Browse Nestlé Brands

Attributions, Methods, and Inspirations

In this section, we cover some details regarding how Boycott Buddy was created. To provide some background, Boycott Buddy is the follow up project to FuckNestlé.art, a Nestlé boycott tool launched in 2023. This tool was widely used and shared, and people asked for a more detailed and broad project to document and help people avoid mega-corps — hence leading to the creation of Boycott Buddy.

Attributions

Boycott Buddy is designed and developed by Zachary Jordan. The logo design was created by Eugene Kim. Brands and corrections are reported from around the world by users of the site. Icons are provided by HeroIcons.

Methods

Boycott Buddy would not be possible without the public contributions made by thousands of committed people from around the world to document the crimes and companies of mega-corporations. To form our database, Boycott Buddy surveys and combines existing open source lists. The early stages often begin with crowdsourced lists such as those available on Wikipedia.

We then visit corporation websites, which often avoid offering a clear and easy to browse list, and fill in missing companies. From here, we browse other public information such as community posts, online company databases (such as barcode lists), and news of recent acquisitions or sales.

Once we have collected as much information as is publicly available as possible, we then vet our list and confirm that it is as up to date as can be achieved before categorizing. This is a continuous process and one that we rely on the community to support with. To fill out our database over time, we provide a mechanism to our users to report missing companies, which are then also verified and added. The result we are pursuing is a growing list that evolves over time to document the current status of these companies.

This process is handled manually by our team and people who offer to help with the project. AI technologies, such as those offered by Open AI, are sometimes used to assist with the copywriting process but is not involved in brand discovery.

Some brands may be missing from our list. All views are my own and do not represent my employer or anybody else.

Inspirations

The initial project that inspired the precursor to this one (FuckNestlé.art) is a project called PeopleCott by Charles Stover. It's sadly no longer active, but I'll include a link to it here in case it ever comes back.

Edit July 2024: I just noticed PeopleCott is back, so the link actually should be working again. Thanks Charles!

I'm also inspired by long history of successful boycotts against mega corporations — let's continue this tradition of pressuring some of the most powerful organizations on Earth to do better by their consumers and our shared planet!

I'm done reading

WHY BOYCOTT NESTLé?

Even in a sea of other mega-corporations relentlessly pursuing profit at the expense of ethics, Nestlé stands out. This giant has been involved in the worst of the worst — exploiting essential water resources, using child and slave labor in its supply chains, marketing infant formula in unsafe ways to mothers, and more.

These actions not only destabilize communities and take life but also contribute to environmental harm. Understanding these practices is crucial; a boycott of Nestlé is advocated to pressure the corporation into adopting more sustainable and ethical business behaviors. Click an issue to learn more.

Using slave labor

Nestlé has faced significant scandals for its involvement in unethical labor practices, including the use of slave labor in its supply chains. These accusations are especially prevalent to the sourcing of cocoa from the Ivory Coast and seafood from Thailand, where reports of slavery and human trafficking have been prevalent.

In response to these instances of forced labor, Nestlé announced that it will be entering a new era of "self-policing" its own supply chains. It remains unclear if any substantial progress has been made on this issue.

Andrew Wallis, chief executive of Unseen UK, an anti-trafficking charity, said “By the time Nestlé owned up to slavery in the Thai seafood industry it was accepted knowledge. It’ll be a brave new world when companies are actually doing the real investigation to probe into part of their supply chains that have remained outside the public domain."

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Causing infant deaths

Using child labor

Climate damage

Water shortages

All-around failings