Nestle boycott profile

The boycott of Nestlé is the world’s longest running. It began in 1977 in response to aggressive marketing of Nestlé baby milk formula in poorer countries.

Nestlé is one of the most boycotted brands in the UK as a result of its activities, Baby Milk Action is one of the organisations which calls for a boycott. According to Baby Milk Action, which describes itself as a non-profit organisation which aims to save lives and to end the avoidable suffering caused by inappropriate infant feeding.

Breaking the rules

Monitoring conducted by the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) finds the company to be responsible for more violations of the World Health Assembly marketing requirements for baby foods than any other company. It quotes UNICEF "Marketing practices that undermine breastfeeding are potentially hazardous wherever they are pursued: in the developing world, WHO estimates that some 1.5 million children die each year because they are not adequately breastfed. These facts are not in dispute."

IBFAN say the boycott will continue until Nestlé accepts and complies with its four-point plan for saving infant lives and ultimately ending the boycott. You can read more at

Contact: Baby Milk Action, 23 St Andrews St, Cambridge CB2 3AX, 01223 464420

See Ethical Consumers Buyers' Guide to babymilk for more

Here is an up-to-date list of all Nestlé’s UK brands.: 

Items marked with an * are part-owned by Nestlé, such as    L’Oreal, Body Shop and Cereal Partners (a 50:50    joint venture with General Mills).   

For a full Nestlé brand list see http://info.babymilkaction.org/nestleboycottlist

Uncaged boycott

Many brands made by Nestlé Purina are listed on the Uncaged website's petfood and animal testing page under the 'brands to boycott' section as these products were tested on animals.

Past boycotts

Anti-GMOs Network

Nestlé was the subject of a boycott call in Thailand by the Anti-GMOs Network. The Network had been calling on the company to adopt a GM-free policy in Thailand, accusing it of double standards (compared to Euope) and of conspiring to promote GM products with other companies.

Grandmothers for Peace International

Earth Island Journal reported in Autumn 1998 that during the summer of 1998, Nestle introduced a chocolate bar called "Nuclear Chocolate" to promote the film Armageddon. The bar was described as a "chocolate chain reaction" and prompted Grandmothers for Peace International to call a boycott. The campaigners argued that the confectionery product was "part of an effort to make our kids feel good about nuclear weapons, nuclear fallout and nuclear waste".

Pure Food Campaign

According to Co-op America Quarterly, in 1997 the US-based Pure Food Campaign launched a number of boycotts of products made by companies which said they were not opposed to the use of genetically altered crops. They included Nestle (soy-based) Crunch Bars.