M.O. labeling
Josh Sosland | Food Business News | September 20, 2019
A federal court in California has ruled Nestle USA Inc. must face a proposed class action lawsuit in connection with the labeling of numerous products, including Lean Cuisine ravioli, Buitoni tortelloni and Coffee-mate, as containing “No G.M.O. Ingredients,” according to Bloomberg News.
Canada: While Nestlé extracts millions of litres from their land, residents have no drinking water
Alexandra Shimo | The Guardian | October 4, 2018
“Six Nations did not approve [of Nestlé pumping],” Martin-Hill said. “They told Nestlé that they wanted them to stop. Of course, they are still pumping as we speak.”
Forcibly displaced Cambodians file historic lawsuit against Asia’s largest sugar producer
Farm Land Grab | April 2, 2018
The legal complaint was filed in a Thai civil court by two plaintiffs representing a class of approximately 3000 people who were violently displaced and dispossessed of their land and livelihoods in five remote villages in northwestern Cambodia to clear the way for a Mitr Pohl sugarcane plantation between 2008 and 2009. Mitr Phol, the world’s fourth-largest sugar producer, supplies global brands including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle and Mars.
Switzerland: Nestlé Must Pay Compensation for Spying on NGO
Nonprofit Quarterly | Ruth McCambridge | January 30, 2013
Attac filed criminal and civil charges against Nestlé and Securitas in 2008 after Swiss TV alleged that an Attac workgroup had been infiltrated by a female Securitas employee using a false name and working at the behest of Nestle in 2003.
Pakistan: Poisoning The Well? Nestlé Accused Of Exploiting Water Supplies For Bottled Brands
Worldcrunch | January 19, 2012
In the small Pakistani community of Bhati Dilwan, a former village councilor says children are being sickened by filthy water. Who's to blame? He says it's bottled water-maker Nestlé, which dug a deep well that is depriving locals of potable water.
China: Melamine Scandal
DW | September 22, 2008
As the milk scandal widens, Swiss food giant Nestle said it was "confident" that its products in China were safe. Media reports had suggested its products were laced with a chemical that killed four babies.
Nestlé u-turn on Ethiopia debt
Charlotte Denny | The Guardian | January 24, 2003
Nestlé, the world's largest coffee company, was forced into a humiliating u-turn last night, after public outrage forced it to drop its $6m claim against the famine stricken Ethiopian government.
Environmental Impacts
Swiss carbon offset giant pulls plug on Zimbabwe project amid allegations
Simon Bradley | Swiss Info | October 27, 2023
Multinationals such as Gucci, Nestlé and Volkswagen have voluntarily offset their emissions by investing in the project, according to Swiss public television SRF... Studies published in January and March by various news organisations showed that South Pole, along with Verra, were linked to forest protection credits that did not deliver the promised carbon savings.
Watchdogs urge Nestlé, Danone and other food giants to 'deplastify'
Amber Rolt | Green Biz | September 29, 2023
Nine "Big Food" corporations that were served notice last year over their plastic footprint are failing to take sufficient action to tackle pollution, a new report says.
USA: Drought-hit California moves to halt Nestlé from taking millions of gallons of water
Maanvi Singh | The Guardian | April 27, 2021
California water officials have moved to stop Nestlé from siphoning millions of gallons of water out of California’s San Bernardino forest, which it bottles and sells as Arrowhead brand water, as drought conditions worsen across the state.
Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestlé named top plastic polluters for third year in a row
Karen McVeigh | The Guardian | December 7, 2020
Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestlé have been accused of “zero progress” on reducing plastic waste, after being named the world’s top plastic polluters for the third year in a row.
Palm oil for Nestlé: more than 1,000 cases of deforestation per day
Rainforest Rescue | October 22, 2020
In 2010, Nestlé gave itself ten years to switch to 100% deforestation-free palm oil. Today, the food giant still cannot document the source of almost a third of the palm oil it uses. In 2019, Nestlé recorded over 1,000 cases of deforestation daily. NGOs also accuse its palm oil suppliers of land grabs, exploitation and child labor.
Nestlé sued over tonnes of dead fish in French river
BBC | August 14, 2020
"We have lodged a complaint against Nestlé France for pollution and violation of article 432.2 of the environmental code," said Michel Adam, president of the Ardennes Fishing Federation.
Nestle, P&G say they will miss 2020 deforestation goals
Richa Naidu | Reuters | September 27, 2019
Nestle, known for products such as KitKat bars and Haagen-Dazs ice cream, says on its website that in 2010 it “made a commitment to no-deforestation” by 2020. But on Saturday, a Nestle spokeswoman said the company now believes it will stop short of that target.
Indonesia: Pepsico, Unilever and Nestlé accused of complicity in illegal rainforest destruction
Arthur Neslen | The Guardian | July 21, 2017
Palm oil plantations on illegally deforested land in Sumatra – home to elephants, orangutans and tigers – have allegedly been used to supply scores of household brands, says new report.
