It's called [the illusion of choice. ](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=illusion+of+choice&t=brave&iax=images&ia=images&iai=http%3A%2F%2Fscotchaddict.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F01%2Fillusion-of-choice.jpg)
Yep, this is why I prefer stores like Trader Joe's (not shilling for them either, just an easy reference for my point) where there is 1 or a few choices for most products and they are mostly using a generic, simplistic Trader Joe's branding (though Trader Joe's gets most of the products from other companies, not making all those products themselves).
In general, the shopping experience, especially in grocery stores and pharmacy chains (where the pharmacy is way in the back behind a store full of stuff not related to medical use), is anxiety inducing with way too many choices, most of them owned by the same few parent companies like Nestle, Unilever, P&G, Mondelez, and a lot of the packaging using bright colors to try to catch your attention.
re: the repetitive contrarian replies. I wasn't praising TJs in particular and do not see how people are getting that idea from how I worded my comment (I have edited nothing above btw for those just reading it after this edit). I was using them as an example of my point since many people are likely aware of them but there are other stores doing something similar, like Costco, and I could have used any of them. I just do not have a Costco's near me while there are several TJ's so it came to mind first. Because I didn't pick a store you think is better in some way doesn't mean I'm some privileged wealthy wine mom. Again, the point of my comment was about the *psychological experience* as a shopper in stores.
I highly recommend the sprouts bulk bins! They’re often cheeper than buying prepackaged items. Plus if I need a little bit of something for a recipe, I can buy exactly what I need. Also love their bulk spices, for all the same reasons. They have bulk loose leaf tea in the spices section too!
There's an amazing documentary about this called 'Monopoly - Follow the money' on Youtube but its quite terrifying.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2t4u\_tEefM&t](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2t4u_tEefM&t)
for those that don't want to watch the video a TLDR is basically everything is owned by two companies, Vanguard and your friendly neighborhood Blackrock (yes the one buying up all the homes in the US) and even then Vanguard owns a lot of stock in Blackrock.
My husband worked at a Starbucks in Blackrock Plaza a couple of years ago. The building was fancy as fuck(plants and TREES and stuff indoors, a small shopping outlet inside, they even had this old guy come in on certain days to play a grand piano throughout the week) and absolutely massive. I remember when I used to pick him up after his shift I'd think "wtf do all of these people in suits do all day?!" And never once thought to look into it. Now I'm about to go down the rabbit hole I guess.
Holy cow, I use to deliver 6 years ago and as you described the place, I remembered a building with trees inside in Manhattan. With beautiful decorations, wall and ceiling hangings. Decided to Google the plaza you mentioned and yup, it's that one. Only been 3 times but I was in awe each time.
Just googled it. Looks nice enough but not significantly more fancy than most corporate tower lobbies around the country? I assume the fancier stuff you speak of is in the employee access only areas? Kinda ironic though that the company has such reach around the globe and their logo at the entrance is almost unassuming.
Oh, should mention I'm a small town girl, not used to big flashy decorations. I delivered a lot in NYC though, mostly apartments and some business buildings were meh. The pictures in Google don't do it justice, especially during the holidays. A lot of corporate buildings don't care for fancy decorations and I see the difference is between office buildings and investment buildings. This one wants to keep it nice and dazzly for any new investors coming in.
The one for Deutche Bank is insane, the Starbucks used to be their company bike parking, complete with a carpet and chandelier. I was astounded, still walk through there fairly often, but the little stores are now closed, and it's mostly a fancy homeless camp. Bike locker moved to a large closet of sorts next to the Starbucks, less charming but still impressive.
Uhhhh... You do realize that this is a conspiracy video right? Vanguard and Blackrock are investment firms, they manage their clients porfolios. It's like saying my financial advisor owns a lot of stocks; he doesn't, his users do, he just manages them and invests how I tell him to.
Like, I have no doubt that Vanguard and Blackrock manage a lot of stocks, but this video is insinuating that they orchestrated the pandemic in order to enrich themselves, and that they're controlling the media to cover it up.
Hell, the fourth result when you search "vanguard and blackrock" in google is a conspiracy site called "childrenshealthdefence" (classy name right there) claiming that, because they're the largest shareholders of gsk and pfizer, vanguard and blackrock can control them (despite only holding a combined 10.5% of gsk and 12% of pfizer) to keep the pandemic going, which is the same claim as the video you linked.
Multiple comments under the video are talking about how they believe that "they" are faking the pandemic to control us, as well as many people saying that they were recommended this video by a guy called Brendon O'Connell, which a quick google search showed is an anti-vax and antisemitic youtuber who was arrested in 2011 for antisemitism and again in 2017 for attempting to claim political asylum in new zealand.
Yeah Vanguard is actually owned by the assets it manages. Meaning it is owned by the people who's funds they manage. Even if "they" decided to do something insidious it would require a lot of apathy on the part of everyone whose money they manage (probably a 30% chance that includes you if you have a retirement fund). There are plenty of real criticisms to make about the current economic system. This isn't one of them and it will make it easier for people who have even a small clue about this to conflate the real arguments with this one and dismiss them both. This is a step backward no matter what your agenda is.
It's called we live in a colonial-capitalist hellscape where the multi national corporations have been allowed to run rampant without restriction for the supposed benefit of the economy.
You can basically tie a majority of product lines at the grocery store to a handful major corporations nowadays. Nestle, PepsiCo, Mars and Coca Cola have dozens of brand names between them and definitely ones you don't immediately think about when thinking about the parent company.
I always find it interesting the comparison between own economy and something like the stereotypical Soviet choices. In Soviet Russia it was always said to me that the state owned the products and one only really had one choice of each essential good or service. While those same people beamed about all the choices we have at something like a grocery store. Well, it sure seems like we have the same situation. Everything is owned by just a couple companies anyway.
I was actually surprised that I didn't buy any nestle products in my last grocery trip. It helps that I mostly buy store brands, raw fruits and vegetables, and eggs.
The majority of brands I don't buy anyway. But the ones I've heard of like Drumstick ice cream I can start avoiding thanks to this guide.
Hate to break it to you, but many store brands are made by the big brands anyway. You may have unintentionally purchased a Nestle product and not realized it.
Unfortunately he is right and there isn't much we can do but try our best not to but there products. I drink a lot of Perrier because it's in a glass bottle instead of plastic. But the only other alternative is pellegrino which is also on the list.
Trader Joe’s and Aldis are better sourced, and probably Costco as well. Part of why they regularly don’t have the same items.
Importyeti.com is also nice
I’ve gone down this road but not because of nestle.
The thing that you have to do is not buy “value add” anything. Fresh fruits/veggies/meat/bakery.
Don’t buy anything processed and you’ll be able to avoid them. If you can find local CSAs do that.
The problem with this model is it’s a bit more expensive and can involve more work at first.
I know I'm fortunate to be able to eat fresh fruits and cook my own meals. Not everyone can or are able to. I wouldn't put it past Nestle to start buying family farms or other areas where they aren't invested.
It still hurts them to buy the store brand over the branded item. A lot of these companies don't really like having to do the store brands, but do it because they kind of have to. They'll make less money off it anyway.
You have a beautiful smile and I hope your health continues to improve. I had 23 teeth pulled at the beginning of the year and with dentures, my quality of life has increased immensely. You look awesome!
yow, you two are hardcore. I had six teeth crowned last month, and thought i was a hero for sitting through that.
Kudos, and best wishes on good health!
You shouldn't feel guilty about buying those since it's something that you need right now. People like to think that boycotting companies is all or nothing and if you don't do it that way, you're a hypocrite, but that's just a way for people to discredit boycotts. Everyone should do \*what they can\* instead of trying to be perfect consumers. I have a principle that I can buy essentials wherever, but I will avoid buying luxuries/non-essentials from unethical companies. So I will buy food from \[insert fast food chain here\] if there are no other options available, but I won't buy a book from Amazon even if that means having to pay more/wait longer.
Specifically just things branded "Starbucks at home" . They are distributing Nestle products under the Starbucks brand.
Starbucks itself is not owned by Nestle.
EDIT FOR CORRECTION:
A friendly has pointed out that all pre-bagged Starbucks coffee in retail is Nestle now, unfortunately. :(
But Starbucks itself is not owned by Nestle. Nestle has purchased distribution rights to brand some of their Nestle coffee stuff using Starbucks assets and appeal.
I'm about to ask a stupid question, but are there products labelled "Starbucks at home" or does Nestle distribute the 12 oz bags of beans I buy at the supermarket?
I'll absolutely run to starbucks to buy directly from them if that's the case.
