CASE 27

Eliminating Modern Slavery from Supply

Chains: Can Nestlé Lead the Way?

Syeda Maseeha Qumer Debapratim Purkayastha

ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad

I
n April 2019, a federal court in California filed a lucrative chocolate business. Critics accused Nestlé
class action lawsuit against Nestlé SA (Nestlé) over of turning a blind eye to human rights abuses by
claims the global chocolate manufacturer facili- cocoa suppliers in West Africa while falsely portray-
tated the use of forced child labor in West Africa ing itself as a socially and ethically responsible com-
even though it labeled its products as “sustainably pany. Nestlé said it was committed to tackling child
sourced.” Nestlé, one of the world’s largest food pro- labor in its cocoa supply chain and had been taking
cessing companies, had been grappling with accusa- action to address the issue which included increas-
tions of aiding and abetting child slavery on cocoa ing access to education, stepping up systems of age
plantations in Ivory Coast1 for more than a decade. verification at cocoa farms, and increasing awareness
Earlier in 2015, Nestlé surprised many by admit- about the company’s own code of conduct. Despite
ting that it had found forced labor in its seafood Nestlé’s assurances, the use of child labor continued
supply chain in Thailand. Magdi Batato (Batato), and became even more prevalent in its cocoa supply
Executive Vice President and Head of Operations chains. Though Nestlé’s commitment to eliminating
at Nestlé, self-reported that Nestlé had uncovered slavery seemed promising, lawsuits related to slav-
child labor exploitation on fishing boats in Thailand ery in its core business operations questioned such
that supplied its factories. He reported details of promises, critics said.
the investigation and also initiated a detailed action The existence of modern slavery within its cocoa
plan on how it intended to tackle the issue. The news supply chain posed ethical and reputational risks for
generated a mixed response from industry observ- Nestlé. Analysts said addressing slavery would be a
ers. Hailing Nestlé’s honesty, Brian Griffin, CEO of critical issue for the company going forward due to the
digital marketing agency Vero PR, said, “First of all, complexity and limited visibility of its supply chain,
what Nestlé did was brave, and from a moral perspec- its reputation for reliability among stakeholders (cus-
tive, they did the right thing to let stakeholders know tomers, investors, NGOs), transparency dilemmas,
about this issue. They will feel some pain from this as well as cost and pricing pressures. However, some
initially, particularly from a consumer standpoint, analysts said Nestlé being a financially sound com-
and it’s not hard to imagine that sales of seafood pany, it could do more to stop slave labor and take
products may decline. There is no question that the more control over its supply chain management.
issue must be cleaned up, and that it must happen According to Marianne Smallwood, a diplomat for
now. We should appreciate what Nestlé has done to the U.S. Agency for International Development, “In
bring even more attention to the issue.”2 initiating the public examination of its flaws, and in
However, Nestlé’s critics contended that the working with an organization like Verite, Nestlé has
company had done this only to fend off growing already gone a more honorable and transparent route
criticism against it. It had admitted to slavery in sea- than other companies have done. But while it has
food, a low-profit area of the company’s business,
while not doing enough to tackle this problem in its ©2020, IBS Center for Management Research.
C-390 PART 2 Cases in Crafting and Executing Strategy

taken the first step toward being a more responsible ethical rating, Ethiscore14 of 0.5 out of 20. ECRA
company, Nestlé’s commitment to funding a long- had found the company to be linked to social ills such
term strategy — and how it pushes beyond the inevit- as child labor, slavery, rainforest destruction, water
able roadblocks ahead — will determine its ultimate extraction, and debt perpetuation. Critics pointed out
footprint and legacy.”3 that in 2005, when it launched the ‘Partners Blend’
According to Batato, “Every reasonable person fair trade 15 coffee, Nestlé was termed as the UK’s
who has gone to Africa, gone to Asia, who has seen most boycotted and irresponsible corporation.16
the farmers and factories, can tell you that [child
labor] does exist. It is part of their life. Do we accept MODERN SLAVERY IN
it? No. Are we going to stay quiet and do nothing?
No. But making a big declaration that tomorrow GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS
morning we are going to see it disappear, sometimes Modern slavery could be described as control by
the problem is bigger than us, bigger than a company people or organizations over vulnerable individuals
even the size of Nestlé.”4 Nevertheless, the critical in order to obtain personal gain or profit. Modern
questions before him were: How to eliminate forced slavery included forced labor, debt-bondage, child
labor from Nestlé’s supply chains worldover? Could labor, wage exploitation, human trafficking, forced
he address the problem and bring real and sustained marriage, involuntary domestic servitude, or any
change in how the company’s cocoa supply chains other practice wherein victims were engaged in
were managed? unreasonable work through physical or mental
threat. According to the 2017 Global Slavery Index,
about 40.3 million people were victims of some form
BACKGROUND NOTE of modern slavery globally. Of these people, about
Nestlé, headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, was 24.9 million were in forced labor. The rate of modern
founded in 1866. One of the leading players in the food slavery was reported to be the highest in Africa, with
and beverage categories, the company had a global 7.6 victims for every 1,000 people in the region—see
presence and employed more than 328,000 people as Exhibits 1 and 2.
of 2017. Its sales and profits for the year 2016 were Modern slavery had broader social and eco-
CHF 89.5 billion and CHF 8.53 billion respectively.5 nomic costs, in terms of impeding economic
Though Nestlé was among the world’s largest development and perpetuating poverty, said experts.
food processing companies and had great consumer According to them, globalization had led companies
brands well known for their quality, critics pointed to turn to lower-cost suppliers who sourced cheaper
out that there seemed to be an element of arrogance raw materials and used low wage labor in order to
in its actions.6 The company had a history of confron- maximize profits. According to an ILO report, forced
tations over a range of issues.7 There were instances labor generated about $ 150 billion in illegal profits
of Nestlé being accused of disregarding its corporate annually.
responsibility in many countries in which it operated. Analysts pointed out that slavery was an abuse of
The Swiss conglomerate had had its fair share of human rights in the pursuit of profits and that corpo-
controversies and ethical dilemmas during its nearly rations had a moral duty not to indulge in or tolerate it.
150-year-long history.8 Experts pointed out that the Addressing human rights and labor issues in the sup-
history of Nestlé’s public relations troubles began in ply chain had become a necessity for businesses in the
the 1970s with allegations of unethical marketing of consumer goods industry, they said. This was partly
baby formula9 in less developed countries.10 Since due to rising consumer demand for ethical products.
then, Nestlé had continued to get into trouble. For Several governments had enacted legislations which
instance, in 2008, it was blacklisted by the Chinese mandated that companies ensure respect for human
government.11 Later, it was targeted for the mislead- rights in their supply chains. As shown in Exhibit 3,
ing promotion of its bottled water brands as well as a number of anti-modern slavery regulations had also
for interfering in policies that protected natural water come into existence. The California Transparency in
resources.12 Supply Chains Act, signed in 2010 and enacted on
In the United Kingdom, the Ethical Consumer January 1, 2012, was one of the first anti-modern slav-
Research Association (ECRA)13 gave Nestlé an ery regulations. This Act aimed to ensure that “large
 CASE 27 Eliminating Modern Slavery from Supply Chains: Can Nestlé Lead the Way? C-391

