
Nestlé
Company Score
-0.16About Nestle
Nestlé is a multinational food and beverage processing conglomerate headquartered in Switzerland. Nestlé is mainly famous for its brands: Nespresso, Nescafé, Kit Kat, Smarties, Nesquik, Vittel, and Maggi. Nestlé is also one of the main shareholders of L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics company. Nestlé has 447 factories, operates in 189 countries, and employs around 339,000 people.
Read about Nestlé and its impact below.
Impact notes
Nestle Use Unethical Marketing To Sell Breast Milk Substitute


Increasing mortality, malnutrition and diarrhoea in the developing world is believed to be due to aggressive marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes (BMS)1. A UK-based study showed that 20% of parents choose BMS products based on confidence in the ingredients and similarity to breast milk. 20% chose by price, some buying more expensive as they believed higher cost indicates better formula2;p36.
Nestlé recalled over 345,000 kgs of pepperoni Hot Pockets due to extraneous matter contamination


Foreign material contamination was the leading cause of food recalls in 2019, affecting over 5.8 Mn kgs of food in the first half of the year, in contrast with less than 725,748 kgs throughout 20181. This form of contamination has become increasingly common in processed meats2. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued 34 processed meat recalls in 2019, exceeding 7.7 Mn kgs of food2. For consumers, ingestion of foreign materials poses severe health hazards, such as choking, organ injury, intestinal blockages, or even death2.
Nestle continues to use child labor in cocoa farms in West Africa


Child labour prevents children from receiving an education and proper healthcare. It can also lead to extreme bodily and mental harm, including sexual exploitation. Approximately 156 million children - nearly 1 in 10 - are forced into child labour worldwide1.
Nestle is using nutrition as a way to reduce the prevalence of Non-Communicable Diseases


According to the World Health Organization, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) kill 40 million people each year, equivalent to 70% of all deaths globally1. More importantly, 17 million people die each year from NCD before the age of 70; 87% of these "premature" deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries2.
Nestle’s development programs for smallholder farmers benefited 550,000 dairy and coffee farmers


Smallholder farmers produce more food crops and account for 70-80% of the world's food production, as compared to larger farms1. However, they suffer from "low-intensity farming, low yields, limited market access, and insufficient profits"2. Smallholder farmers produce 60% of the world’s coffee, but 66% of them live in poverty4. On the other hand, dairy farmers are increasingly facing challenges like low prices3 and lack of skilled laborers9.