Simply Cook

How ethical is Simply Cook?

Simply Cook is a recipe kit company owned by Nestlé S.A. which has not achieved The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark on our Ethical Recipe Boxes Ratings Table and therefore cannot be classed as an ethical company based on its current practices and policies.

Companies that fall below the benchmark often demonstrate insufficient commitment to ethical and sustainable business practices across key areas. We recommend consumers read more about ethical issues in the recipe box sector and consult our Ethical Recipe Boxes Ratings Table to find companies above the benchmark with Ethical Accreditation.

What does Simply Cook do?

Simply Cook is a UK-based recipe kit company founded in 2014 by Oli Ashness. The company specializes in pre-portioned spice and flavour blends delivered alongside easy-to-follow recipes in recyclable, letterbox-sized boxes sent via postal service. Simply Cook offers over 130 chef-designed recipes drawing on up to 18 different ingredients, designed to help consumers cook dishes from around the world at home. Since its launch, the company has helped UK households cook more than 20 million recipes. Simply Cook products are also sold in major supermarkets including Tesco, Asda, Co-op, and Waitrose. In February 2021, Swiss food giant Nestlé S.A. acquired Simply Cook for an undisclosed sum as part of its strategy to expand direct-to-consumer offerings in the UK and Ireland. The acquisition followed Nestlé’s purchase of another UK meal kit company, Mindful Chef, in November 2020. Simply Cook continues to operate from its London base under its founding team with support from Nestlé’s expertise and operations.

Why does Simply Cook fail to meet the benchmark?

Simply Cook’s severely below-benchmark performance stems from extraordinarily serious and multiple public record criticisms of its parent company Nestlé, alongside concerns regarding animal welfare, political donations, genetic modification practices, organic certification, and the absence of independent ethical verification. With a score of just 37 out of 100, Simply Cook represents one of the poorest ethical performers in the recipe box sector.

The most deeply troubling concerns involve Nestlé’s extensive public record criticisms, which are so serious that Simply Cook receives two separate bottom ratings for this criterion. Nestlé, the world’s largest food and beverage company, has been the subject of international boycotts and condemnation for nearly five decades across multiple ethical violations.

The most notorious controversy centres on Nestlé’s aggressive marketing of baby formula in developing countries, which sparked the 1977 Nestlé boycott that continues today. During the 1970s, Nestlé deployed salespeople dressed as nurses to hospitals and homes in developing nations to distribute free formula samples and promote their products as superior to breastfeeding. Critics documented that this marketing contributed to infant illness and death, as mothers in areas without clean water supplies mixed formula with contaminated water, and once their breast milk dried up from not breastfeeding, they could not afford to continue purchasing formula. The practices were exposed in a 1974 report entitled “The Baby Killer” published by War on Want. The resulting international boycott, coordinated by the International Baby Food Action Network, led the World Health Organization to adopt the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes in 1981. Despite Nestlé’s commitments to follow the WHO Code, monitoring organizations continue to document violations. As recently as 2013, nineteen leading international NGOs including Save the Children, Oxfam, CARE International, and World Vision launched a renewed boycott of Nestlé after finding the company was providing incentives to doctors and nurses to promote infant formula and failing to provide proper labelling in countries like Laos. The boycott remains active, with IBFAN stating it will only be called off after 18 months of no violations being found.

Nestlé also faces serious allegations regarding child slavery in its cocoa supply chain. In 2021, eight former child slaves filed a lawsuit accusing Nestlé of “aiding and abetting the illegal enslavement of thousands of children on cocoa farms” in their supply chains in Ivory Coast. Evidence presented includes testimony of children as young as six years old forced to work 80 to 100 hours per week with no pay, subjected to beatings, and trafficked from countries including Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo. Nestlé promised to eliminate child labour from its supply chain by 2005, then 2020, but independent monitoring continues to find children working in hazardous conditions on farms supplying Nestlé. While Nestlé has implemented a Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System and claims most child labour involves children helping parents on family farms, critics argue the company has failed to address the systemic issues driving child exploitation in its supply chain.

Additionally, Nestlé has been widely criticized for aggressive water extraction practices. The company has been accused of extracting millions of gallons of water from drought-stricken regions including California, Michigan, and Pakistan, often paying minimal fees to public authorities, then selling that water back to communities at significant profit margins. Indigenous communities and environmental groups have condemned these practices as the privatization of a vital public resource. During severe droughts, some communities have been required to restrict their water usage while Nestlé continued extracting water at unchanged rates.