EXHIBIT 1  2017 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Prevalence of Modern

Slavery (per 1,000 population), by Region and Category

6
4.8 Forced Labor
5
Forced Marriages
4.0
4 3.4 3.6

3
2.2
2.8 2.0
2
2.1 1.3
1
0.4 1.1
0.7
0
Africa

Europe and Central

Asia and the Pacific
World

Asia

Arab States

Americas
Source: https://www.alliance87.org/global_estimates_of_modern_slavery-forced_labour_and_forced_marriage.pdf

EXHIBIT 2 2017 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Number and Prevalence

of Persons in Modern Slavery, by Category, Sex, and Age (Number in
thousands and prevalence in per thousand)
Forced labor sub-categories

Forced sexual
Forced exploitation of adults State-
labor and commercial imposed Total
slavery sexual exploitation forced forced Forced Modern
Exploitation of children labor labor marriage Slavery

World Number 15,975 4,816 4,060 24,850 15,442 40,293

Prevalence 2.2 0.7 0.5 3.4 2.1 5.4
Sex Male Number 6,766 29 2,411 9,206 2,442 11,648
Prevalence 1.8 0 0.6 2.4 0.6 3.0
Female Number 9,209 4,787 1,650 15,646 13,000 28,645
Prevalence 2.5 1.3 0.4 4.2 3.5 7.7
Age Adults Number 12,995 3,791 3,778 20,564 9,762 30,327
Prevalence 2.5 0.7 0.7 3.9 1.9 5.8
Children Number 2980 1024 282 4286 5679 9965
Prevalence 1.3 0.4 0.1 1.9 2.5 4.4

Source: https://www.alliance87.org/global_estimates_of_modern_slavery-forced_labour_and_ forced_marriage.pdf

C-392 PART 2 Cases in Crafting and Executing Strategy

EXHIBIT 3 Anti-Modern Slavery disclosing what action they had taken to ensure their
supply chains were free of slave labor. Experts felt
Regulations
that though the legislation did not impose financial
Year Regulation penalties on companies that failed to comply, the
adverse effects of being prosecuted for failing to do
2000 The United Nations passes the Protocol to
so could lead to reputational risks and could be more
Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in
Persons as part of the Convention against damaging than any fine.
Transnational Organized Crime. It is the
first global legally binding treaty with an
internationally agreed definition of trafficking
CHILD SLAVERY IN Nestlé’S
in persons. COCOA SUPPLY CHAIN
2002 The International Cocoa Initiative is Nestlé was a leader in the chocolate confectionery
established as a joint effort of anti-slavery
groups and major chocolate companies
industry and used 10 percent of the world’s cocoa
to protect children and contribute to the production. It worked directly with almost 165,000
elimination of child labor. direct suppliers and 695,000 individual farmers
2004 The United Nations appoints a Special worldwide for procuring raw materials such as cocoa,
Rapporteur on Human Trafficking. dairy, sugar, coffee, etc. Nestlé primarily sourced
2008 The Council of Europe Convention on Action cocoa from co-ops and farms in Ivory Coast and
against Trafficking in Human Beings comes Ghana. Nestlé purchased around 414,000 tons of
into force.
cocoa annually for chocolate and confectionery as
2010 California enacts the California Transparency well as beverages. The cocoa supply chain includes
in Supply Chains Act.
many intermediaries between the farmer and con-
2014 The ILO adopts a protocol on forced labor,
bringing its 1930 Convention on Forced Labor
sumer. Small farmers typically sell their cocoa har-
into the modern era to address practices such vest to local middlemen for cash. The middlemen
as human trafficking. work under contract for local exporters, who, in turn,
2015 Britain’s Modern Slavery Act comes into force. sell cocoa to international traders and the major
2015 The United Nations adopts 17 Sustainable international cocoa brands.
Development Goals, including a target of Allegations of child labor and human rights
ending slavery and eradicating forced labor abuses in its cocoa and agricultural supply chains
and human trafficking. had dogged Nestlé for years. Since the late 1990s,
Nestlé and its competitors had received negative pub-
Compiled from various sources.
licity and media coverage over their use of child slave
labor and the lack of transparency within their cocoa
retailers and manufacturers provide consumers with supply chain. Though Nestlé’s Corporate Business
information regarding their efforts to eradicate slav- Principles and Supplier Code prohibited both child
ery and human trafficking from their supply chains.” and forced labor, Nestlé was aware that cocoa beans
The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business from Ivory Coast were produced using child labor.
and Human Rights (UNGPs) were endorsed by the While Nestlé and its competitors vied for market
UN Human Rights Council in June 2011. These were share and profits, cocoa farmers suffered due to low
a set of guidelines for States and companies to pre- income attributed to the fall in the price of cocoa
vent, address, and remedy human rights abuses com- beans. Cocoa bean futures on the Intercontinental
mitted in business operations. The UNGPs based on Exchange in New York hit $2,052 per metric ton on
the three pillars “Protect, Respect, and Remedy” had February 3, 2017, compared to $3,422 per metric
since become the trusted global framework for busi- ton in December 2015. Many farmers felt that child
ness and human rights. labor was a viable option in order to cut production
The most prominent of anti-slavery regulations and work costs. As a result, child slavery had become
was the UK Modern Slavery Act, passed on March extremely prevalent throughout the cocoa supply
26, 2015. It required businesses with a turnover of chain, and there had been minimal action taken by
more than £36 million annually to produce a ‘slav- the chocolate manufacturing companies to stop the
ery and human trafficking statement’ once a year exploitation of these children.
 CASE 27 Eliminating Modern Slavery from Supply Chains: Can Nestlé Lead the Way? C-393

