Chante JVR

My close family and friends know, there are some companies I won't support due to moral and ethical reasons. Some of those companies include Nike, Calvin Klein and H&M. I'm even trying to cut down my palm oil intake in favour of the orangutangs as well as my plastic consumption, but it can be challenging to do so on a budget. In this article, I want to talk about one company in particular: Nestle. That's it. Just the one... for now. Are you ready?

Nestle's been around since the 1860s and started as two separate Swiss companies that eventually merged to become Nestle. In the following decades, the company grew to spread through Europe and the United States. Even here in South Africa, it's a big company. Their products range from water, chocolate, cereal, noodles, and coffee. If you looked through your kitchen cabinets right now, chances are you'd find something Nestle.

My disdain for Nestle started when, in 2013, former CEO and current chairperson, Peter Brabeck. stated that water "is not a basic human right". In the same vein, Nestle sources most of their water from areas where water resources are scarce or challenging in order to get it at a better rate. They then monopolize this same water supply, forcing the people in that area to pay them for this water that's been there this whole time. It seems like Nestle would bottle air if given the opportunity.

In addition to this, Nestle has previously sent out saleswoman dressed as nurses to third world countries to provide newborn moms with free samples of Nestle formula. They provided them with just enough to last until the mother's milk dried up, forcing them to then purchase more formula.

These reasons mentioned above are the tip of the iceburg consisting of false advertising, excessive plastic use which is damaging to the environment, and the cherry on top of the Nestle crunch pie, Nestle is also one of the many companies that is enabling child slavery; exploiting the child labour laws in some of the countries they operate in.

Now, I've had my fair share of people saying, "I don't care that they're the literal embodiment of evil, their chocolates are tasty!" But ask yourself, if we can cancel people at the drop of a hat, why are we not as quick to hold organisations accountable? Rather than turning on each other as often as we do, we should be turning on these corporations who have shown us time and time again that we are nothing more than money to fill their pockets. Are our morals and ethics worth the momentary indulgence?