Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage company, with operations in 189 countries and a portfolio of over 2,000 brands. From bottled water and baby formula to coffee, chocolate, pet food, and pharmaceuticals, Nestlé’s reach extends into nearly every household category. Its subsidiaries include global names like Nescafé, KitKat, Gerber, Purina, and Perrier. The company employs over 270,000 people and generates more than $100 billion USD in annual revenue.
But behind its scale is a model of extraction. Nestlé profits from privatizing water, sourcing from child labor, lobbying against public health regulations, and sustaining ties to military-linked industries. It owns 100% of Osem, one of Israel’s largest food companies, and has long funded settler charities and institutions aligned with occupation. Across industries and geographies, Nestlé builds empire through resource capture and political influence.
Nestlé’s business model is built on systemic harm. It owns Osem, one of Israel’s largest food manufacturers, which has funded settler municipalities, supported the Israeli military, and supplied goods to IDF soldiers during assaults on Gaza. These are not isolated acts, they reflect a long-standing alignment with occupation and apartheid, including early financial support for settlement expansion in Jerusalem.
Nestlé’s complicity extends far beyond Palestine. The company’s infant formula marketing in low-income countries has been linked to over 10 million preventable infant deaths. Its cocoa supply chains continue to rely on child labor. It has extracted groundwater from drought-stricken communities and sold it back at massive markups. It lobbies against health protections, undermines food sovereignty, and has openly denied that water is a human right.From workers to ecosystems, Nestlé exploits what it can extract and externalizes the cost. It is not just part of the problem. It is a blueprint for how global corporations manufacture harm at scale.
When replacing Nestlé products, look at who owns the alternative, how they source, and whether they meet credible ethical standards—switching brands can shift harm to another corporation just as large. Store brands like President’s Choice, No Name, Western Family, and Compliments avoid funding Nestlé but are owned by Canada’s biggest grocery chains, many implicated in price-fixing and using the same contract manufacturers as major brands. As a starting point, they work for convenience; over time, replace the items you buy most often, like chocolate, coffee, or baby formula with independent or certified Fairtrade, organic, or cooperative brands.