The practice of child labor was rampant in the forms of child labor by 70 percent across the cocoa
cocoa industry wherein harvesting and processing plantations of Ivory Coast by 2020.
of the cocoa plant was left to children, often unpaid In 2005, a lawsuit was filed against Nestlé,
and living in slavery—see Exhibit 4. Some children Archer Daniels Midland Co20, and Cargill Inc21 by
were sold by their parents to traffickers, while three former child slavery victims originally from
many were kidnapped. Reportedly, they worked Mali in West Africa who alleged that these com-
from dawn to dusk each day, were denied sufficient panies aided and abetted human rights violations
food, and locked in a shed at night where they were through their active involvement in purchasing cocoa
given a tiny cup in which to urinate. 17 Some chil- in Ivory Coast. The lawsuit claimed that the com-
dren were forced to do unsafe tasks, including car- panies were aware of the child slavery problem and
rying heavy loads, using machetes and sharp tools, offered financial and technical assistance to local
and applying pesticides and fertilizers. “The rules farmers to procure the cheapest source of cocoa. In
and regulations are so lax there that there is no gov- court documents, the three plaintiffs claimed that
ernment to step in and stop the atrocities. This hor- they had been trafficked from their homes and put to
rific state of child slavery is also the perfect cheap work on plantations in Ivory Coast. They described
labor for candy companies that want to sell you how they had been whipped, beaten, and forced to
chocolate for dirt cheap prices. Why do you think it work for 14 to 16 hours a day before being allowed
only costs $1 for a chocolate bar?” 18 wrote journal- to retire to their dark rooms. One plaintiff recounted
ist LJ Vanier. how guards would slice open the feet of any child
The growing awareness about child slaves work- worker who tried to escape. The lawsuit accused
ing in the production of cocoa led to consumers Nestlé of making false assertions to consumers and
questioning where exactly their chocolate was com- not disclosing that its suppliers relied on child labor-
ing from and who was making it. In 2001, follow- ers to procure cocoa at the point of purchase.
ing pressure and outrage from civil society groups, Nestlé said that the claims against it should be
media, and the general public, eight chocolate manu- dismissed as it was committed to the goal of elimi-
facturing companies in the United States including nating child labor from its cocoa supply chain.
Nestlé, signed the Harkin-Engel protocol 19 to inves- Claiming that the lawsuit was without merit, Nestlé
tigate the labor practices and eliminate the worst said that “proactive and multi-stakeholder efforts”
forms of child labor in the processing of cocoa in were required to eradicate child labor, not lawsuits.
Ivory Coast and Ghana by 2005. However, when “Forced child labor is a complex, global social issue
the 2005 deadline arrived, the companies had yet to in foreign countries that is not going to be solved by
eradicate child labor from their supply chains. The lawsuits in U.S. courts against the very companies
target was then extended to 2008. Unable to meet that are leading the fight to help eradicate it,”22 said
the new self-imposed deadline again, in 2010, the sig- Paul Bakus, President of Corporate Affairs, Nestlé
natories of the protocol started afresh with a treaty USA. After a first dismissal in 2008, the case was
called The Declaration of Joint Action to implement examined again and the lawsuit was reinstated by the
the Harkin-Engel Protocol and to reduce the worst U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco in 2014 on

EXHIBIT 4 Children’s Involvement in Child Labor and Hazardous Work, 2000–16

Children in Child Labor World (5–17 Years) Children in Hazardous Work World (5–17 Years)

Number (000s) Prevalence (%) Number (000s) Prevalence (%)

2000 245,500 16.0% 170,500 11.1%
2004 222,294 14.2% 128,381 8.2%
2008 215,209 13.6% 115,314 7.3%
2012 167,956 10.6% 85,344 5.4%
2016 151,622 9.6% 72,525 4.6%

Source: Adapted from https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@documents/publication/wcms_575541.pdf

C-394 PART 2 Cases in Crafting and Executing Strategy

the grounds that the plaintiffs had valid reasons to Coast. The goals of the assessment were to map stake-
accuse Nestlé of pursuing profits more than human holders involved in Nestlé’s cocoa supply chain and
well-being. to analyze the associated labor risks in its cocoa sup-
In October 2009, Nestlé launched a compa- ply chain. The assessment team mapped the cocoa
nywide initiative called The Nestlé Cocoa Plan supply chain in depth including Nestlé’s headquarters
(TNCP) in collaboration with International Cocoa in Switzerland; R&D in Abidjan; local operations in
Initiative23(ICI) in order to ensure a sustainable the Ivory Coast; Tier 1 suppliers of Nestlé and their
future for the cocoa industry worldwide and the com- subsidiaries in West Africa; processing facilities and
munities depending on it. The goal of TNCP was “to buying centers in the Ivory Coast; third-party service
help cocoa farmers run profitable farms, respect the providers; pisteurs26 cooperatives; traitants27 farm-
environment, have a good quality of life and for their ers; Métayers28 Coxers 29 and workers—­see Exhibit 5.
children to benefit from education and see cocoa A team of 20 local and international experts visited
farming as a respectable profession.”24 To achieve a total of seven suppliers, 20 co-operatives, and two
this, Nestlé committed CHF 110 million to the plan co-operative unions, and 87 farms. In all, over 500
for 10 years and pledged to source 230,000 MT of interviews were conducted with farmers and other
cocoa through TNCP by 2020. Despite the industry’s stakeholders in the supply chain, including local com-
assurances, critics contended that the worst forms of munity members, local governments, NGOs, suppli-
child labor continued in Ivory Coast. ers, and Nestlé staff. The FLA released the results of
Amid accusations of failing to carry out checks its audit in 2012, finding continued evidence of child
on child labor in its cocoa supply chain, in November labor in the Ivory Coast farms supplying Nestlé. The
2011, Nestlé commissioned Fair Labor Association researchers found 56 workers under the age of 18, of
(FLA)25 to assess its cocoa supply chain in Ivory whom 27 were under 15. According to Steve Berman

EXHIBIT 5 Nestle’s Cocoa Supply Chain Map in the Ivory Coast

Nestlé’s Cocoa Supply Chain Map in the Ivory Coast

Coxer

Head Office Processing facilities Farmers

Exporter of exporter Traitants/ Pisteurs Family/ Sharecropper/
SARL
workers family/workers

Exporter in the Buying centers of

Nestlé
Ivory Coast exporter

Union of cooperatives

Cooperatives

Cooperatives in Cooperatives not Member Farmers

Section Sub-Section
sustainability in sustainability Family/ Sharecropper/
programs programs workers family/workers
Contract
Only with one cooperative
Cocoa flow
Not in every case

Source: http://www.fairlabor.org/sites/default/files/documents/reports/cocoa-report-final_0.pdf
 CASE 27 Eliminating Modern Slavery from Supply Chains: Can Nestlé Lead the Way? C-395

