Sorry if this question seems presumptive, but isn't it actually extremely easy to boycott both of these companies? I would be surprised to learn I have consumed any of their products in the past year, and I haven't even been deliberately trying to boycott either of them.
(I live in the United States, but I don't buy bottled water, candy, or watch local television.)
For instance, cheerios, golden grahams, digiorno pizza, jacks pizza, lean cuisine, gerber, maybeline makeup brands, some shampoo brands, etc…
It’s definitely possible, but it’s a rabbit hole and isn’t as easy as “i won’t buy nestle hot chocolate.”
Honestly, I understand the can of worms this might open, but a part of me thinks the parent company name should have to be on all products–transparency so we have something closer to information symmetry. It’s more difficult than I think it should be to buy ethically.
We hear all the time “If you don’t like what a company is doing, then vote with your dollars.” But then we see how many companies have a multi-tier web of subsidiaries which can sometimes feel like they’re obfuscating intentionally. I don’t mean to imply they’re all intentionally obfuscating but it sure feels like that sometimes.
My response to Nestle was a "me personally" thing which probably doesn't apply to most other people - I don't really buy branded junk food, almost everything I eat I prepare myself from fresh ingredients. I read through the Wikipedia list [1] and didn't see any brands I've purchased this year.
But you're quite right that I was wrongly exaggerating by saying it was easy to boycott Nestle. I should have just emphasized that it's possible to boycott Nestle (if you know what the subsidiaries are), and easy (I think?) to boycott Sinclair.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nestl%C3%A9_brands
Nestle owns a lot of brands in the "ingredients" space too, unless you mean you are making everything from scratch. Buitoni pasta, Maggi bullions and soup bases, Carnation condensed and powdered milks, and Garden Burger meat alternatives are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
I'm similar to you -- make most of my own meals and don't really consume snack food and drink. Even all of the "prepared ingredient" type stuff that I buy (dried pasta, sauces) tend to be non-Nestle brands, so I really have to wonder if it's a lack of imagination that prompts people to claim that it's hard to avoid Nestle.
Of course, I'm in the UK (London) and not the USA, so maybe it's different? But I have a hard time understanding why it would be.
Edited to add: I also have a recent infant, to whom I've (again, without even trying) avoided feeding any Nestle products.
Every dentist I've ever been to has given me an Oral-B toothbrush at the end of my visit. Oral-B gives free stuff to dentists with the understanding that when they give it to their patients, it will have the connotation of an endorsement and the patients will go on to buy these things themselves.
I remember as a kid our family doctor would give my mother little samples of things that various pharmaceuticals had given him. Can't recall what they were, some kind of herbal remedy or naturopathic thing probably.
Isn't Maybelline a subsidiary of L'oréal rather than Nestlé?
https://www.nestle.com/ask-nestle/our-company/answers/nature...
They also did a huge media blitz in poorer countries to convince mothers that their formula was far superior to breast milk.
They’d give new mothers samples of formula and tell them it’s healthier and safer for their babies. Just enough that by the time it ran out the mother’s milk hadn’t come in and breastfeeding would be extremely difficult or impossible to start. Then start charging for formula.
Similar tactics to drug dealers, but most drug dealers I’ve dealt with had more of a social conscience than that.