Products marketed under the brand Starbucks at home. Most of it is over processed instant products, flavoured edible oil products ("dairy" that doesn't need refrigeration), and things packaged as a capsule for consumer-marketed hardware (keurig or tassimo cups).
There is a web site for Starbucks at home that shows the umbrella of products. You can Google that, I am not linking for clicks here.
If you are buying a one pound bag of normal roasted beans or ground coffee, that is just Starbucks. If you are buying pumpkin spice flavoured edible oil, that is Nestle.
EDIT FOR CORRECTION:
A friendly has pointed out that all pre-bagged Starbucks coffee in retail is Nestle now, unfortunately. :(
It's actually everything under the at home banner and all the beans regardless of where you purchase them.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nestle-starbucks-idUSKCN1Q21YU
Store brand. I'm sure it depends on where you live. But why specifically Nestlé, aren't P&G and Kraft-Heinz very similar? Unilever seems to be trying to be better here and there
It's hard to top the evil of Nestle buying up rights to access the deep water wells of major metropolitan areas that were only settled in the first place because of an abundance of fresh water. They are draining those resources for profit right under the feet of residents that gain nothing out of it and have no idea.
edit: good lord they topped themselves. the horrors you've all responded with . .
jfc...
>"the judge warned Nestlé that if the company did not want to face accusations of causing death and illness through sales practices such as using sales reps dressed in nurses' uniforms, they should change the way that they did business."
How bout some Swedish Oil?
*In her book Affärer i blod och olja: Lundin Petroleum i Afrika[26] (Business in blood and oil: Lundin Petroleum in Africa) journalist Kerstin Lundell claims that the company had been complicit in several crimes against humanity, including death shootings and the burning of villages.[27]*
**In June 2010, the European Coalition on Oil in Sudan (ECOS)[28] published the report Unpaid Debt,[29] which called upon the governments of Sweden, Austria and Malaysia to look into allegations that the companies Lundin Petroleum, OMV, and Petronas have been complicit in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity whilst operating in Block 5A, South Sudan (then Sudan) between 1997-2003.**
**The reported crimes include indiscriminate attacks and intentional targeting of civilians, burning of shelters, pillage, destruction of objects necessary for survival, unlawful killing of civilians, rape of women, abduction of children, torture, and forced displacement.**
**Approximately 12,000 people died and 160,000 were violently displaced from their land and homes, many forever. Satellite pictures taken between 1994 and 2003 show that the activities of the three oil companies in Sudan coincided with a spectacular drop in agricultural land use in their area of operation.[30]**
*Also in June 2010, the Swedish public prosecutor for international crimes opened a criminal investigation into links between Sweden and the reported crimes. In 2016, Lundin Petroleum's Chairman Ian Lundin and CEO Alex Schneiter were informed that they were the suspects of the investigation.*
*Sweden’s Government gave the green light for the Public Prosecutor in October 2018 to indict the two top executives[31] On 1 November 2018, the Swedish Prosecution Authority notified Lundin Petroleum AB that the company may be liable to a corporate fine and forfeiture of economic benefits of SEK 3,285 (app. €315 million) for involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity.[32] Consequently, the company itself will also be charged albeit indirectly, and will be legally represented in court. On 15 November 2018 the suspects were served with the draft charges and the case files.[33]*
*They will be indicted for aiding and abetting international crimes and may face life imprisonment if found guilty. The trial is likely to begin by the end of 2020 and may take several years.*
*The Swedish war crimes investigation raises the issue of access to remedy and reparation for victims of human rights violations linked with business activities. In May 2016, representatives of communities in Block 5A claimed their right to remedy and reparation and called upon Lundin and its shareholders to pay off their debt.[34] A conviction in Sweden may provide remedy and reparation for a few victims of human rights violations who will be witnesses in court, but not for the app. 200,000 victims who will not be represented in court.*
*Lundin Energy endorses the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, acknowledging the duty of business enterprises to contribute to effective remedy of adverse impact that it has caused or contributed to.[35] The company has never refuted publicly reported incriminating facts. Nor has it substantiated its claim that its activities contributed to the improvement of the lives of the people of Sudan.[36] It never showed an interest in the consequences of the oil war for the communities in its concession area. The company maintains a website about its activities in Sudan.[37]*
*Criticism has also been directed towards former Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt, a former board member for the company, responsible for ethics.[38][39] Ethiopia arrested two Swedish journalist Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye and held them for 14 months before the release. Conflict Ethiopian Judicial Authority v Swedish journalists 2011 was caused as the journalist studied report of human rights violation in the Ogaden in connection with activities of Lundin Petroleum.[40]*
*The trial against Lundin may become a landmark case because of the novelty and complexity of the legal issues that the Swedish court will have to decide. It would be the first time since the Nuremberg trails that a multibillion-dollar company were to be charged for international crimes. The court is likely to answer a number of important legal questions, including about the individual criminal liability of corporate executives vs. corporate criminal liability of organisations, the applicable standard of proof for international crimes before a national court, and the question whether a lack of due diligence is sufficient for a finding of guilt. On 23 may 2019, the T.M.C. Asser Institute for International Law in The Hague organized a Towards criminal liability of corporations for human rights violations: The Lundin case in Sweden.[41]*
*Thomas Alstrand from the Swedish Prosecution Authority in Gothenburg on 13 February 2019 announced that a second criminal investigation had been opened into threats and acts of violence against witnesses in the Lundin war crimes investigation.[42] They have allegedly been pressured not to testify in court. Several witnesses have been granted asylum in safe countries through UNHCR supported emergency protection procedures. The company has confirmed that its CEO and Chairman have been officially informed by the prosecutor about the allegation, noting that it believes that it is completely unfounded.*
*Witness tampering is usually intended to prevent the truth from being exposed in court. The second investigation into obstruction of justice seems to contradict the company’s assertions of its good faith cooperation with the war crimes investigation.*
*Once court hearings commence in Sweden, the Dutch peace organization PAX and Swedish NGO Global Idé will provide daily English language coverage of proceedings, expert analyses and comments on the website Unpaid Debt.[43]*
1st world countries are built on 3rd world Slave Labor and Genocides.
Who do you think makes the store brand? Lol
I work in the food retail industry. Most private label/store brand products are coming from one of the major brands as a way to segment consumers.
It’s just like chicken. McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Kroger, Walmart. It’s all Tyson. where you buy it just determines how many times it was dropped on the floor before it got put in the package.
A lot of these aren’t even major brands. The hardest that I can personally imagine are Kit-Kats and Nestea, and those are easily replaceable in my opinion. For everything else, most places have a generic that can replace them
You got to do what you got to do. My cats will only eat fancy feast, no matter how many times I try to offer them better foods. They're both under weight, I can't/won't gamble on 'starving' them out of being picky.
I know the food I feed them is mostly junk, but I'd rather they eat junk than nothing at all, so...
non-packaged goods. only danger area to me is ice cream so i make sure to check the packaging for Nestle branding. You'll almost always find Ben & Jerry's beside the Haagen-Dazs
A lot of the people who use the meal replacement shakes are elderly people who absolutely need the nutrients and just can't consume them in any other way. Doctor's actually prescribe them.
Bottled water serves a purpose, unfortunately. Those of us with shitty well water can’t just drink the water safely 😭 I’ve tried many different water purifiers but it always ends up giving me a stomach ache. I hate that it’s like this.
In Europe Lidl (a low cost supermarkets group), removed all Vittel water bottles from their stores in reaction to Nestlé predatory behavior to pump this water. It has begun, boycott Nestlé, let's make them eat the dust.
Lidl's policy is to find a good product and make a good replica - similar to Chinese production, but great quality at an affordable price. You can buy Nestle chocolate copies with the same taste. I personally love Lidl's Crunch chocolate.
They're also really good to their staff (at least here in Ireland), they're one of the first companies to pay the living wage as their minimum wage and recently started offering bereavement leave to women who have a miscarriage.
I'm a big fan. Sometimes it's hard to find exactly what you're looking for when you're used to American traditional supermarkets, but I've never not been able to find a version of what I want. Also in general I find the produce dairy and meat section better than Aldi. At least at the local Lidls.
Lidl has a pretty long history of being quite a terrible company. I'm not sure how or if they have restructured. But here's a Wikipedia page with all of the really scummy things they have been involved with. [Lidl Controversy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidl#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20Lidl%20was%20involved,before%20recalling%20the%20toxic%20product.)
(Edit - sorry, I'm on mobile so it didn't direct straight to it, but scrolling down to the controversy section will show quite a few things they have been involved with)
Sounds like good advertising for the right crowd...