(Berman), managing partner at law firm Hagens recommendations the FLA had made to it which
Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, “They claim they’ve included strengthening the Nestlé Supplier Code,
been taking steps. They partner with the Fair Labor increasing accountability from the various tiers of
Association to investigate, and they claim they’re suppliers, and developing a robust and comprehen-
committed to eradicating it, but the fact is the recent sive internal monitoring and remediation system.
reports show the number of children in the cocoa Reiterating the promise made in 2001, Nestlé said
industry has increased. We doubt that Nestlé is tak- it was taking action to progressively eliminate child
ing this very seriously.”30 labor in cocoa-growing areas by assessing individual
Moreover, Nestlé’s claims that it had made cases and tackling the root causes. “The use of child
progress toward meeting the Harkin-Engel Protocol labor is unacceptable and goes against everything
fell flat when a 2015 report from the Payson Center Nestlé stands for. Nestlé is committed to following
for International Development of Tulane University, and respecting all international laws and is dedicated
sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, found to the goal of eradicating child labor from our cocoa
that the number of children engaged in cocoa pro- supply chain,”33 the company said in a statement.
duction in Ivory Coast had increased 51 percent to In 2012, Nestlé was the first cocoa purchaser to
1.4 million in 2013-14, compared to 791,181 children set up a Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation
engaged in such work in 2008-09. However, Nestlé System (CLMRS) in Ivory Coast in association with
defended itself stating, “cocoa supply chain is long ICI—see Exhibit 6. The system locally recruited ‘com-
and complex – making it difficult for food companies munity liaison people’ and ‘child labor agents’ who
to establish exactly where their cocoa comes from worked to raise awareness about child labor in com-
and under what conditions it was harvested.”31 munities, identified children at risk, and reported
Nestlé’s failure to bring transparency into its their findings to Nestlé and its suppliers. By the end
supply chain again came under the public spotlight of 2015, the system covered 40 cooperatives and
in September when consumers filed three class- 26,000 cocoa farmers. In 2016, the CLMRS was
action lawsuits against Nestlé, The Hershey Co., and extended to a further 29 cooperatives, taking the
Mars Inc. for allegedly using child labor in chocolate total to 69. As of August 2019, CLMRS covered 1,751
production. The lawsuit stated that in violation of communities in Côte d’Ivoire compared to 1,553 in
California law, the companies did not disclose that 201734 As shown in Exhibit 7, the number of children
their suppliers in Ivory Coast relied on child labor- monitored increased from 40,728 in 2017 to 78,580
ers and instead continued to profit by tricking con- in 2019. Half of the identified children were included
sumers into indirectly supporting the use of such in CLMRS and sent to school while income generat-
labor. According to the complaint, “Nestlé, as one ing activities were developed for their families. Nestlé
of the largest companies in the world, can dictate built 49 schools in Ivory Coast to help end unlawful
the terms by which cocoa beans are produced and child labor. Despite this, allegations that the com-
supplied to it, including the labor conditions in the pany was not doing enough continued. According
supply chain. But through its own inadequate efforts to a spokesperson from Nestlé, “Unfortunately, the
over the course of decades Nestlé is presently not scale and complexity of the issue is such that no com-
able to trace all of the cocoa beans that make up its pany sourcing cocoa from Ivory Coast can guarantee
Chocolate Products back to the cocoa plantations that it has completely removed the risk of child labor
on which they are grown, much less ensure that the from its supply chain.”35
cocoa beans are not the product of child or slave Earlier in 2010, Nestlé entered into a partner-
labor. And meanwhile Nestlé continues to profit ship with the Danish Institute for Human Rights 36
from the child and forced labor that is used to make (DIHR) to support its commitment to respecting
its Chocolate Products. This is shameful.”32 human rights as stated in the company’s Corporate
Business Principles. As part of this commitment,
Nestlé’S INITIATIVES TO Nestlé developed and implemented an 8-pillar
Human Rights Due Diligence Program (HRDD)
ADDRESS THE ISSUE shown in Exhibit 8 with the aim of making Nestlé’s
Following the findings of the FLA report, Nestlé approach to human rights strategic, comprehensive,
set out to address child labor by undertaking the 11 and coordinated. As part of the program, Nestlé
C-396 PART 2 Cases in Crafting and Executing Strategy

EXHIBIT 6 Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System

Step 1:
The Community Liaison Person (CLP) visits the
households and farms of every member of the Nestle
Cocoa Plan co-operative to gather basic information
on the issue
Step 2:
A child is spotted (or self-declares) engaging in a
hazardous activity
Step 3:
This information is entered into a centralized
database via mobile app
Step 4:
At the co-operative level, the Child Labour Agent
(CLA) verifies the information and validates the
report submitted by the CLP
Step 5:
ICI analyses the data coming from a co-operative,
identifies trends and suggests a palette of
remediation activities that will be implemented
by ICI with the support of the CLA and CLP
Step 6:
ICI, or one of its local partners, implements or
distributes remediation support to the child and /or
their parents
Step 7:
The child is monitored to ensure the process is
successful, and the effectiveness of the remediation
activities is critically reviewed on-going basis

Source: Adapted from www.nestle.com.

EXHIBIT 7 Growth of Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation Systems,

2017, 2019
2017 2019

Number of co-ops in CLMRS 75 87

Number of farmers monitored by CLMRS 48,496 73,248
Communities covered by CLMRS 1,553 1,751
Community members educated about child labor 163,407 (attendees) 593,925 (attendees)
5,877(sessions) 56,183 (sessions)
Number of children aged 5–17 being monitored 40,728 78,580
Child labor rate 17% 23%
Number of children identified in child labor and existing in the system 7,002 18,283
Number of children who received atleast one form of remediation Not measured 15,740

Source: Nestle CSV Full Report 2019.

 CASE 27 Eliminating Modern Slavery from Supply Chains: Can Nestlé Lead the Way? C-397

EXHIBIT 8 Nestlé Human Rights Due Diligence Program

HRDD pillar Components

1 Policy commitments Revised 17 different corporate policies, standards, and commitments to incorporate
the relevant human rights elements. These include Nestlé’s Corporate Business
Principles, Responsible Sourcing Standard, Employee Relations Policy, Consumers’
Communication Policy and Privacy Policy.
2 Stakeholder Partnered with expert organizations such as the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR),
engagement the Fair Labor Association (cocoa and hazelnuts) and Verité (fish and seafood, and
coffee) to develop policies and procedures, and improve performance on the ground.
3 Training and awareness Rolled out human rights training programs to raise awareness of human rights issues
among employees and develop their skills in dealing with them. As of 2018, Nestlé
trained about 96,599 employees.
4 Risk evaluation Integrated human rights risks within its Enterprise Risk Management Framework and
market compliance committees.
5 Salient issues Carried out business risk and impact assessments at the corporate level and on the
ground and identified 11 most salient human rights issues and developed dedicated
action plans to address them.
6 Governance Established clear roles and responsibilities at different levels of the company and set
up boards and committees to assess work and lead the strategic implementation of
human rights work.
7 Grievance mechanisms Identified and enabled effective remediation across countries and industries.
8 Monitoring and Reviewed progress and performance regularly as the company was publicly
reporting accountable for its promises.

