November 1, 2016 ▸ Corporation, People

Episode 140: Nestle: Water, Slavery, and Dead Babies

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On this episode of The Sofa King Podcast, we examine largest food corporation on the planet—Nestle. With over 400 factories spread through 194 countries, this company employs well over 300,000 people. Why do you want to learn about this corporation? Because they are regularly considered one of the worst corporations on earth and have been banned by over twenty countries since the 1970s for their corporate practices.

So, what does Nestle do that is so wrong? Let’s start with slavery. From the Ivory Coast to Ghana and Indonesia, Nestle buys from suppliers who are said to support slavery and forced labor. The cocoa farms they source from are thought to have between 10,000 and 15,000 slaves who were bought from their parents and work for no money in a foreign country with no chance for freedom.

There is also a long list of misdoings involving their sales of infant formula in the third world. They engage in marketing practices that oppose the World Health Organization’s guidelines and are blamed for the deaths of thousands of children due to dehydration, disease, and malnutrition.

Then there’s the water. They drain aquifers around the world, often forcing people in poor areas to buy their own water back at a massive price hike. From deforestation to union busting, from assassination of labor leaders to poisoned dog food, this goliath of the corporate world is alleged to have done it all. If you want to know what products they own, how they operate, or why the CEO apparently thinks water is not a basic human right, tune in to this one.