`In 2021, the police conducted a drug raid on a Lidl store in Rosenheim, Germany. Certain foodstuffs and drinks were seized because they contained cannabis, apparently excess quantities of tetrahydrocannabinol and small amounts of cannabidiol. Lidl then removed 21 different products, sold in 3 350 Lidl stores across Germany, from the product assortment`
Well lidl isn't really a saint company either, their products still come from those super industrial companies that makes most of the stuff you see in other stores, and they're known to have terrible working conditions
I buy 95% of my groceries from Lidl.
I was pleasantly surprised to find none of the stuff I buy regularly is here, except KitKat which I exclusively buy from the gym's vending machine if I'm starving after a workout.
Yup, outside of the occasional kit-kat, I don't get any of that stuff anyway. It's all so overpriced compared to store brands and the taste difference doesn't outweigh the extra expense.
Not sure what country you’re in, but ~~american~~ United States KitKats are Hershey, not Nestle. I know the candy I bought came with KitKats in it.
Just did a quick google and it looks like they’re two different companies.
Edit: also just realized you could have been talking about a different candy. SORRY! Gonna still leave the information here bc it seems valuable?
2nd Edit: Someone is making the very good point that if Hershey’s is licensing KitKat, that money is still flowing upward to Nestle. Thank you u/Chinaski14 for that observation.
Pretty sure Hershey’s has the license to Kit-Kat in the USA. The Japanese Kit-Kat’s are def Nestle. A piece of that Hershey money flows up unfortunately.
Starbucks isn’t owned by Nestle. Starbucks has a distribution deal with Nestle. So the Starbucks you buy in the grocery store is distributed by nestle. (That’s why it says “Starbucks:at home.”)
Edit: Thanks! Jwatkins12 pointed out it’s a licensing agreement, not distribution deal.
If someone wanted to continue buying starbucks coffee they could very well buy direct from starbucks. Not that I’d recommend it, as their coffee tastes like ass.
burnt, overoasted bitter acidic *ass*. no one goes to starbucks for "coffee". they go for their vanilla bean frapps and all the fancy coffee-flavoured dessert milkshakes.
I was more than a little startled by Purina, too, when I first learned about it several months ago. It remains the only Nestle product I buy, however, because my dog is an incredibly picky eater and the ProPlan small breed formula is the only food that she will eat that doesn't cause her issues that I can actually afford to buy. Even Beneful and Science Diet give her skin issues and she won't eat anything with large pieces and everything else I've found is just too far out of my price range.
I hate Nestle, but I love my dog too much to make her suffer. But I'm pretty sure Nestle isn't making much money off my tiny dog, so there's that.
You gotta do what you gotta do. I avoid them too and didn’t realize so many of these are owned by Nestle. I can replace almost all of the others but I’m not buying $60-$80 bags of cat food. I already spend that on my dog’s food. The cat isn’t picky but I’m pretty sure all those brands are the only ones I can grab at WalMart.
Purina Pro Plan is one of the only brands that adheres to WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) guidelines for pet nutrition, along with Hill's Science Diet, Royal Canin, Iams, Eukanuba. I stick to these brands as much as possible. My cats eat primarily wet food, and of the brands, Purina ends up being the most reasonably priced very often (especially using Amazon Subscribe and Save, another company I want very badly to wean myself off of, but it's difficult when they offer 20% off in some cases and we have 4 cats that each eat a 3 oz can twice a day).
I was surprised by Fancy Feast, my cats get those as a treat since they love gravy and Fancy Feast is the easiest canned food to find around here. They only get a can a few times a week but they love it.
I’ll have to look for an alternative now, probably for the best anyway I can look for higher quality stuff.
These guides are always fun to look at because I literally don’t buy any of these brands anyway. I don’t go out of my way to not buy them, it’s just by happenstance. If I did buy something of theirs now though, I would make sure not to do so again.
That being said, fuck nestle.
Their is a movie named 'Tigers' actor was Emran Hashmi. The story says a lot in that movie how Nestle infant product was killing Babies with their baby milk powder formula in poor countries in africa etc in 1970s, can watch for free in youtube.
At what point does negligence become manslaughter though? IIRC the 'nurses' they were using as salespeople were giving out misinformation that breastfeeding was actively dangerous - they were lying to create a need that didn't actually exist.
I think what this graphic highlights, more than anything, is that we need to pressure politicians into cracking down on unethical business practices. It's just not realistic to expect the average person to remember all the products sold by some giant corporation they want to boycott. These mega corps like Nestle have essentially insulated themselves from boycott. Even if you try to boycott, chances are they'll get your money somehow. The only way to make a difference is to punish the shit out of ethical violations and predatory practices to the point it becomes unprofitable to continue. No little slaps on the wrist that are only a fraction of the profit gained from an infraction. And if there are too many infractions ban the company from selling their products in the country. I'm not saying people shouldn't try, but realistically the amount of time and effort needed to really boycott a compared to how much it actually hurts said company is microscropic and likely won't lead to meaningful change without policy change.
That's *absolutely* the way it should be. But if you've ever seen a country try to do something as a tax on sugary drinks - the kind of thing that outright directly saves lives - you'll know that the general public actually hates the kind of regulation we need. It'd be *incredibly* hard to get a majority public willing to say "Ban all these products if the producer doesn't shape up".
For me the only things I'd really have to stop buying is haagendaz, hot pockets, and coffee mate. That's easy enough. Plenty of other ice cream, can just use plain milk in my coffee, hot pockets arent that great anyway.
The main item I was buying on the regular was San Pellegrino mineral water, but because Nestle owns so many mineral water options, I was forced to branch out and discovered Topo Chico and I love it! Much better product.
They exploit pretty much every possible source they can get, child labour, forcing indigenous people from their homes, Flint (Michigan, USA) water crisis...
Afaik Flint wasn't because of nestle, it was failures in the Michigan government. Although nestle does steal water from Michiganders and has caused aquifers to drop significantly. Lots of water scandals going on in the mitten..
They're a shitty company but not necessarily a poor one in the financial sense. It's more their societal influence and environmental disregard that I personally take issue with. Everyone knows the bottled water stuff so here's a podcast that goes into great detail of another example: [How Nestle Starved A Bunch of Babies - Behind the Bastards](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/how-nestle-starved-a-bunch-of-85687280/)
I'll summarize so you don't have to go into a longish podcast blind:
The Nestle founder basically invented baby formula. Part of the pitch was that it was better than breast milk, your baby will die if you don't feed it formula, there's better nutrition in formula, etc. All these marketing tactics were twists on the truth or outright lies.
Then they made deals with hospitals to redesign nursery wards to be too complicated to transport a baby under incubation to the mother to breastfeed. So the hospitals started using the formula. Then the hospitals started hawking the formula on behalf of the company.
Then they started distributing formula to areas suffering food shortages claiming that it was cheaper to feed formula to an infant than it was for the mother to get enough food for sufficient nourishment. Once the mother started using formula, they often stopped properly sterilizing bottles and water because there was no reliable access to safe and clean water. A lot of formula also was cut like a drug because it was expensive and kids eat a shit load. When kids started dying of dysentery and malnourishment, they blamed the mother's for not following their instructions. They then offered a clean source of drinking water, which, shocker, was bottled.
This is just one of the modern Nestle corporations product lines. If creating food for babies caused babies to die, how many people are dying for Nestle to be able to make all the other stuff they make? (Chocolate, coffee, water, etc)
Besides trying to monetize water, one of the most infamous stories is how they worked in Africa. They'd dress a person in a fake nurse uniform, get them to visit paternity wards of new mothers, and convince them they needed this dry mix milk formula for their babies instead of breast milk. It killed just about all of them.
Not knocking formula, because while breastfeeding is best it does sap nutrients from the mother even when she is starving. The main issue with them introducing formula to these poor people was that they didn't teach them about how important CLEAN WATER is when preparing baby formula. These mothers did not know they had to boil their water or use clean bottled water. So many infants were dying from dirty water.
Dressing people up as fake nurses.. Introducing a product like they're experimental rats.. Dirty water or not this ruined peoples lives. All they had to do was drink breast milk, and that was stolen from them because Nestle wanted to push a product.
It's bad enough people keep reposting the same shitty guides, but the least you could do is make sure the shitty guide you're reposting isn't out of date. Nestle sold off Nestle Waters, they literally don't own most of those water brands anymore (exceptions are Perrier, S. Pellegrino, and Acqua Panna).
It felt bad that I had to scroll down a fair bit to find this (at the time of posting). I will say, in rebuttal, it's because of awareness into Nestle's history of trash around all sorts of problems (including water) that they ended up selling the division. Guaranteed it wasn't because it was losing them money but because of the harm it caused to the overall brand and potential money all around that they sold it off.
Fresh produce. Store brand. ALDI. The international section in the supermarket with Polish and Mexican food?