Source: http://www.nestle.com/csv/communities/respecting-human-rights

continued to tackle child labor in its cocoa sup- cocoa bean supply in a responsible way, Nestlé encour-
ply chain in Ivory Coast by focusing on vulnerable aged its supplying farms to be UTZ38 certified. The
groups, especially girls and children of migrant work- process included farm selection and farmer training in
ers. In 2015, Nestlé was one of the early adopters of good agricultural practices, health and safety, and care
the UNGP Reporting Framework to effectively man- for the environment. Farmer compliance was checked
age human rights in its operations. This Framework by both Nestlé agronomists and an external auditor.
was based on the global standard of the UNGPs.
In October 2015, Batato37 was appointed as NESTLÉ ADMITS TO
Executive Vice President and Head of Operations at
Nestlé. Batato controlled all 500 of Nestle’s manu-
FORCED LABOR
facturing facilities around the world He was also Following allegations that it was using slave labor to
responsible for Nestlé’s rural development activities catch and process fish for its popular Fancy Feast cat
and procurement. Nestlé operated a Child Labor and food, in early 2015, Nestlé commissioned Verité39, a
Women’s Empowerment Steering Group, chaired human rights watchdog, to conduct an investigation
by Batato, to identify measures, take decisions, and into six of its production sites in Thailand. Verité con-
monitor progress. ducted a three-month assessment into the possibility
In 2016, Nestlé increased the amount of cocoa of forced labor and human trafficking in Nestlé’s Thai
purchased through TNCP to 140,933 tonnes at a supply chain. The investigation was targeted specifi-
cost of about CHF 30 million. By 2017, the company cally at the ­vessel-to-market place shrimp and fish-
planned to source 150,000 tonnes of cocoa through meal supply chain. Verité interviewed more than 100
TNCP and 230,000 tonnes by 2020. The company people, including about 80 workers from Myanmar
claimed that its KitKat brand had become the first and Cambodia, as well as boat owners, shrimp farm
global confectionery brand to be sourced from 100 owners, site supervisors, and representatives of
percent certified cocoa. In order to strengthen its Nestlé’s suppliers. It visited fishing ports, fishmeal
C-398 PART 2 Cases in Crafting and Executing Strategy

packing plants, shrimp farms, and docked fishing purchasers of its top-selling pet food products would
boats in Thailand. Verite found indicators of forced not have bought this brand had they known the truth
labor, human trafficking, and child labor present – that hundreds of individuals are enslaved, beaten or
in land and sea-based workers at the sites assessed. even murdered in the production of its pet food.”42
These indicators included deceptive recruitment prac- The alleged violations were brought under the
tices, little or no employment protections for workers, California Unfair Competition Law (UCL), the
restriction on the freedom of movement of workers, California Legal Remedies Act, and the California
and instances of both verbal and physical abuse. False Advertising law. Nestlé applied for the lawsuit to
According to the Verité study, workers were be dismissed, arguing that it could rely on so-called ‘safe
either sold as slaves to seafood suppliers in Thailand, harbor’ provisions, as the company had made specific
or trapped in the fishing industry through false disclosures on forced labor issues as required by the
promises and debt bondage. Often trafficked from California Transparency in Supply Chain Acts of 2010.
Thailand’s neighboring countries such as Cambodia After fending off allegations, in November 2015,
and Myanmar, the laborers were sold to fishing boat Nestlé took observers by surprise when it publicly
captains needing crews to man their fishing boats, admitted that its seafood supply chain was tainted
according to the report. The work was strenuous with by modern slavery. The company emphasized that
shifts lasting up to 20 hours a day with little or no pay “no other company sourcing seafood from Thailand,
and refusal to work to a supervisor’s satisfaction led the world’s third-largest seafood exporter, could have
to beatings or sometimes even death. “Sometimes, avoided being exposed to the same risks.”43 In 2015,
the net is too heavy and workers get pulled into the Batato in a brave move self-reported that Nestlé had
water and just disappear. When someone dies, he uncovered child labor exploitation on fishing boats
gets thrown into the water. Some have fallen over- in Thailand that supplied its factories. According to
board,”40 said a Burmese worker to Verité. industry observers, the disclosure came as a surprise
While Nestlé had publicly accepted the find- as international companies rarely acknowledged
ings of the report, Verité said this problem was not abuses in their supply chains. Some analysts felt that
unique to Nestlé’s supply chain but rather “systemic Nestlé’s voluntary disclosure could boost its ethi-
in nature” within the vulnerable migrant worker com- cal image and possibly shift the parameters of what
munities in Thailand. could be expected of businesses when it came to sup-
Meanwhile, in August 2015, pet-food buyers filed ply chain accountability. “Nestlé’s decision to con-
a class-action lawsuit against Nestlé for importing duct this investigation is to be applauded. If you’ve
fish-based pet food 41 from suppliers in Thailand who got one of the biggest brands in the world proactively
used slave labor. According to the lawsuit, Nestlé sup- coming out and admitting that they have found slav-
ported a system of slave labor and human trafficking ery in their business operations, then it’s potentially
to distribute and market its Purina brand Fancy Feast a huge game-changer and could lead to real and sus-
cat food while hiding its involvement in human rights tained change in how supply chains are managed,”44
violations from the public. Nestlé had partnered with said Nick Grono, CEO of NGO the Freedom Fund.
Thai Union Frozen Products PCL to import seafood- In December 2015, the Central District of
based pet food for its Purina pet food brand. Melanie California dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that
Barber, the plaintiff, alleged that Nestlé had vio- the California Act had created a ‘safe harbor’ under
lated consumer protection statutes by failing to dis- which companies were sheltered from liability when
close that some ingredients in its cat food products they accurately complied with the limited disclosure
contained seafood which was sourced from forced obligations that the law mandated.
labor. She argued that Nestlé was obliged to make Following Verité’s investigation and its own
additional disclosures at the point of sale regarding admission, Nestlé launched an action plan on sea-
the probability that the product contained seafood food sourced from Thailand which included a ser-
sourced from forced labor. ies of actions to protect workers from abuses and
According to Berman, “By hiding this from pub- improve working conditions—see Exhibit 9. The plan
lic view, Nestlé has effectively tricked millions of con- included commitments to establish an emergency
sumers into supporting and encouraging slave labor response team with various partners to remediate
on floating prisons. It’s a fact that the thousands of risks and take short-term action to protect workers,
 CASE 27 Eliminating Modern Slavery from Supply Chains: Can Nestlé Lead the Way? C-399