How Nestle Nigeria contaminates water supply of its host community in Abuja
Amos Abba | International Center for Investigative Reporting | April 28, 2019
Two years after the water plant started full-scale operations, residents of Manderegi and its environs continue to struggle with chronic water shortages as the stream that serves as an alternative source of water supply is contaminated with wastewater directly pumped from the Nestle’s water factory.
Looking back at the corporate circus inside COP21
Rachel Tansey | openDemocracy | January 12, 2016
The event was entitled “Business Perspectives on INDCs”. INDCs are the non–binding Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, countries' plans of how they're going to cut emissions, which, according to independent analysis, together add up closer to 3°C warming – far above the 2 or 1.5°C being promised. Its co–organiser was the United States Council for International Business (USCIB), whose board includes ExxonMobil, McDonalds, Dow and Nestle.
Food giants caught in animal testing scandal
Fiona Macrae & Nicola Rowe | Daily Mail | June 21, 2013
Rabbits, piglets and mice are being killed when heavily pregnant, injected with deadly bacteria and bled to death by food firms testing fashionable superfoods, it has emerged. The experiments involve food giants including KitKat maker Nestle, Unilever - the owners of PG tips - Knorr, Hellmann’s and Yakult, the maker of probiotic drinks.
& Relations
Nestlé and Kellogg’s linked to shocking palm oil abuse in Papua New Guinea
Lottie Limb | Euronews | October 8, 2021
An undercover investigation by Global Witness has linked the use of child labour on oil palm plantations to household brands.
Canada: Nestlé workers on strike in Toronto
Unifor | May 1, 2021
More than 470 workers went on strike at a Nestlé Canada manufacturing plant in Toronto at midnight Saturday after contract negotiations between Unifor Local 252 and the chocolate company broke down.
KitKat Scraps Partnership With Fairtrade in ‘Profoundly Disappointing’ Move
James Hitchings-Hales | Global Citizen | June 24, 2020
Nestlé announced plans on Tuesday to end the partnership between its KitKat brand and the Fairtrade Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that protects the livelihood of producers in developing countries... Fairtrade said 27,000 small-scale producers in Malawi, Fiji, and Côte d'Ivoire are set to lose out.
Hundreds of workers from Nestlé Germany protest at company headquarters in Switzerland with international support
IUF | October 3, 2018
On 2 October, busses carrying a total of 400 Nestlé workers from across Germany travelled to Vevey, Switzerland for a mass protest at Nestlé headquarters. The protest targeted measures threatening the employment of some 600 workers in Germany, which are intended to meet Nestlé CEO Ulf Mark Schneider’s call for increasing profit margins up to 18.5%
900 strike at Nestlé plant in Turkey for third day
Oliver Nieburg | Confectionery News | June 23, 2016
Nestlé is facing industrial action at its Karacabey factory in Turkey following a dispute with the Tek Gıda İş Union.
Nestlé precedent case: Murder of trade unionist Romero in Colombia
European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights | April 12, 2016
On 10 September 2005, trade unionist, human rights activist and former Nestlé-Cicolac employee Luciano Romero was kidnapped, tortured and murdered by members of a paramilitary group. His murder came after a number of death threats that arose in the context of a long-standing labor dispute between the Colombian trade union Sinaltrainal and the Nestlé factory Cicolac.
Nestlé admits slave labour risk on Brazil coffee plantations
Kate Hodal | The Guardian | March 2, 2016
Two of the world’s biggest coffee companies, Nestlé and Jacobs Douwe Egberts, admit that beans from Brazilian plantations using slave labour may have ended up in their coffee because they do not know the names of all the plantations that supply them.
Thailand: Nestlé admits slavery and coercion used in catching its seafood
Martha Mendoza | CBC | November 23, 2015
Impoverished migrant workers in Thailand are sold or lured by false promises and forced to catch and process fish that ends up in global food giant Nestlé SA's supply chains.
Strike at Nestlé Tunisia
IUF | October 8, 2012
Workers at Nestlé Tunisia have gone on strike on 8 and 9 October 2012 in protest against management refusal to open discussions on their long-standing demands.
Nestlé workers, supporters rally in Indonesia and Pakistan as global support builds - Stop Nespressure!
IUF | January 3, 2012
Khanewal, Pakistan, hundreds of trade unionists rallied on February 9 in support of the fight for permanent employment and trade union rights for 246 long-serving contract workers at Nestlé's Kabirwala milk factory, 100 of whom face criminal charges for having asserted their rights.
Nestle India obtains permanent ban on workers' freedom of assembly
IUF | March 16, 2009
In January of this year, the management of Nestle India filed injunctions simultaneously in four courts in three states seeking a permanent ban on all union meetings, gatherings and rallies within 200 metres of its factories in Moga, Samalkha, Ponda Goa and Bicholim.
Philippine Workers Strike Nestlé to Change Their Nation
Jen Schradie | The Prism | September, 1998
Last fall, I traveled to the Philippines for three months to research and produce a documentary on the popular struggle for land reform. I also went looking for something to inspire me politically.