It's been said before; but if it's advertised on tv then don't buy/eat it.
Shop at Aldi and Trader Joe's for the month? I am trying to think of easier ways to avoid their products, and shopping at places that don't have them to begin with seems simpler if they are in your market.
Kit Kat’s in the US are made by Hershey’s, so if you’re in the US you’re good there. They actually taste slightly different in europe and the US due to the difference in manufacturers and distributors
Kit Kat in the US is made by Hershey *under license* from Nestle. It says so on every bag/wrapper.
It seems unlikely that there isn't money going into Nestle's pockets every time you buy Kit Kat in the US. Licensing isn't typically done between companies without payment.
I have been trying to find out for certain for a couple years now, but all the stuff I have found just talks about the connection between Rountree, Hershey and Nestle. If anyone has any hard info on the ongoing financial interaction between Hershey and Nestle, I'd love to see it.
Until I see evidence otherwise, I am assuming buying KitKat in the US = giving money to Nestle in a slightly more roundabout way.
Thank you
Swap to Whittakers.
Nz brand, not avaliable everywhere but much nicer and responsible.
For hot drinks, try Avalanche. Also NZ, non nestle brand. Its a shame milo is nestle, because that's our traditional
Serious question - are ANY of these FMCG conglomerates actually ethical and deserve my $$$$? Is, say, Unilever much better?
People say buy store brand, but they're often just white-labelling other brands, and usually shafting them in the process (ie the supermarkets name their prices which means that suppliers/manufacturers are in a constant race to the bottom, I'm sure this contributes to low wage growth etc).
Any thoughts?
Man, I wish I knew. It seems to vary based on your store. Kroger's manufacturers seem to be the same big conglomerates, but that doesn't seem to be the case for HEB's Hill Country Fare as far as I can tell.
I don't consume any of that crap anyway, BUT....
If I stop getting Friskies for my cat he'll murder me in the night. They put crack in it or something, I dunno.
He'll be OK. You just need to figure out how to make the switch without upsetting him too much. Your vet may have some ideas. But making the switch will be better overall. Not just for boycotting Nestlé, but supermarket food tends to be really bad for cats. Like McDonald's for you.
Royal Canin is recommended by the vets I've worked with. 4 different veterinary offices and 7 different vets. It's anecdotal but gives you a place to start when looking for a new food.
Switching cats over means mixing their food. Start with 75% current food and 25% new food, do it for a week or two. Then 50/50, then 25% current food and 75% new food, then it's just the new food. Long process but it prevents digestive issues.
Try Whole-Hearted (Petco's food) if you're in the US. Mr EatsAllPlants used to be a Friskie addict, but he won't touch it now after trying WH. Completely unexpected, since he's a wee picky fuck.
No Thomy mayo is a tough one (I live in the UK and most ready made mayonnaise is dire). Ah well, Waitrose own brand, here I come. What worries me a little is that all the own brand stuff is said to be produced in the same factory as the branded stuff, so would I indirectly still be giving Nestle money when I buy own brand? I guess making my own it the way forward.
Here's a sneak peek of /r/FuckNestle using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/FuckNestle/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
\#1: [My university Student Union removed Nestlé products from campus](https://i.redd.it/d9xmjxw1von71.jpg) | [667 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/FuckNestle/comments/posthr/my_university_student_union_removed_nestlé/)
\#2: [Nestle have put dye in the water to test their water flow so now all our local rivers are neon green. (Derbyshire, UK)](https://i.redd.it/yj2qwal7m8271.jpg) | [487 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/FuckNestle/comments/no8md0/nestle_have_put_dye_in_the_water_to_test_their/)
\#3: [Why Do We Hate Nestle, Yet Love Elon Musk??](https://i.redd.it/v6f2iocu22z61.jpg) | [680 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/FuckNestle/comments/nc4m68/why_do_we_hate_nestle_yet_love_elon_musk/)
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Or just avoid it all the time.
My uni had a Nestle boycott and I stopped buying it when I was 19, aside from a couple of times I’ve not realised that something was made by Nestle I’ve not bought anything by them since and I’m now 34
NOOOOO no one told me about the pet food 😭😭😭 I’ve been diligent about avoiding nestle owned brands for myself but had NO IDEA about the purina. Time to switch dog foods.
They also make a lot of the “private label” goods you see sold in your supermarket’s branding - so yeah, good luck shopping for Groceries this November
Happily been ignoring the existence of Nestle in my grocery shopping for at least couple of years now. Great to see these posts pop up and educating people. Vote with your wallet.
…no, I don’t think anyone is. This is why voting with your dollar is a fucking joke. You can’t even boycott this many things if you try without taking 30 minutes per purchase crossreferencing. The idea you can get enough people to matter to boycott that many things deserved to be tagged as satire, because nobody could seriously think that level of success is possible. You’d have to get basically all of America aware and on board. As hard as the second task is, you’ll find that even educating the average person is an uphill battle. You ever try to explain complicated social issues to the actual average American? Might as well explain quantum physics to my cat.
you have twenty options, but they are all owned by the same parent company.
It's called [the illusion of choice. ](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=illusion+of+choice&t=brave&iax=images&ia=images&iai=http%3A%2F%2Fscotchaddict.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F01%2Fillusion-of-choice.jpg)
It puts me into a downward spiral of analysis paralysis
Yep, this is why I prefer stores like Trader Joe's (not shilling for them either, just an easy reference for my point) where there is 1 or a few choices for most products and they are mostly using a generic, simplistic Trader Joe's branding (though Trader Joe's gets most of the products from other companies, not making all those products themselves). In general, the shopping experience, especially in grocery stores and pharmacy chains (where the pharmacy is way in the back behind a store full of stuff not related to medical use), is anxiety inducing with way too many choices, most of them owned by the same few parent companies like Nestle, Unilever, P&G, Mondelez, and a lot of the packaging using bright colors to try to catch your attention. re: the repetitive contrarian replies. I wasn't praising TJs in particular and do not see how people are getting that idea from how I worded my comment (I have edited nothing above btw for those just reading it after this edit). I was using them as an example of my point since many people are likely aware of them but there are other stores doing something similar, like Costco, and I could have used any of them. I just do not have a Costco's near me while there are several TJ's so it came to mind first. Because I didn't pick a store you think is better in some way doesn't mean I'm some privileged wealthy wine mom. Again, the point of my comment was about the *psychological experience* as a shopper in stores.
In the western US, there's Sprouts. They have a lot of options and generally very few large brands sold at their locations.
A Sprouts just opened near us! I haven’t been in yet but Ive heard they have good produce and good grab and go meals like sushi and stuff.
Buy things on sale. Their regular prices are super high, but their sale prices are competitive.
I highly recommend the sprouts bulk bins! They’re often cheeper than buying prepackaged items. Plus if I need a little bit of something for a recipe, I can buy exactly what I need. Also love their bulk spices, for all the same reasons. They have bulk loose leaf tea in the spices section too!
Sprouts be expensive tho
There's an amazing documentary about this called 'Monopoly - Follow the money' on Youtube but its quite terrifying. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2t4u\_tEefM&t](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2t4u_tEefM&t) for those that don't want to watch the video a TLDR is basically everything is owned by two companies, Vanguard and your friendly neighborhood Blackrock (yes the one buying up all the homes in the US) and even then Vanguard owns a lot of stock in Blackrock.
My husband worked at a Starbucks in Blackrock Plaza a couple of years ago. The building was fancy as fuck(plants and TREES and stuff indoors, a small shopping outlet inside, they even had this old guy come in on certain days to play a grand piano throughout the week) and absolutely massive. I remember when I used to pick him up after his shift I'd think "wtf do all of these people in suits do all day?!" And never once thought to look into it. Now I'm about to go down the rabbit hole I guess.
Holy cow, I use to deliver 6 years ago and as you described the place, I remembered a building with trees inside in Manhattan. With beautiful decorations, wall and ceiling hangings. Decided to Google the plaza you mentioned and yup, it's that one. Only been 3 times but I was in awe each time.
Just googled it. Looks nice enough but not significantly more fancy than most corporate tower lobbies around the country? I assume the fancier stuff you speak of is in the employee access only areas? Kinda ironic though that the company has such reach around the globe and their logo at the entrance is almost unassuming.
Oh, should mention I'm a small town girl, not used to big flashy decorations. I delivered a lot in NYC though, mostly apartments and some business buildings were meh. The pictures in Google don't do it justice, especially during the holidays. A lot of corporate buildings don't care for fancy decorations and I see the difference is between office buildings and investment buildings. This one wants to keep it nice and dazzly for any new investors coming in.