EXHIBIT 9 Responsible Sourcing of Seafood - Thailand Action Plan 2015-2016

Objective Action

Incorporate new business • Work closely with suppliers to ensure development and implementation of capacity
requirements into commercial building programs and business requirements that address human rights and labor
relationship, based on the standards and demonstrate compliance on an ongoing basis.
current signature of the Nestlé • At a minimum the supplier shall run a traceability system enabling the identification
Supplier Code. of all potential origins (farms, mills, back to fishing vessels) linked with seafood and
other ingredients used as part of product recipes.
• Additionally the supplier shall operate a seafood responsible sourcing program to
ensure that origins identified are continuously assessed and assisted in meeting
business requirements detailed in the Nestlé Responsible Sourcing Guidelines.
Enforce traceable supply • Ensure a verifiable supply chain traceability system as part of a comprehensive
chains identifying all potential supply chain risk assessment that is aligned with industry partners and
sources of origins as part of a stakeholders within the Thailand Seafood Industry enabling traceability of seafood
comprehensive supply chain ingredients from fishing vessels through the complete supply chain to the
risk assessment. receiving manufacturing sites and finished products.
Define and communicate • Building on the Marine Catch Purchasing Document, or any other industry
requirements to boat owners recognized best practice, create a set of requirements for boat owners and captains.
and/or captains, including • Requirements will cover traceability, recruitment practices, fish catching system,
recruitment practices and living/ living and working conditions for boat workers.
working conditions for boat • A toolkit composed of Employment Contract Template and rules, Worker ID
workers. cards, template to monitor worker’s names, working time, salary, and associated
deductions if any.
Implement a training program • In association with industry partners and stakeholders within the Thailand Seafood
for boat owners and/or captains. Industry, create a training hub to generate awareness and provide education to
ensure effective worker protections in priority areas as determined by Verite.
• The training hub may take the form of a “demonstration boat” or “university”
where a training program will be given to electable boat owners/captains.
• As reward and enabler for continuous improvement, the program will include a
mechanism to apply for financial support to speed up the implementation of best
practices learned.
• Award financial support in the form of sponsoring or micro credit, for instance, for
boat lodging and cooking facilities.
Implement an awareness raising • In collaboration with local authority and industry partners and stakeholders in the
campaign on human rights Thailand Seafood Industry, create an awareness raising campaign addressing the
and labor conditions, targeting areas of labor standards & health and safety at the workplace.
primarily boat workers. • Campaign to be deployed in locations identified as impactful for migrant workforce &
linked with regular boat’s docking, including the introduction of a grievance
mechanism & providing some immediate tangible personal benefits to workers.
• Campaign will incorporate an anonymous reporting system to identify the worst
form of labor conditions to be addressed by the Emergency Response Team.
Enable the work of a Migrant • Identify a third party partner (e.g., project Issara, to be considered) experienced in
Workforce Emergency protecting individuals from the worst form of labor conditions.
Response team. • Deploy and empower this partner organization as the Migrant Workforce
Emergency Response Team in charge to deploy the necessary assessments to
identify individuals in need of immediate assistance.
Create and implement a fishing • Implement, at first, an internal audit program verifying working (labor and health
vessels verification program. and safety at workplace) conditions in fishing vessels for 100 percent of the
fleet used.
• Along with monitoring of compliance through Key Performance Indicators,
randomly select boats on a monthly basis to undergo a third-party verification
audit by an independent organization, executed every quarter.
• Third party verification audit should include interview of boat workers and
establish the history of their working career in the region and country.

(continued )
C-400 PART 2 Cases in Crafting and Executing Strategy

Objective Action

Dedicate resources. • Appoint an executive from Nestlé to implement the action plan. His profile will
include coordination with relevant parties, management of implementation
activities, establishment of KPIs and dashboard, effective use of internal and
financial resources, representation to relevant industry parties and stakeholders.
Collaborate and scale up • Leverage opportunities for collaboration with industry partners and stakeholders
with the Thailand Seafood Industry and seek to become a member of the Shrimp
Sustainable Supply Chain Taskforce, share progress on implementation of action
plan and learning, contribute to testing of innovative solutions and continuously
seek to expand implementation to other supply schemes and locations in South
East Asia.
• Achieve similar aims as part of the Good Labor Practices Working Group,
convened by Government of Thailand and supported by the International Labor
Organization.
Publicly Report • Report publicly on progress, including challenges and failures identified with how
to best resolve and solutions to address. This should include ongoing monitoring
of business partners’ supply chain management systems by independent third
party assessments and identification of risks and issues to be addressed.

Source: https://www.nestle.com/asset-library/documents/library/documents/corporate_social_ responsibility/nestle-seafood-action-plan-

thailand-2015-2016.pdf

a grievance mechanism allowing anonymous report- companies in industries in which labor traffick-
ing, a fishing vessel verification program involving ing and slavery were rampant. Praising Nestlé for
regular third-party verification of randomly selected self-policing and public reporting, Mark Lagon,
boats to assess working conditions, and a training president of nonprofit anti-trafficking organization
program for boat owners and captains based on best Freedom House, said, “It’s unusual and exemplary.
practices. Batato, said, “As we’ve said consistently, The propensity of the PR and legal departments of
forced labor and human rights abuses have no place companies is not to ‘fess up, not to even say they are
in our supply chain. Nestlé believes that by working carefully looking into a problem for fear that they will
with suppliers we can make a positive difference to get hit with lawsuits.”46
the sourcing of ingredients.”45 Batato further added
that it would be neither a quick nor an easy endeav-
our, but the company planned to achieve significant CRITICISM
progress going forward. Though Nestlé was applauded for its admission of
By the end of 2016, over 99 percent of the sea- forced labor within its seafood supply chain and its
food ingredients that Nestlé sourced from its sea- move toward transparency, some analysts felt that
food supply chain in Thailand were traceable back this was just an attempt by the company to cover
to fishing vessels and farms due to actions taken as up bigger allegations of child labor in its profitable
part of the plan. Nestlé worked with Verité, its sup- chocolate making business. They felt that in order
plier Thai Union, the Royal Thai Government, and to escape the charges of being an unethical com-
the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center pany, Nestlé had admitted to slavery in seafood sup-
(SEAFDEC) to develop a training program to edu- pliers, a low-profit area of the company’s business,
cate fishing vessel owners, captains, and crew mem- in Thailand. Some critics saw Nestlé’s actions as a
bers on living and working conditions onboard the public relations stunt to alleviate the criticism it had
boats, and on workers’ rights. In March 2016, Nestlé received for abetting child slavery in Ivory Coast.
partnered with the Issara Institute, a not-for-profit “For me there is a big issue with one part of Nestlé
body focusing on worker voice and grievance mecha- saying, ‘OK we have been dragged along with every-
nisms, to help workers voice their concerns. one else to face the issue of slavery in Thailand and
Experts said Nestlé’s disclosures and com- so let’s take the initiative and do something about it’,
mitment to change served as an example to other and at the same time fighting tooth and nail through
 CASE 27 Eliminating Modern Slavery from Supply Chains: Can Nestlé Lead the Way? C-401

