Nestlé

How ethical is Nestlé?

Nestlé is a breakfast cereals brand which has a below-benchmark score on The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Breakfast Cereals Ratings Table. Although Nestlé has not yet met our ethical benchmark, we hope to see the brand make progress in the future.

We would have extra confidence in Nestlé if it applied for Ethical Accreditation, whereby The Good Shopping Guide would make further detailed assessment and recommendations for ethical improvement. Find out more about the ethical issues facing the Breakfast Cereals sector.

What does Nestlé do?

Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage company. The Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company was founded in 1866 to manufacture baby food and a breakthrough by Henri Nestlé in 1905 led him to merge with the company to form what is now the Nestlé group.

In which areas does Nestlé perform poorly?

Nestlé was marked down under our criteria for GMO as its parent company, Nestlé S.A., states that it believes GMO ingredients are safe to use.

Nestlé states that it still uses animal testing where required by law, so it receives a bottom rating for Animal Welfare. Find out more about how we rate by exploring our ethical criteria.

Past Criticisms of Nestlé’s record

In 2023 an investigation revealed that some pesticides that are banned in the EU are being used by farms in Brazil supplying Nestlé. In the same year a report by Rainforest Action Network called on brands including Nestlé to cease using palm oil sourced from the Harita Group, due to the group’s destruction of indigenous communities in Borneo. Nestlé was also criticised in early 2023 for failing to cease trading in Russia.

In 2019, Nestlé was named by Break Free From Plastic, along with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, as the top plastic polluters for a second year in a row. In the same year Nestlé announced that they couldn’t guarantee their chocolate was free from child slave labour due to only half of their purchasing being fully traceable.

In which areas does Nestlé score well for its ethics?

Nestlé published its ‘Creating Shared Value and Sustainability Report’ which includes a number of environmental targets relating to carbon reduction, deforestation-free supply chains and recyclable packaging. Therefore Nestlé scores well for its Environmental Report.

Nestlé scores well for Nuclear, Fossil Fuels and Armaments due to a lack of criticisms across these criteria.

How can Nestlé improve its ethical rating?

The below-benchmark score that Nestlé is awarded with on The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Breakfast Cereals Ratings Table is the result of an evaluation of multiple ethical criteria.

To reach our minimum ethical benchmark and qualify for Ethical Accreditation, Nestlé has some issues to resolve, including its use of GMOs and Animal Testing. If it applies for Ethical Accreditation, The Good Shopping Guide will be able to give Nestlé some guidance to improve on these areas.

Were you aware that your brand could benefit from Ethical Accreditation? Brands accredited by The Good Shopping Guide can display our Ethical Mark, showcasing to consumers that it is an ethical and sustainable brand. If you’re interested in learning more, please contact us or complete a Free Initial Assessment form.