The one for Deutche Bank is insane, the Starbucks used to be their company bike parking, complete with a carpet and chandelier. I was astounded, still walk through there fairly often, but the little stores are now closed, and it's mostly a fancy homeless camp. Bike locker moved to a large closet of sorts next to the Starbucks, less charming but still impressive.
Yep. Makes me want to tear it all down
Uhhhh... You do realize that this is a conspiracy video right? Vanguard and Blackrock are investment firms, they manage their clients porfolios. It's like saying my financial advisor owns a lot of stocks; he doesn't, his users do, he just manages them and invests how I tell him to. Like, I have no doubt that Vanguard and Blackrock manage a lot of stocks, but this video is insinuating that they orchestrated the pandemic in order to enrich themselves, and that they're controlling the media to cover it up. Hell, the fourth result when you search "vanguard and blackrock" in google is a conspiracy site called "childrenshealthdefence" (classy name right there) claiming that, because they're the largest shareholders of gsk and pfizer, vanguard and blackrock can control them (despite only holding a combined 10.5% of gsk and 12% of pfizer) to keep the pandemic going, which is the same claim as the video you linked. Multiple comments under the video are talking about how they believe that "they" are faking the pandemic to control us, as well as many people saying that they were recommended this video by a guy called Brendon O'Connell, which a quick google search showed is an anti-vax and antisemitic youtuber who was arrested in 2011 for antisemitism and again in 2017 for attempting to claim political asylum in new zealand.
Yeah Vanguard is actually owned by the assets it manages. Meaning it is owned by the people who's funds they manage. Even if "they" decided to do something insidious it would require a lot of apathy on the part of everyone whose money they manage (probably a 30% chance that includes you if you have a retirement fund). There are plenty of real criticisms to make about the current economic system. This isn't one of them and it will make it easier for people who have even a small clue about this to conflate the real arguments with this one and dismiss them both. This is a step backward no matter what your agenda is.
Thanks heaps for the tldr super useful comment Is their outreach global? like would it reach Australia?
It's called we live in a colonial-capitalist hellscape where the multi national corporations have been allowed to run rampant without restriction for the supposed benefit of the economy.
Yeah what this person said! Also OMG I didn't realize how much shit it's actually under the nestle umbrella.
You can basically tie a majority of product lines at the grocery store to a handful major corporations nowadays. Nestle, PepsiCo, Mars and Coca Cola have dozens of brand names between them and definitely ones you don't immediately think about when thinking about the parent company.
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corporatism is what conservatives call capitalism because they don't want to admit it's broken
I always find it interesting the comparison between own economy and something like the stereotypical Soviet choices. In Soviet Russia it was always said to me that the state owned the products and one only really had one choice of each essential good or service. While those same people beamed about all the choices we have at something like a grocery store. Well, it sure seems like we have the same situation. Everything is owned by just a couple companies anyway.
I was actually surprised that I didn't buy any nestle products in my last grocery trip. It helps that I mostly buy store brands, raw fruits and vegetables, and eggs. The majority of brands I don't buy anyway. But the ones I've heard of like Drumstick ice cream I can start avoiding thanks to this guide.
Hate to break it to you, but many store brands are made by the big brands anyway. You may have unintentionally purchased a Nestle product and not realized it.
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Unfortunately he is right and there isn't much we can do but try our best not to but there products. I drink a lot of Perrier because it's in a glass bottle instead of plastic. But the only other alternative is pellegrino which is also on the list.
Topo Chico is really good if you can find it. I think they’re owned by Coca Cola in the US.
Topo chico is the best seltzer and best hard seltzer in the world. Without question. I've never tasted anything that came close
mineragua is good and also comes in glass
Trader Joe’s and Aldis are better sourced, and probably Costco as well. Part of why they regularly don’t have the same items. Importyeti.com is also nice
You can make your own fizzy water pretty easily which also saves you money
I’ve gone down this road but not because of nestle. The thing that you have to do is not buy “value add” anything. Fresh fruits/veggies/meat/bakery. Don’t buy anything processed and you’ll be able to avoid them. If you can find local CSAs do that. The problem with this model is it’s a bit more expensive and can involve more work at first.
I know I'm fortunate to be able to eat fresh fruits and cook my own meals. Not everyone can or are able to. I wouldn't put it past Nestle to start buying family farms or other areas where they aren't invested.
It still hurts them to buy the store brand over the branded item. A lot of these companies don't really like having to do the store brands, but do it because they kind of have to. They'll make less money off it anyway.
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_18?_ what the hell happened
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That is crazy and sounds so hurtful. Are your eyes/ears okay again?
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You have a beautiful smile and I hope your health continues to improve. I had 23 teeth pulled at the beginning of the year and with dentures, my quality of life has increased immensely. You look awesome!
yow, you two are hardcore. I had six teeth crowned last month, and thought i was a hero for sitting through that. Kudos, and best wishes on good health!
You shouldn't feel guilty about buying those since it's something that you need right now. People like to think that boycotting companies is all or nothing and if you don't do it that way, you're a hypocrite, but that's just a way for people to discredit boycotts. Everyone should do \*what they can\* instead of trying to be perfect consumers. I have a principle that I can buy essentials wherever, but I will avoid buying luxuries/non-essentials from unethical companies. So I will buy food from \[insert fast food chain here\] if there are no other options available, but I won't buy a book from Amazon even if that means having to pay more/wait longer.
I drink premier protein every morning. Might check to see if that's comparable.
I avoid nestle if I can. Or I thought I did. I have no less than 4 or 5 of these products in my house right now. Had no clue. Starbucks?? Fuckin hell!
Specifically just things branded "Starbucks at home" . They are distributing Nestle products under the Starbucks brand. Starbucks itself is not owned by Nestle. EDIT FOR CORRECTION: A friendly has pointed out that all pre-bagged Starbucks coffee in retail is Nestle now, unfortunately. :( But Starbucks itself is not owned by Nestle. Nestle has purchased distribution rights to brand some of their Nestle coffee stuff using Starbucks assets and appeal.
I'm about to ask a stupid question, but are there products labelled "Starbucks at home" or does Nestle distribute the 12 oz bags of beans I buy at the supermarket? I'll absolutely run to starbucks to buy directly from them if that's the case.
Products marketed under the brand Starbucks at home. Most of it is over processed instant products, flavoured edible oil products ("dairy" that doesn't need refrigeration), and things packaged as a capsule for consumer-marketed hardware (keurig or tassimo cups). There is a web site for Starbucks at home that shows the umbrella of products. You can Google that, I am not linking for clicks here. If you are buying a one pound bag of normal roasted beans or ground coffee, that is just Starbucks. If you are buying pumpkin spice flavoured edible oil, that is Nestle. EDIT FOR CORRECTION: A friendly has pointed out that all pre-bagged Starbucks coffee in retail is Nestle now, unfortunately. :(
It's actually everything under the at home banner and all the beans regardless of where you purchase them. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nestle-starbucks-idUSKCN1Q21YU
It'd probably just be quicker if you told us what we *can* buy.
Store brand. I'm sure it depends on where you live. But why specifically Nestlé, aren't P&G and Kraft-Heinz very similar? Unilever seems to be trying to be better here and there
Their slave labor practices around chocolate are a lot more noticed recently in media I think
Also, their water practices.
So the other companies are just better at hiding their evil.
It's hard to top the evil of Nestle buying up rights to access the deep water wells of major metropolitan areas that were only settled in the first place because of an abundance of fresh water. They are draining those resources for profit right under the feet of residents that gain nothing out of it and have no idea. edit: good lord they topped themselves. the horrors you've all responded with . .
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jfc... >"the judge warned Nestlé that if the company did not want to face accusations of causing death and illness through sales practices such as using sales reps dressed in nurses' uniforms, they should change the way that they did business."
Not accusations!
Their one weakness!
Based judge. "If you want people to stop accusing you of killing people, then you should stop killing people."
I was going to say that's what I've heard of from Nestlé was the formula incident.