the courts to avoid charges of child slavery in its an entire generation of children in West Africa had
core operations in the Ivory Coast,”47 remarked been suffering due to Nestlé’s false promises.
Andrew Wallis, CEO of anti-human trafficking char- Nestlé’s admission that it had found slavery in
ity Unseen UK. Analysts said that this apparent its supply chain in Thailand was greeted with a nega-
double standard had raised doubts among civil soci- tive reaction from both traditional and social media.
ety activists and customers regarding Nestlé’s true According to the LexisNexis Newsdesk48 analysis,
motives. Critics said by its admission, Nestlé had mentions of Nestlé in relation to slavery rose steeply
left consumers falsely confident in the ‘goodness’ of with 20 to 90 articles per week, discussing slavery in
its products. the company’s supply chain. According to the sen-
Some anti-trafficking advocates remained highly timent chart presented in Exhibit 10, more than a
skeptical of Nestlé’s actions and saw the move toward third of the coverage was entirely negative, while only
transparency as a tactic to deflate other pending civil 2.5 percent was positive.
litigation suits in its cocoa supply chains. They said Some analysts contended that Nestlé’s efforts
Nestlé had been falsely assuring customers that it to eliminate child labor from its global cocoa supply
would eliminate child and forced labor in its Ivory chain were not credible because of its inadequately
Coast supply chain since 2001 and in the meantime transparent self-monitoring system. For instance,

EXHIBIT 10 Nestle’s Media Coverage Related to Slavery

Nestlé's Media Coverage Related to Slavery

100%
Nestle and Slavery

75%

50%

25%

0%
Jan 4

Jan 11

Jan 18

Jan 25
Nov 9

Nov 16

Nov 23

Nov 30

Dec 7

Dec 14

Dec 21

Dec 28

Feb 1

Feb 8

Nestlé's Sentiment
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Neutral, 64.10%, Negative, 33.33%, Positive, 2.56%,
225 articles 117 articles 9 articles
Source: https://bis.lexisnexis.co.uk/blog/posts/human-trafficking-awareness/reputational-risks-are-greater-than-ever-for-brands-
associated-with-slavery
C-402 PART 2 Cases in Crafting and Executing Strategy

they pointed out that the company provided incom- to eliminate forced labor from its supply chain.
plete and insufficient information regarding the “Forced child labor is unacceptable and has no place
details of TNCP and its certification schemes and in our supply chain. We have explicit policies against
had omitted material information related to TNCP’s it and are working with other stakeholders to combat
distribution and progress in the rest of its global this global social problem. Regrettably, in bringing
cocoa supply chain. Some analysts pointed out that such lawsuits, the plaintiffs’ class action lawyers are
the FLA investigation was not an accurate repre- targeting the very organizations trying to fight forced
sentation of the conditions on Nestlé’s cocoa farms labor,”51 said a Nestlé spokesperson.
because a majority of Nestlé’s cocoa farms (about 75 Going forward, analysts said that identifying and
percent) were not part of TNCP. They also said that tackling the menace of modern slavery in its cocoa
there was significant discrepancy between Nestlé’s supply chain would not be an easy task for Nestlé.
grand official policies and statements to combat slav- Nestlé’s cocoa supply chain was complex, and regu-
ery and the nominal actions it took. Nestlé had yet lating the co-operatives and farms could be tough for
to develop a concrete plan outlining when it would the senior management, they said. It would be chal-
source entirely sustainable cocoa. They said that lenging to continually follow up on the work of co-
TNCP was only a greenwashing ploy aimed at mak- operatives given their remote locations, they added.
ing Nestlé appear to be ethically responsible. Though Nestlé had monitoring systems in place to
Nestlé received some respite in March 2017, when communicate supplier policies and conduct audits,
U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson dismissed the they often covered only tier one suppliers at the top
case on child slavery in Africa on the ground that of the value chain, while forced labor was mostly
the complaint “seeks an impermissible extraterritorial found in the bottom tiers. Moreover, cost and pricing
application of the Alien Tort Statute which means com- pressures, supplier engagement, and transparency
panies can be sued in the United States for actions out- dilemmas were some of the issues Nestlé had to deal
side the country but only when some conduct touches with while addressing slavery. “The problem is, we
and concerns the United States with sufficient force.”49 can’t just stop using a supplier. People ask why we
He said that the former child slaves could not sue in don’t boycott them. We did that in the case of palm
the United States over wrongdoing that had occurred oil. We delisted suppliers. We delisted coffee suppli-
in Africa. The judge said that the plaintiffs’ attempt ers in South America who were using child labor. But
to single out CSR initiatives as evidence that Nestlé it doesn’t always solve the bigger problem. There is
was knowingly aiding and abetting child slavery was no one-size fits all solution. If we took the view to del-
counter-productive because it would freeze compan- ist every single supplier who is doing the wrong thing
ies’ speech and prevent them from taking up such today, it will not improve the situation. It will cut the
initiatives in the future. He said, “Even worse, relying income of those who rely on this income. It is lose-
on corporate social responsibility programs as ’rel- lose. But, with our size, we believe we can change
evant conduct’ would also chill corporations from things over time,”52 said Batato.
creating these programs. Corporations would be Modern slavery was considered as a criminal
incentivized to allow human rights abuses to occur activity often actively hidden by perpetrators, making
without shedding light on the issue or trying to com- it difficult to detect. Third party auditors appointed
bat it out of fear they will displace the presumption by Nestlé might struggle to get full access to facilities
and be held responsible.”50 and victims would be unwilling to speak up fearing
retribution.
Another challenge would be driving workers
THE WAY FORWARD toward community awareness-raising sessions. Some
In April 2019, a federal court in California filed a families were often resistant to change as they had
fresh class action lawsuit against Nestlé over claims few livelihood alternatives. Moreover, the isolation
the company mislabelled its products as sustainable of some of the farms and villages was a challenge in
when, in fact, it sourced its cocoa from farms that itself. Supplying school kits and providing literacy
caused environmental devastation and used child classes to women were all the more difficult as a
slave labor. However, Nestlé said that it had pre- result. Some researchers found that though Nestlé’s
vailed in similar law suits earlier as it was committed code of conduct prohibited the use of child labor
 CASE 27 Eliminating Modern Slavery from Supply Chains: Can Nestlé Lead the Way? C-403

in its supply chain, awareness of the code was low from the global cocoa supply chain. Going forward,
among farmers. Moreover, the farmers did not attend the question before Nestlé was what more the com-
training sessions either due to lack of interest or lack pany could do to ensure its cocoa supply chain was
of time. “Being a leader in our industry . . . we do free from slavery. How could it assure consumers that
understand we can influence the supply chains we its products did not come at the expense of innocent
work with, and that’s what we do. We recognize it is a people who went through untold suffering. Could
difficult issue to deal with,”53 said Marco Goncalves, Nestlé have a positive impact on the chocolate indus-
Nestlé’s chief procurement officer. try through its honest revelations and by raising the
Analysts said that given its global scale and bar on labor protection? Should the company take a
financial prowess, Nestlé could play a crucial role clear leadership position on this issue given its influ-
in driving significant changes and abolishing slavery ence? If so, how should Nestlé go about doing this?

