The Nestlé Company’s Role In Child Labour And Slavery

We have been discussing the Nestle company and its role as a diabolical conglomerate culpable in the war on food. Primarily, we have addressed Nestle’s role in the baby formula scandal, looking especially at how its actions have caused a malnutrition crisis in children in developing nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America, leading to boycotts in 1977 and 1984. Well, much like other diabolical conglomerates, Nestle has been quite ambitious in its pursuits, which has been followed by the abuse of fundamental rights in different parts of the world.
Today, we will address 3 questions, namely: (1) How was the Nestle empire built and amalgamated during WWII? (2) What has been Nestle’s role in child labour and slavery? And (3) How is Nestle implicated in the creation of water scarcity?
And now onto our first question, which is: How was the Nestle empire built and amalgamated during WWII? Well, With the onset of the Second World War, profits plummeted. Switzerland was neutral in the war and became increasingly isolated in Europe. Many of Nestlé’s executive officers were transferred to offices in the US Because of distribution problems in Europe and Asia, Nestlé opened factories in developing countries in Latin America. Production increased dramatically after America entered the war. Nescafé became a main beverage for the American servicemen in Europe and Asia. Total sales increased by $125 million from 1938 to 1945.
Nestlé continued to make profit, merging with Alimentana SA, a company that manufactured soups and seasonings, in 1947. In the coming years, Nestlé acquired Crosse & Blackwell, Findus frozen foods, Libby’s fruit juices, and Stouffer’s frozen foods. Nescafé instant coffee sales quadrupled from 1960 to 1974, and the new technology of freeze-drying allowed the company to create a new kind of instant coffee, which they named Taster’s Choice.
Expanding its product line outside of the food market, Nestlé became a major stockholder in L’Oréal cosmetics in 1974. Soon after the company suffered with increasing oil prices and the slowing growth in industrialized countries. Foreign exchange rates decreased, in turn reducing the value of sterling, the pound, dollar and franc. Prices of coffee beans and cocoa rose radically, presenting further problems for Nestlé. The company decided to venture into the pharmaceutical industry by acquiring Alcon Laboratories, Inc. While trying to deal with unstable economic conditions and exploring its new ventures, Nestlé faced the crisis of an international boycott.
As you’d recall from our previous discussion, many organised groups began boycotting all of Nestlé’s products because they disapproved of Nestlé marketing its baby formula in developing countries. Problems like illiteracy and poverty caused some mothers to use less formula than recommended. In a watered down formula, vital nutrients are lessened. Contaminated water presented another problem, since the formulas had to be mixed with water. The organizations argued that the misuse of formula resulted in the malnutrition or death of many infants in developing countries. But, in a utterly incommensurate response, Nestle merely gave the defence that the World Health Organization never made statements tying infant death or malnutrition with baby formulas. Here’s more on how the diabolical Nestle empire was built and amalgamated through numerous acquisitions and product variety, especially during WWII.
THE NESTLÉ COMPANY’S ROLE IN CHILD LABOUR AND SLAVERY
This brings us to our second question being: What has been Nestle’s role in child labour and slavery? Now, chocolate is a product of the cacao bean, which grows primarily in the tropical climates of Western Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The cacao bean is more commonly referred to as cocoa, so that is the term that will be used throughout this article. Western African countries, mostly Ghana and the Ivory Coast, supply about 70% of the world’s cocoa. The cocoa they grow and harvest is sold to a majority of chocolate companies, including the largest in the world.
In the past few decades, a handful of organizations and journalists have exposed the widespread use of child labor, and in some cases slavery, on cocoa farms in Western Africa. Child labor has been found on cocoa farms in Cameroon, Guinea, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, although since most of Western Africa’s cocoa is grown in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, the majority of child labor cases have been documented in those two countries.
In recent years, evidence has also surfaced of both child labor and slavery on cocoa farms in Brazil. Cocoa workers there face many of the same abuses as those on the cocoa farms of Western Africa. However, over the years, the chocolate industry has become increasingly secretive, making it difficult for reporters to not only access farms where human rights violations still occur, but to then disseminate this information to the public. However, this information did come out regarding Nestle, in case that was made against it by children who worked in cacao farms.
More specifically, as recently as 2021, Nestlé was sued by eight former child slaves for “aiding and abetting the illegal enslavement of thousands of children on cocoa farms in their supply chains.” Alongside Cargill, Barry Callebaut, Mars, Olam, Hershey and Mondelēz, Nestlé is accused in a class action lawsuit of allowing forced labor on their Ivory Coast cocoa plantations.
NESTLÉ’S ROLE IN THE CREATION OF WATER SCARCITY
Which then brings us to the final question, being: How is Nestle implicated in the creation of water scarcity? First, Nestlé is blamed for exploiting groundwater in areas where the public needs it the most — and selling it for profit. Pakistan, which was recently reclassified from water “stressed” to water “scarce,” has seen water sources in areas where Nestlé began sourcing its Pure Life water sink hundreds of feet since production began. Furthermore, the remaining water in these areas is often toxic.
Now, audits discovered that the company was exploiting natural water sources without paying for them. What’s worse, it wastes the pilfered water; 43 percent of the total 4.4 billion liters taken in 2018 was completely wasted — that’s 1.9 billion liters — despite their management’s claims that only 15 percent was wasted.
In addition, despite the crippling droughts and wildfires that annually ravage California, Nestlé’s CEO proudly continues to exploit the state’s water sources. The exact amount Nestlé pumps from the San Bernardino National Forest is unclear — but estimates put the figure at around a billion gallons annually — since 1988. Nestlé has, for some inexplicable reason, been bottling water for its Arrowhead water brand from this public and vital water source since 1984. Nestlé being Nestlé, this has put them back a measly $524 a year, despite its permit running out in 1988. Petitions have come and gone to get the company to pay for the water it takes or, at the very least, to renew its license.
Written By Lindokuhle Mabaso