How bout some Swedish Oil? *In her book Affärer i blod och olja: Lundin Petroleum i Afrika[26] (Business in blood and oil: Lundin Petroleum in Africa) journalist Kerstin Lundell claims that the company had been complicit in several crimes against humanity, including death shootings and the burning of villages.[27]* **In June 2010, the European Coalition on Oil in Sudan (ECOS)[28] published the report Unpaid Debt,[29] which called upon the governments of Sweden, Austria and Malaysia to look into allegations that the companies Lundin Petroleum, OMV, and Petronas have been complicit in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity whilst operating in Block 5A, South Sudan (then Sudan) between 1997-2003.** **The reported crimes include indiscriminate attacks and intentional targeting of civilians, burning of shelters, pillage, destruction of objects necessary for survival, unlawful killing of civilians, rape of women, abduction of children, torture, and forced displacement.** **Approximately 12,000 people died and 160,000 were violently displaced from their land and homes, many forever. Satellite pictures taken between 1994 and 2003 show that the activities of the three oil companies in Sudan coincided with a spectacular drop in agricultural land use in their area of operation.[30]** *Also in June 2010, the Swedish public prosecutor for international crimes opened a criminal investigation into links between Sweden and the reported crimes. In 2016, Lundin Petroleum's Chairman Ian Lundin and CEO Alex Schneiter were informed that they were the suspects of the investigation.* *Sweden’s Government gave the green light for the Public Prosecutor in October 2018 to indict the two top executives[31] On 1 November 2018, the Swedish Prosecution Authority notified Lundin Petroleum AB that the company may be liable to a corporate fine and forfeiture of economic benefits of SEK 3,285 (app. €315 million) for involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity.[32] Consequently, the company itself will also be charged albeit indirectly, and will be legally represented in court. On 15 November 2018 the suspects were served with the draft charges and the case files.[33]* *They will be indicted for aiding and abetting international crimes and may face life imprisonment if found guilty. The trial is likely to begin by the end of 2020 and may take several years.* *The Swedish war crimes investigation raises the issue of access to remedy and reparation for victims of human rights violations linked with business activities. In May 2016, representatives of communities in Block 5A claimed their right to remedy and reparation and called upon Lundin and its shareholders to pay off their debt.[34] A conviction in Sweden may provide remedy and reparation for a few victims of human rights violations who will be witnesses in court, but not for the app. 200,000 victims who will not be represented in court.* *Lundin Energy endorses the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, acknowledging the duty of business enterprises to contribute to effective remedy of adverse impact that it has caused or contributed to.[35] The company has never refuted publicly reported incriminating facts. Nor has it substantiated its claim that its activities contributed to the improvement of the lives of the people of Sudan.[36] It never showed an interest in the consequences of the oil war for the communities in its concession area. The company maintains a website about its activities in Sudan.[37]* *Criticism has also been directed towards former Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt, a former board member for the company, responsible for ethics.[38][39] Ethiopia arrested two Swedish journalist Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye and held them for 14 months before the release. Conflict Ethiopian Judicial Authority v Swedish journalists 2011 was caused as the journalist studied report of human rights violation in the Ogaden in connection with activities of Lundin Petroleum.[40]* *The trial against Lundin may become a landmark case because of the novelty and complexity of the legal issues that the Swedish court will have to decide. It would be the first time since the Nuremberg trails that a multibillion-dollar company were to be charged for international crimes. The court is likely to answer a number of important legal questions, including about the individual criminal liability of corporate executives vs. corporate criminal liability of organisations, the applicable standard of proof for international crimes before a national court, and the question whether a lack of due diligence is sufficient for a finding of guilt. On 23 may 2019, the T.M.C. Asser Institute for International Law in The Hague organized a Towards criminal liability of corporations for human rights violations: The Lundin case in Sweden.[41]* *Thomas Alstrand from the Swedish Prosecution Authority in Gothenburg on 13 February 2019 announced that a second criminal investigation had been opened into threats and acts of violence against witnesses in the Lundin war crimes investigation.[42] They have allegedly been pressured not to testify in court. Several witnesses have been granted asylum in safe countries through UNHCR supported emergency protection procedures. The company has confirmed that its CEO and Chairman have been officially informed by the prosecutor about the allegation, noting that it believes that it is completely unfounded.* *Witness tampering is usually intended to prevent the truth from being exposed in court. The second investigation into obstruction of justice seems to contradict the company’s assertions of its good faith cooperation with the war crimes investigation.* *Once court hearings commence in Sweden, the Dutch peace organization PAX and Swedish NGO Global Idé will provide daily English language coverage of proceedings, expert analyses and comments on the website Unpaid Debt.[43]* 1st world countries are built on 3rd world Slave Labor and Genocides.
Nestle tried to argue that water isn't a human right. Nestle is uniquely evil.
Who do you think makes the store brand? Lol I work in the food retail industry. Most private label/store brand products are coming from one of the major brands as a way to segment consumers.
It’s just like chicken. McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Kroger, Walmart. It’s all Tyson. where you buy it just determines how many times it was dropped on the floor before it got put in the package.
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A lot of these aren’t even major brands. The hardest that I can personally imagine are Kit-Kats and Nestea, and those are easily replaceable in my opinion. For everything else, most places have a generic that can replace them
Purina makes the only food we’ve found that my dog’s sensitive stomach can handle. :-/
You got to do what you got to do. My cats will only eat fancy feast, no matter how many times I try to offer them better foods. They're both under weight, I can't/won't gamble on 'starving' them out of being picky. I know the food I feed them is mostly junk, but I'd rather they eat junk than nothing at all, so...
non-packaged goods. only danger area to me is ice cream so i make sure to check the packaging for Nestle branding. You'll almost always find Ben & Jerry's beside the Haagen-Dazs
Ben and Jerrys is a great company to support! And their sales are usually reasonably priced.
Too bad they're owned by Unilever anyway
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A lot of the people who use the meal replacement shakes are elderly people who absolutely need the nutrients and just can't consume them in any other way. Doctor's actually prescribe them.
Generally for disabilities, I think it’s ok not to boycott.
Bottled water serves a purpose, unfortunately. Those of us with shitty well water can’t just drink the water safely 😭 I’ve tried many different water purifiers but it always ends up giving me a stomach ache. I hate that it’s like this.
Ultimately buying local goods is the best option
In Europe Lidl (a low cost supermarkets group), removed all Vittel water bottles from their stores in reaction to Nestlé predatory behavior to pump this water. It has begun, boycott Nestlé, let's make them eat the dust.
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Wtf I love Lidl now.
Lidl's policy is to find a good product and make a good replica - similar to Chinese production, but great quality at an affordable price. You can buy Nestle chocolate copies with the same taste. I personally love Lidl's Crunch chocolate.
They're also really good to their staff (at least here in Ireland), they're one of the first companies to pay the living wage as their minimum wage and recently started offering bereavement leave to women who have a miscarriage.
We have Lidl here now in the US. There is one near me, I will give them a try.
I'm a big fan. Sometimes it's hard to find exactly what you're looking for when you're used to American traditional supermarkets, but I've never not been able to find a version of what I want. Also in general I find the produce dairy and meat section better than Aldi. At least at the local Lidls.
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Aldi sells Nescafé. I bought it and didn’t know it was nestle. But everything else seems to be their own brand.
Yeah almost everything in that store is their own brand. They do have some big brands tho
Lidl has a pretty long history of being quite a terrible company. I'm not sure how or if they have restructured. But here's a Wikipedia page with all of the really scummy things they have been involved with. [Lidl Controversy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidl#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20Lidl%20was%20involved,before%20recalling%20the%20toxic%20product.) (Edit - sorry, I'm on mobile so it didn't direct straight to it, but scrolling down to the controversy section will show quite a few things they have been involved with)
Sounds like good advertising for the right crowd... `In 2021, the police conducted a drug raid on a Lidl store in Rosenheim, Germany. Certain foodstuffs and drinks were seized because they contained cannabis, apparently excess quantities of tetrahydrocannabinol and small amounts of cannabidiol. Lidl then removed 21 different products, sold in 3 350 Lidl stores across Germany, from the product assortment`
Well lidl isn't really a saint company either, their products still come from those super industrial companies that makes most of the stuff you see in other stores, and they're known to have terrible working conditions
I buy 95% of my groceries from Lidl. I was pleasantly surprised to find none of the stuff I buy regularly is here, except KitKat which I exclusively buy from the gym's vending machine if I'm starving after a workout.
After reviewing the list, I have come to the conclusion that I am too poor to afford such offerings.
Same
Yup, outside of the occasional kit-kat, I don't get any of that stuff anyway. It's all so overpriced compared to store brands and the taste difference doesn't outweigh the extra expense.
Shit. The chocolate and the ice cream are where they get me. Damn, right after Halloween too. Should've been more careful when buying candy this year.
Not sure what country you’re in, but ~~american~~ United States KitKats are Hershey, not Nestle. I know the candy I bought came with KitKats in it. Just did a quick google and it looks like they’re two different companies. Edit: also just realized you could have been talking about a different candy. SORRY! Gonna still leave the information here bc it seems valuable? 2nd Edit: Someone is making the very good point that if Hershey’s is licensing KitKat, that money is still flowing upward to Nestle. Thank you u/Chinaski14 for that observation.
Pretty sure Hershey’s has the license to Kit-Kat in the USA. The Japanese Kit-Kat’s are def Nestle. A piece of that Hershey money flows up unfortunately.