ENDNOTES
1 16 29
Ivory Coast, also known as Cote d’Ivoire, is “Starbucks as Fairtrade-lite and Nestlé Coxers are individuals who live in the
a tropical country in southern West Africa. It is on the Blacklist,” www.faircompanies.com, v­ illages and inform pisteurs when there is a
the world’s largest producer of cocoa, the raw October 8, 2008. harvest ready to be collected.
17 30
ingredient used in making chocolates. Abby Haglage, “Lawsuit: Your Candy Bar Was Abby Haglage, “Lawsuit: Your Candy Bar Was
2
Faaez Samedi, “Nestlé Admits Forced Made by Child Slaves,” www.thedailybeast.com, Made by Child Slaves,” www.thedailybeast.com,
Labor is Part of its Seafood Supply Chain,” September 30, 2015. September 30, 2015.
18 31
www.campaignlive.co.uk, November 27, 2015. LJ Vanier, “Hershey, Nestle and Mars “Nestle ‘to Act over Child Labour in Cocoa
3
Marianne Smallwood “Slavery Found within Use Child Slaves to Make Your Chocolate,” Industry’,” www.bbc.com, November 28,
Nestle’s Seafood Supply Chain . . . Now What?” http://thespiritscience.net, October 18, 2015. 2011.
19 32
www.triplepundit.com, December 14, 2015. In 2001, the Chocolate Manufacturers “Nestle - Truth in Advertising,” www
4
Mark Hawthorne, “One Step at a Time, Nestle Association of the US signed the protocol for .truthinadvertising.org, September 28, 2015.
33
Slowly Changes its Ways,” www.smh.com.au, the growing and processing of cocoa beans Ellen Wulfhorst, “U.S. Supreme Court Gives
February 24, 2017. and their derivative products in a manner that Boost to Child Slave Labor Case Against
5
“Annual Results 2016,” www.nestle.com. complied with ILO Convention 182 concerning Nestle,”www.reuters.com, January 14, 2016.
6 34
“Nestle’s 12 Dark Secrets Worldwide!” the prohibition and immediate action for the Nestle CSV Full Report 2019.
35
www.theequalizerpost.wordpress.com, elimination of the worst forms of child labor. Joe Sandler Clarke, “Child Labour on Nestlé
20
November 18, 2010. The Archer Daniels Midland Co is a Farms: Chocolate Giant’s Problems Continue,”
7
Jon Entine, “Greenpeace and Social Media US-based global food processing and com- www.theguardian.com, September 2, 2015.
36
Mob Nestlé,” www.blog.american.com, March modities trading corporation. The Danish Institute for Human Rights is
21
31, 2010. Based in Minnesota, US, Cargill Inc is a pro- Denmark’s independent state-funded human
8
“Nestlé’s 12 Dark Secrets Worldwide!” vider of food, agriculture, financial, and indus- rights institution.
37
www.theequalizerpost.wordpress.com, trial products and services worldwide. Previously, Batato served as the CEO and
22
November 18, 2010. Daniel Fisher, “Cue The Documentary: Managing Director of Nestle Pakistan Limited
9
Baby formula is food manufactured for Nestlé Still Fighting Slavery Lawsuit by Foreign from June 6, 2012 to September 1, 2015 and
­supporting the adequate growth of infants. Plaintiffs,” www.forbes.com, October 7, 2016. May 25, 2012 to September 1, 2015, respect-
10 23
“Starbucks as Fairtrade-lite and Nestlé Established in 2012, The International ively. He has extensive experience in the
on the Blacklist,” www.faircompanies.com, Cocoa Initiative (ICI) is a multi-stakeholder manufacturing and technical area, combined
October 8, 2008. partnership between cocoa companies, labor with business experience in both developed
11
“Pepsi and Nestlé Backlisted for Water unions, and NGOs in order to eliminate the and emerging markets.
38
Pollution in China,” www.polarisinstitute worst forms of child labor and forced labor UTZ Certified is a program and a label for
.org/pepsi_and_nestle_backlisted_for_water_ in the growing and processing of cocoa sustainable farming.
39
pollution_in_china. beans. Verité is a Massachusetts-based non-profit
12 24
“Nestlé’s Sinking Division,” www https://www.nestle.com.au/creating-shared- organization that advocates workers’ rights
.polarisinstitute.org/nestl%C3%A9%E2%80% value/social-impact/the-nestl%C3%A9-cocoa- worldwide.
40
99s_sinking_division. plan James Tennent, “Nestlé Admits Forced
13 25
The ECRA is a not-for-profit, multi-­stakeholder Fair Labor Association is a non-profit multi- Labour, Trafficking, and Child Labour in its
co-operative, dedicated to the promotion of stakeholder initiative that works with major Thai Seafood Supply,” www.ibtimes.co.uk,
universal human rights, environmental sustain- companies to improve working conditions in November 24, 2015.
41
ability, and animal welfare. their supply chains. The fishmeal used to feed farmed shrimp
14 26
The Ethiscore is a numerical rating that Pisteurs are individuals commissioned to and a prawn is made from fish caught by
­differentiates companies based on the level buy cocoa beans from farmers. migrant workers. The US is the biggest cus-
27
of criticism that they have attracted. Generally, Traitants are middlemen, licensed by the tomer of Thai fish, and pet food is among the
an Ethiscore of 15 would be the best, while 0 government, who trades cocoa beans. Traitants fastest growing exports from Thailand. In 2014,
would be the worst. may source beans either from cooperatives or Thai Union shipped more than 28 million
15
Fair trade coffee is one that is obtained from pisteurs. pounds of seafood-based cat and dog food for
28
directly from the growers. It usually retails at a Métayers are sharecroppers who manage a some of the top brands sold in America includ-
higher price than standard coffee. cocoa farm on behalf of its owner. ing Iams, Meow Mix, and Fancy Feast.