Financials
Click here for the latest list.
Political Influence
Open Secrets - Tracks corporate lobbying of US politicians.
OpenSecrets.org Profile of Nestlé
Food Industry Influence Could Cloud the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, a New Report Says
Alice Callahan | The New York Times | October 24, 2023
Nine of the 20 experts on the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee have had conflicts of interest in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical or weight loss industries in the last five years, the report found.
USA: Group shaping nutrition policy earned millions from junk food makers
Anahad O’Connor | The Washington Post | October 24, 2022
New documents show that the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics invested in food stocks and accepted donations from junk food, sugar and soda makers, even as it trained the dietitians who teach us how to eat.
A Shadowy Industry Group Shapes Food Policy Around the World
Andrew Jacobs | The New York Times | September 16, 2019
The organization, which championed tobacco interests during the 1980s and 1990s in Europe and the United States, has more recently expanded its activities in Asia and Latin America, regions that provide a growing share of food company profits.
USA: The Junk Food President Aims to Ruin American Nutrition
Derrick Z. Jackson | The American Prospect | August 23, 2019
The Obesity Society is already under fire from critics for accepting corporate funding from Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, and having once staged “engagement councils” with members representing PepsiCo, Monsanto, Nestle, Dr Pepper, Atkins, Mars, and Campbell’s Soup.
& Evasion
Brazil: Nestlé is fined R$3.2 million and company discusses case in court
Alcyr Netto | Marília Notícia | October 26, 2023
The Civil Police opened a police investigation into the alleged tax evasion carried out by Nestlé's legal representatives, in Marília.
Nestle among firms facing higher tax in India after court loss
Business Times | October 22, 2023
Several multinationals doing business in India are on the hook for significant back taxes, interest, and potential penalty payments after the Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s interpretation of tax treaty implementation.
Multinationals including Nestlé and Roche push back against scope of Australia’s planned tax transparency laws
Jonathan Barrett | The Guardian | June 28, 2023
SwissHoldings, representing 62 Swiss-based multinationals including the food giant Nestlé and the pharmaceutical company Roche, has questioned how Australia could force international companies to comply with its proposed tax laws.
Nestle Morocco Ordered to Pay MAD 1 Billion in Tax Fine
Khouloud Haskouri | Morocco World News | August 23, 2021
Morocco’s Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) has issued a "historic" tax reminder to Swiss food group Nestle Morocco, claiming unpaid taxes of MAD 1 billion ($110 million), reports Financial Afrik.
India: Unilever, Nestle to face tax evasion probe
Anjul Tomar | DNA India | October 24, 2018
After an anti-profiteering investigation, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) majors Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) and Nestle will be facing a tax evasion probe, government sources said.
Nestle Pakistan caught evading government taxes of Rs38.86 million
Mashhud Aslam | Custom News Pakistan | July 29, 2017
Directorate of Post Clearance Audit (PCA) Karachi has serve a contravention report on M/s Nestle Pakistan for misdeclaring classification of imported goods to evade incidence of taxation.
Brazil: Nestlé drops supplier linked to Indigenous land invasions
Grace Murray | The Bureau of Investigative Journalism | September 12, 2023
Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, has removed Marfrig from its list of suppliers in Brazil, a year after a TBIJ investigation linked the beef giant to purchases of cattle from seized Indigenous land.
Nestlé monopolizes chocolate sector in Brazil
Hora do Povo | September 9, 2023
The Swiss multinational Nestlé announced on Thursday (7) that it acquired the Kopenhagen and Brasil Cacau brands, belonging to the CRM Group, for approximately R$4.5 billion.
USA: California Officials Move to Stop Nestlé From Taking Millions of Gallons of Water From Public Streams
Emily Denny | Ecowatch | April 28, 2021
California water officials have accused Nestlé of draining more water out of southern California's Strawberry Creek in the San Bernardino National Forest than permitted.
USA: Maine activists protest Nestle’s potential sale of Poland Spring Water to private-equity firm
Abigail Curtis | Bangor News | February 12, 2021
Maine water-rights activists are planning to gather this weekend to sound the alarm about Nestle’s potential sale of Poland Spring and other bottled water businesses to a private-equity firm.
USA: Nestle's Push To Extract More Water From Florida Springs Causes Concern
Kayla Gallagher | WFSU Public Media | February 6, 2020
Florida has the largest concentration of freshwater springs in the world and they’re a revenue source, not only for their ability to draw tourists to places like Ginnie Springs and Blue Springs in Gilchrist County, but also as a source for drinking. Water bottling companies like Nestlé extract water from the springs, bottle it, and sell it
USA: As Flint Suffers, Nestle Plans Dramatic Expansion of Water Privatization in Michigan
Lauren McCauley | Common Dreams | November 1, 2016
While Nestle and other bottled water companies have rankled many communities for privatizing their public water supply, the news particularly stung in Michigan, where citizens have faced a years-long nightmare over lead contamination in their drinking water.
Procurement
CorpWatch is still gathering procurement data for Nestlé at this time.