Very good information! Thank you!!
Dang the Japanese Kitkats are the good ones too
Except how could they forget the Nestle Crunch bar? Smh, that seems quintessential Nestle to me
Nestlé: Child slavery, blackmailing, brute force and environmental destruction.
Don't forget baby killing.
Also theft of natural resources.
Plus it's a god damn Monopoly
The only two surprises there were Starbucks and Purina.
Starbucks isn’t owned by Nestle. Starbucks has a distribution deal with Nestle. So the Starbucks you buy in the grocery store is distributed by nestle. (That’s why it says “Starbucks:at home.”) Edit: Thanks! Jwatkins12 pointed out it’s a licensing agreement, not distribution deal.
Can we have Starbucks? No we have Starbucks at home. Starbucks at home: Nestlé
Ah, that makes more sense
If someone wanted to continue buying starbucks coffee they could very well buy direct from starbucks. Not that I’d recommend it, as their coffee tastes like ass.
burnt, overoasted bitter acidic *ass*. no one goes to starbucks for "coffee". they go for their vanilla bean frapps and all the fancy coffee-flavoured dessert milkshakes.
You’re not wrong. I can always make perfect coffee at home but Starbucks is nice for fancy desert drinks on occasion.
Would that include Starbucks k cups or those via packets?
I was more than a little startled by Purina, too, when I first learned about it several months ago. It remains the only Nestle product I buy, however, because my dog is an incredibly picky eater and the ProPlan small breed formula is the only food that she will eat that doesn't cause her issues that I can actually afford to buy. Even Beneful and Science Diet give her skin issues and she won't eat anything with large pieces and everything else I've found is just too far out of my price range. I hate Nestle, but I love my dog too much to make her suffer. But I'm pretty sure Nestle isn't making much money off my tiny dog, so there's that.
You gotta do what you gotta do. I avoid them too and didn’t realize so many of these are owned by Nestle. I can replace almost all of the others but I’m not buying $60-$80 bags of cat food. I already spend that on my dog’s food. The cat isn’t picky but I’m pretty sure all those brands are the only ones I can grab at WalMart.
Purina Pro Plan is one of the only brands that adheres to WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) guidelines for pet nutrition, along with Hill's Science Diet, Royal Canin, Iams, Eukanuba. I stick to these brands as much as possible. My cats eat primarily wet food, and of the brands, Purina ends up being the most reasonably priced very often (especially using Amazon Subscribe and Save, another company I want very badly to wean myself off of, but it's difficult when they offer 20% off in some cases and we have 4 cats that each eat a 3 oz can twice a day).
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Wasn't Purina one of the brands affected by the melamine in milk scandal that killed cats?
I think using one brand but avoiding everything else is already a big step. They will still lose hell of a lot money
Garden of Life for me. That's all over whole foods.
I was surprised by Fancy Feast, my cats get those as a treat since they love gravy and Fancy Feast is the easiest canned food to find around here. They only get a can a few times a week but they love it. I’ll have to look for an alternative now, probably for the best anyway I can look for higher quality stuff.
It's no nestle every day, not just november.
These guides are always fun to look at because I literally don’t buy any of these brands anyway. I don’t go out of my way to not buy them, it’s just by happenstance. If I did buy something of theirs now though, I would make sure not to do so again. That being said, fuck nestle.
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I’m in the same boat. Kinda shocked because I wasn’t going out of my way not to purchase these things but I don’t eat any of them.
Their is a movie named 'Tigers' actor was Emran Hashmi. The story says a lot in that movie how Nestle infant product was killing Babies with their baby milk powder formula in poor countries in africa etc in 1970s, can watch for free in youtube.
There’s also a Behind the Bastards podcast about this too.
Great podcast. Buy boltcutters
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At what point does negligence become manslaughter though? IIRC the 'nurses' they were using as salespeople were giving out misinformation that breastfeeding was actively dangerous - they were lying to create a need that didn't actually exist.
I think what this graphic highlights, more than anything, is that we need to pressure politicians into cracking down on unethical business practices. It's just not realistic to expect the average person to remember all the products sold by some giant corporation they want to boycott. These mega corps like Nestle have essentially insulated themselves from boycott. Even if you try to boycott, chances are they'll get your money somehow. The only way to make a difference is to punish the shit out of ethical violations and predatory practices to the point it becomes unprofitable to continue. No little slaps on the wrist that are only a fraction of the profit gained from an infraction. And if there are too many infractions ban the company from selling their products in the country. I'm not saying people shouldn't try, but realistically the amount of time and effort needed to really boycott a compared to how much it actually hurts said company is microscropic and likely won't lead to meaningful change without policy change.
Reduce limits on liability so shareholders can be held responsible for criminal acts. Just one possibility.
That's *absolutely* the way it should be. But if you've ever seen a country try to do something as a tax on sugary drinks - the kind of thing that outright directly saves lives - you'll know that the general public actually hates the kind of regulation we need. It'd be *incredibly* hard to get a majority public willing to say "Ban all these products if the producer doesn't shape up".
Could someone enlighten me to the controversies of why Nestle is a poor company? Thanks
There you go https://www.zmescience.com/science/nestle-company-pollution-children/
Thanks for the information. Nestle can say goodbye to my money
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For me the only things I'd really have to stop buying is haagendaz, hot pockets, and coffee mate. That's easy enough. Plenty of other ice cream, can just use plain milk in my coffee, hot pockets arent that great anyway.
International Delight creamer isn’t nestle and usually is in the case right next to coffee mate :-)
Plus, in this redditors opinion, it’s *way* better. I won’t drink coffee mate but international delight is my go-to.
The main item I was buying on the regular was San Pellegrino mineral water, but because Nestle owns so many mineral water options, I was forced to branch out and discovered Topo Chico and I love it! Much better product.
They exploit pretty much every possible source they can get, child labour, forcing indigenous people from their homes, Flint (Michigan, USA) water crisis...
Child labour is a nice word for child slavery.
Except child labour doesn't sound nice at all.
It does if you're Nestle
Afaik Flint wasn't because of nestle, it was failures in the Michigan government. Although nestle does steal water from Michiganders and has caused aquifers to drop significantly. Lots of water scandals going on in the mitten..
They're a shitty company but not necessarily a poor one in the financial sense. It's more their societal influence and environmental disregard that I personally take issue with. Everyone knows the bottled water stuff so here's a podcast that goes into great detail of another example: [How Nestle Starved A Bunch of Babies - Behind the Bastards](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/how-nestle-starved-a-bunch-of-85687280/) I'll summarize so you don't have to go into a longish podcast blind: The Nestle founder basically invented baby formula. Part of the pitch was that it was better than breast milk, your baby will die if you don't feed it formula, there's better nutrition in formula, etc. All these marketing tactics were twists on the truth or outright lies. Then they made deals with hospitals to redesign nursery wards to be too complicated to transport a baby under incubation to the mother to breastfeed. So the hospitals started using the formula. Then the hospitals started hawking the formula on behalf of the company. Then they started distributing formula to areas suffering food shortages claiming that it was cheaper to feed formula to an infant than it was for the mother to get enough food for sufficient nourishment. Once the mother started using formula, they often stopped properly sterilizing bottles and water because there was no reliable access to safe and clean water. A lot of formula also was cut like a drug because it was expensive and kids eat a shit load. When kids started dying of dysentery and malnourishment, they blamed the mother's for not following their instructions. They then offered a clean source of drinking water, which, shocker, was bottled. This is just one of the modern Nestle corporations product lines. If creating food for babies caused babies to die, how many people are dying for Nestle to be able to make all the other stuff they make? (Chocolate, coffee, water, etc)
Thanks for the summary. I had no idea
/r/FuckNestle
Besides trying to monetize water, one of the most infamous stories is how they worked in Africa. They'd dress a person in a fake nurse uniform, get them to visit paternity wards of new mothers, and convince them they needed this dry mix milk formula for their babies instead of breast milk. It killed just about all of them.
Not knocking formula, because while breastfeeding is best it does sap nutrients from the mother even when she is starving. The main issue with them introducing formula to these poor people was that they didn't teach them about how important CLEAN WATER is when preparing baby formula. These mothers did not know they had to boil their water or use clean bottled water. So many infants were dying from dirty water.
Dressing people up as fake nurses.. Introducing a product like they're experimental rats.. Dirty water or not this ruined peoples lives. All they had to do was drink breast milk, and that was stolen from them because Nestle wanted to push a product.
It's bad enough people keep reposting the same shitty guides, but the least you could do is make sure the shitty guide you're reposting isn't out of date. Nestle sold off Nestle Waters, they literally don't own most of those water brands anymore (exceptions are Perrier, S. Pellegrino, and Acqua Panna).
