Do people have exceptions to their Nestle boycott?

[BelfastRingingOutForXmasBloke]

Lots of mentions on MN about eating Quality Street around Christmas time.

If you boycott Nestle, is that just a general guideline or is it a total ban?

I admit I can't turn down a Matchmaker.

Nestle own my soul, I hate the fuckers for what they did/do with formula.

But I love nespresso, I am a hypocrite, I blame George.

Total ban for me, though I do always wonder if I should.

The only thing i struggle with is the Branstons. I wish I could still eat Branstons. It will also be very bad if Kraft hive off Cadburys and Nestle snap it up.

KitKats and Caramacs if I can get hold of them.

I have tried with the kitkats and tried lots of supermarket alternatives but nothing cuts the mustard....

This boycott has been going on since the 1970s and doesn't seem to have achieved anything. Apart, perhaps, from making individuals feel better. Surely there is something more concrete you could be doing? e.g. giving money to charities which work to counteract Nestle's message?

I don['t think Nestle make a single product I would eat as they are all processed foods.

I have a policy of not paying for nestle products, so if someone has bought them in work for example I will eat them but will not give them money myself.

I have got Sainsbury's own after eights and matchmakers in for Christmas Day and friends and family know not to buy nestle products for me but it gets more difficult every year I think. I got body shop gifts last year by a well meaning freind who didn't know they were nestle.

haha - oof - you don't want to go around asking questions like that - you'll rouse the hypocrites! Isn't Kit-Kat the biggest selling "chocolate" item in the UK?

At the risk of really pissing everyone off, I find it very odd that the Nestle boycott continues but we are less vociferous about companies that continue to use child labour. I appreciate they are different issues but I really do think it's a little hypocritical to boycott Nestle but happily wear clothes or buy products from companies using child labour.

I'm not assuming anyone on this thread does that, by the way, I am speaking generically. Nor am I saying that I avoid these products because I don't. I just think it's important to realise the reality of the things we buy.

The companies using child labour and/or claiming not to change all the time (but included Apple recently). If you want to know more about it, this site may be of interest.

And, yes, I do drag this up every time we have a Nestle thread.

I'm with gruffalo, if someone else has bought nestle products I will eat them if offered (except nescafe, which is vile) but I won't pay for it myself. It may not be achieving 'much' but I feel better knowing they don't have my money,
I do explain to people why I do it if they ask. I was talking to a man in the garage the other week as they only sold instant nescafe drinks and I wouldn't buy them although I was freezing. He was intersted and has since googled the boycott and looked into it, so one at a time, little by little...

Jinglebells, I do try and only buy from 'good' suppliers but everytime they do a new report they change who is good and bad, most places have appeared on both lists AFAIK and I cannto afford things like organic fairtrade clothes for growing toddlers.
It is difficult but I do what I can afford if that makes sense, if it will leave me substantially worse off then I cannot justify it to myself.

JingleBelle - I couldn't agree more - those that parade their fluffiness wrt Nestle whilst whipping out an ipad deserve at the very least a good, long, hard stare!

I like my shiny technology tat as much as the next girl but just can't bring myself to buy an iphone/pad. :( I will the laughing stock at the school gates with my geriatric phone - until they clock my chowing down on a chunky Kit-Kat of course then I'll be flung in to social Siberia!

I don't boycott Nestle but do limit what I buy from them, not just due to their dodgy business practises, but also because their produce is mostly crap.

Showing ignorance here- what did nestle do?

I do not boycott Nestle, saves me feeling ashamed every time I have a cup off coffee.

if it will leave me substantially worse off then I cannot justify it to myself

wow niceguy, thats a bit fucking harsh.
I mean I am a student with 2 children under 5 who are growing fast, so I cannot afford to spend £50/60 on one item of clothing for them when it will get grown out of within a few months.

But I really resent justifying myself to you actually.

I also don't buy Nestle but will eat somebody else's kitkat ( just to be polite I do buy Nestle condensed milk because nobody else makes it

In fact, 'niceguy' I would quite like an apology, or at the very least you could start making snidey comments at everyone else on the thread who 'part time boycott's and not just me.

Don't worry about it Ilythia - your spending habits over the course of your lifetime will change absolutely fuck all. All you can do is look after your own children the best you can :) - eating a kit-kat won't kill a baybee. The irony is of course - that those who can "afford" to be 100% ethical became rich on the backs of the poor! They'll invest in stocks & shares etc. - money does not grow on trees - there's always someone at the bottom of the pile and it's not Western Europe however much we might gripe! Please don't let it upset you - everyone who chooses to slag you for this is going to be guilty of having a smartphone/computer/laptop/diamond ring.

Call me stupid but why are people boycotting nestle?

Niceguy2, makes like Nike who are expensive are not exactly renown to be very ethical, especially when child labour is concerned.

I totally agree with you Ilythia and you should not have to justifie yourself . I do boycott things that I am pretty sure most people on MN do not boycott. we all have priorities that might differ to eachother and putting one's family first in times of hardship is nothing to be ashamed of!

I have been here long enough for it not to upset me, but the point needed making imo.

I dont buy nestle or give them my money as I dont want them to have my money. Simple as that.

Quad, this may help explain

Child labour is unethical and undesirable, but Nestles formula marketing policies have literally killed thousands - I'd no more buy from them than from Union Carbide - I even boycott Grorge Clooney from my fantasy shag list (I'm sure he cries himself to sleep about that ).
On the subject of ethical employment policies I suspect that the worst offenders are the nameless firms who supply to markets (and TKMAX? perhaps). At least we can lobby Gap et al, and they have a reputation to lose.

I think that fewer people boycott Nestle than you think.

The ones who boycott Nestle will not be eating Quality Street.

I think Quality Street do the best tins of chocolates, so I am eating them.