These combined and ongoing controversies explain Simply Cook’s unprecedented double bottom rating for public record criticisms and demonstrate a pattern of corporate behaviour that prioritizes profit over human welfare, child safety, and environmental protection.

Simply Cook also receives a bottom rating for animal welfare practices through Nestlé, though specific policies require further investigation to determine whether this relates to animal testing, supply chain practices, or other welfare concerns.

The company receives a bottom rating for political donations. Unlike most food companies which avoid political contributions to maintain neutrality, Nestlé’s political donation practices have earned Simply Cook this bottom rating, suggesting concerning patterns of political influence or contributions that conflict with ethical standards.

Simply Cook receives a bottom rating for genetic modification. The company has not demonstrated comprehensive policies against the use of genetically modified ingredients in its recipe kits and spice blends. In the food sector where consumers increasingly demand transparency about GMO usage, the absence of clear GMO-free commitments or third-party verification represents a significant gap in ethical standards.

The company also receives a bottom rating for organic certification. Simply Cook has not achieved independent organic certification for its ingredients despite marketing its products as offering authentic, quality flavours from around the world. The UK household food waste sector faces significant challenges, and while recipe kits can help reduce waste through pre-portioned ingredients, ethical and sustainable sourcing remains essential. Organic certification demonstrates commitment to sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship that Simply Cook has not established.

Similarly, while Simply Cook may offer vegetarian-friendly options, these products have achieved only an acceptable rating, suggesting they lack comprehensive independent verification from recognised certification bodies. The company also lacks Ethical Accreditation from The GOOD Shopping Guide, which would provide independent verification of its ethical practices and policies across all business operations.

What does Simply Cook do well?

Despite these extraordinarily serious concerns, Simply Cook demonstrates some positive performance through its parent company Nestlé. The company maintains good environmental reporting practices through Nestlé’s sustainability disclosures. Simply Cook avoids involvement in the nuclear power industry, fossil fuels, and armaments, receiving top scores in these categories. However, these areas represent baseline ethical expectations rather than exceptional performance, and they are vastly overshadowed by the severe ethical failures documented across multiple other criteria.

What can Simply Cook do to improve?

The most urgent and overwhelming priority for Simply Cook is addressing the catastrophic public record criticisms stemming from its parent company Nestlé’s decades of documented ethical violations. The baby formula marketing scandal, child slavery in cocoa supply chains, and water privatization practices represent some of the most serious corporate human rights violations documented in modern business history. Simply Cook operates under Nestlé ownership and cannot distance itself from these practices. The company must ensure Nestlé demonstrates genuine, verifiable commitment to ending these harmful practices through independent third-party monitoring, transparent reporting, and meaningful accountability measures. Until Nestlé addresses these fundamental ethical failures, Simply Cook will remain associated with a corporate parent that has prioritized profit over infant lives, child welfare, and access to clean water.

Simply Cook must immediately address its bottom rating for animal welfare by implementing comprehensive animal welfare policies with third-party verification. The company should investigate and rectify whatever practices within Nestlé’s operations have led to this bottom rating, whether related to animal testing, supply chain standards, or other welfare concerns.

The company must address its bottom rating for political donations by ceasing any political contributions that conflict with ethical standards and implementing transparent policies regarding political activity. Ethical food companies should maintain political neutrality and avoid using corporate resources to influence political processes.

Simply Cook must address its bottom rating for genetic modification by implementing comprehensive GMO-free policies with independent verification. The company should commit to sourcing only non-GMO ingredients for its spice blends and recipe kits and obtain third-party certification to provide consumers with confidence about ingredient sourcing practices.

The company should pursue independent organic certification for its ingredients, demonstrating commitment to sustainable agriculture and environmental protection. Given Simply Cook’s emphasis on quality ingredients and authentic flavours, organic certification would strengthen the brand’s credibility. Simply Cook should also secure independent verification for all vegetarian product claims through recognised certification bodies, providing consumers with confidence that plant-based options meet the highest standards.

Consumers seeking ethical recipe box and cooking kit options should consult companies above the benchmark on our Ethical Recipe Boxes Ratings Table, particularly those with Ethical Accreditation. Find out more about how we rate brands on ethical criteria.