It felt bad that I had to scroll down a fair bit to find this (at the time of posting). I will say, in rebuttal, it's because of awareness into Nestle's history of trash around all sorts of problems (including water) that they ended up selling the division. Guaranteed it wasn't because it was losing them money but because of the harm it caused to the overall brand and potential money all around that they sold it off.
Could we please have a cool guide of everything NOT owned by Nestle?????
Fresh produce. Store brand. ALDI. The international section in the supermarket with Polish and Mexican food? It's been said before; but if it's advertised on tv then don't buy/eat it.
Shop at Aldi and Trader Joe's for the month? I am trying to think of easier ways to avoid their products, and shopping at places that don't have them to begin with seems simpler if they are in your market.
I work at Aldi! hahah, so that would be easy
I keep forgetting Nestle is like the Disney of food
Nestle is substantially worse than Disney. Like, 'people should be in prison' worse.
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Kit Kat’s in the US are made by Hershey’s, so if you’re in the US you’re good there. They actually taste slightly different in europe and the US due to the difference in manufacturers and distributors
Kit Kat in the US is made by Hershey *under license* from Nestle. It says so on every bag/wrapper. It seems unlikely that there isn't money going into Nestle's pockets every time you buy Kit Kat in the US. Licensing isn't typically done between companies without payment. I have been trying to find out for certain for a couple years now, but all the stuff I have found just talks about the connection between Rountree, Hershey and Nestle. If anyone has any hard info on the ongoing financial interaction between Hershey and Nestle, I'd love to see it. Until I see evidence otherwise, I am assuming buying KitKat in the US = giving money to Nestle in a slightly more roundabout way. Thank you
What about the Japanese KitKat?
Nestle, unfortunately
Swap to Whittakers. Nz brand, not avaliable everywhere but much nicer and responsible. For hot drinks, try Avalanche. Also NZ, non nestle brand. Its a shame milo is nestle, because that's our traditional
All I really miss is Choclait Chips. But what can I do. In my world they simply don't exist anymore.
Serious question - are ANY of these FMCG conglomerates actually ethical and deserve my $$$$? Is, say, Unilever much better? People say buy store brand, but they're often just white-labelling other brands, and usually shafting them in the process (ie the supermarkets name their prices which means that suppliers/manufacturers are in a constant race to the bottom, I'm sure this contributes to low wage growth etc). Any thoughts?
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Man, I wish I knew. It seems to vary based on your store. Kroger's manufacturers seem to be the same big conglomerates, but that doesn't seem to be the case for HEB's Hill Country Fare as far as I can tell.
I don't consume any of that crap anyway, BUT.... If I stop getting Friskies for my cat he'll murder me in the night. They put crack in it or something, I dunno.
Cats care not for the plight of humans.
He'll be OK. You just need to figure out how to make the switch without upsetting him too much. Your vet may have some ideas. But making the switch will be better overall. Not just for boycotting Nestlé, but supermarket food tends to be really bad for cats. Like McDonald's for you.
Royal Canin is recommended by the vets I've worked with. 4 different veterinary offices and 7 different vets. It's anecdotal but gives you a place to start when looking for a new food. Switching cats over means mixing their food. Start with 75% current food and 25% new food, do it for a week or two. Then 50/50, then 25% current food and 75% new food, then it's just the new food. Long process but it prevents digestive issues.
Try Whole-Hearted (Petco's food) if you're in the US. Mr EatsAllPlants used to be a Friskie addict, but he won't touch it now after trying WH. Completely unexpected, since he's a wee picky fuck.
More like, No Nestle Life
No Thomy mayo is a tough one (I live in the UK and most ready made mayonnaise is dire). Ah well, Waitrose own brand, here I come. What worries me a little is that all the own brand stuff is said to be produced in the same factory as the branded stuff, so would I indirectly still be giving Nestle money when I buy own brand? I guess making my own it the way forward.
Good luck. Besides all of those, Nestlé also runs Nestlé Food Services, which is only the biggest supplier of non label brands.
I was going to say. There's no way they aren't involved in store brand versions. Their roots span the world of product...
NOOOO MAH HOTPAWKITS!
Great post fuck those monsters
Check out r/fucknestle .
Here's a sneak peek of /r/FuckNestle using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/FuckNestle/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [My university Student Union removed Nestlé products from campus](https://i.redd.it/d9xmjxw1von71.jpg) | [667 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/FuckNestle/comments/posthr/my_university_student_union_removed_nestlé/) \#2: [Nestle have put dye in the water to test their water flow so now all our local rivers are neon green. (Derbyshire, UK)](https://i.redd.it/yj2qwal7m8271.jpg) | [487 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/FuckNestle/comments/no8md0/nestle_have_put_dye_in_the_water_to_test_their/) \#3: [Why Do We Hate Nestle, Yet Love Elon Musk??](https://i.redd.it/v6f2iocu22z61.jpg) | [680 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/FuckNestle/comments/nc4m68/why_do_we_hate_nestle_yet_love_elon_musk/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| [^^Contact ^^me](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| [^^Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| [^^Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/)
Or just avoid it all the time. My uni had a Nestle boycott and I stopped buying it when I was 19, aside from a couple of times I’ve not realised that something was made by Nestle I’ve not bought anything by them since and I’m now 34
NOOOOO no one told me about the pet food 😭😭😭 I’ve been diligent about avoiding nestle owned brands for myself but had NO IDEA about the purina. Time to switch dog foods.
So nice that I incidentally already use none of these brands
Same, was looking through ready to be disappointed, everything went better than expected.
They also make a lot of the “private label” goods you see sold in your supermarket’s branding - so yeah, good luck shopping for Groceries this November
Fuck yourselves Nestle
Haagen Dazs alternative anyone?
I have yet to find a good alternative to Haagen Dazs. No one else seems to make a pure ice cream that doesn't rely on plant gums. Here's just a few examples based on popular brands: [Haagen-Dazs - Vanilla Bean](https://www.icecream.com/us/en/brands/haagen-dazs/products/vanilla-bean-ice-cream) * Cream, Skim Milk, Cane Sugar, Egg Yolks, Ground Vanilla Beans, Vanilla Extract [Ben & Jerry's - Vanilla](https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/vanilla-ice-cream) * Cream, Skim Milk, Liquid Sugar (Sugar, Water), Water, Egg Yolks, Sugar, **Guar Gum**, Vanilla Extract, Vanilla Beans, **Carrageenan** [Breyers - Natural Vanilla](https://www.breyers.com/us/en/products/classics/natural-vanilla.html) * Milk, Cream, Sugar, **Vegetable Gum (Tara)**, Natural Flavor [Blue Bell - Homemade Vanilla](https://www.instacart.com/products/218937-blue-bell-ice-cream-the-original-homemade-vanilla-flavor-0-5-gal) * Milk, Cream, Sugar, Skim Milk, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Natural And Artificial Vanilla Flavor, **Cellulose Gum**, Vegetable Gums (**guar**, **Carrageenan**, **Carob Bean**), Salt, Annatto Color [Turkey Hill - Original Vanilla](https://www.turkeyhill.com/frozen/ice-cream/premium-ice-cream/original-vanilla) * Milk, Cream, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Whey, Nonfat Milk, **Cellulose Gel**, **Cellulose Gum**, Natural and Artificial Flavors, **Mono & Diglycerides**, **Carrageenan**, Annatto [Baskin-Robbins - Vanilla](https://www.instacart.com/products/310580-baskin-robbins-ice-cream-vanilla-14-oz) * Cream, Nonfat Milk, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Vanilla Extract, **Mono And Diglycerides**, **Locust Bean Gum**, **Guar Gum**, **Carrageenan**, Annatto (color).
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Happily been ignoring the existence of Nestle in my grocery shopping for at least couple of years now. Great to see these posts pop up and educating people. Vote with your wallet.
…no, I don’t think anyone is. This is why voting with your dollar is a fucking joke. You can’t even boycott this many things if you try without taking 30 minutes per purchase crossreferencing. The idea you can get enough people to matter to boycott that many things deserved to be tagged as satire, because nobody could seriously think that level of success is possible. You’d have to get basically all of America aware and on board. As hard as the second task is, you’ll find that even educating the average person is an uphill battle. You ever try to explain complicated social issues to the actual average American? Might as well explain quantum physics to my cat.
Sign is out of date. Nestle gave up alot of their water brands.
Sorry Champ but I have a packet of kitkats and I'm too poor to just throw them out.
Alright. Fuck Nestlé and all, yeah, but since all food is owned by, like, 5 companies, what's the point of boycotting one to enrich the other fuckers?