What are some US brands to avoid?

[kungfoofighting]

Following on from suggestions to boycott US products, it seems a lot of brands might be US-owned with a lot of consumers not realising.

Like Mondolez owning Cadbury for example.

What are some others?

Nestlé are Swiss @AnxiouslyAwaitingSpring.

Thanks, that is exactly the sort of info I was looking for!

These are all very easy things to avoid 😊

The massive investment in US treasury bonds (did you know the UK is the third largest holder of US debt) feels very concerning to me. Because of the dollar being the reserve currency US debt has always been incredibly secure - unlike other countries very high debt to GDP ratio doesn't affect its security... yet. But, Trump, Musk etc seem almost to be deliberately trying to destroy that. In which case yep everyone's pensions are fucked. However - there is not much any of us can do about that whereas not buying from Amazon (predatory even before Trump) is something people can do. And buying local/buying from businesses and real shops is better for employment/local economies anyway even if it doesn't affect Jeff Bezos.

We have been doing it a few weeks now - not everything because that's unrealistic, but every little helps! Hardest thing was finding alternatives to Heinz beans and ketchup! Household products etc very easy if you buy Unilever instead. And yes I have to use Microsoft at work but I have no choice, but at home we use Linux and duck duck go (American but better for privacy) and yes I'm using an iPhone but at least it's second hand and I don't plan on buying another one any time soon anyway. I'll carry on spending money and contributing to the economy, just hopefully boosting British and European companies instead.

Super isn't an americanism? It comes from Latin and is used in UK English - if anything its a bit "jolly hockeysticks".
Also - out of curiosity what do you mean by "Americanised layout". I thought at first maybe you meant the very corporate "Allegria" style but they don't have that - it just looks like a regular website.

Helpful reminder to anyone not aware but Sky tv is now owned by Comcast so get that dish down!
Hotel Chocolat & Morrisons are owned by American private equity firms!

Kit Kats are made in York but are part of Nestle so out they go. Nesquick goes too, along with Nescafé.
Costa coffee is owned by Coca Cola believe it or not, so 🚫 to Costa! Obviously Starbucks too, is 🇺🇸
Astonishingly, HP sauce is now owned by Heinz....
Hartley's jam is now 🇺🇸
The clothing brands 'Toast' 'Me + Em' & 'Zara' are also American owned. Along with Laura Ashley & Ben Sherman.
Aveda is 🇺🇸 as it's part of Estée Lauder
Obviously Netflix & Uber are both 🇺🇸
Harper Collins publishers 🇺🇸
Weetabix 🇺🇸
Wilkinson Sword 🇺🇸
Virgin Media is now 50% 🇺🇸
Ella's Kitchen, Gale's Honey, Rose's jam & marmalade, Frank Cooper's marmalade, Robertson's (Golden Shred Marmalade), Sun Pat, Linda McCartney, Yorkshire Provender & Covent Garden soup, are all owned by Hain Celestial which is 🇺🇸

So in conclusion it's going to be excruciatingly difficult to boycott all American brands!

M&S do good ketchups and BBQ sauces. They have different ones starting at £1:40. Give them a go and see what you think.

Polish ketchups are also good.

Often "bought out by a private equity firm" is followed by "massive decline in quality and services leading to a decline in sales". Which is then followed by "Boots announced they would be closing all its stores..." RIP Toys R Us...
I agree, it will be shit to lose them from the high street...

How could I forget all of these too?

Wow, there’s a lot here I would never have guessed. Zara is a tough one!

I don’t even eat sugary stuff nowadays, but feel weirdly disappointed to see Rose’s lime jam on this list…!

Thanks for sharing

I find the Lidl dupes much superior to Mars. Mars seem to have adopted the waxy recipe that's ruined so many good chocolates.

Thanks again! We get Royal Canin, although think that’s the only one from the list

Why would people throw away something they already own 🤣🤣
Thats not the point….

The point is,( for those who want to ) to reduce buying American products.
Thete are many alternatives out there if people are interested and @kungfoofighting has set up this thread so we can all share our knowledge on US brands and alternatives.

The examples you have given all have alternatives and also own brand copies Its worth noting Nestle ….the baby formula scandal was an utter disgrace and they still refuse to abide by ingredient requirements. I have never bought a thing from them ever and never would

There’s another thread for chocolate lovers and those out shopping for Easter

isn't zara (inditex) majority owned by a spanish billionaire, so not US ?

Yes. Those lists aren't quite accurate.

Lidl and Aldi are great for own brand copies of a lot of the UKs favourites and looking at this list they cover many on it

Zara is Spanish.
Nestle is Swiss.
Gales Honey is British.

You could do a family taste test when it comes to Heinz alternatives 🥳 it’s actually quite fun
For Baked beans we like Aldi . We did a taste test with our kids comparing
Heinz ( which they’d never had anyway ) Aldi and Lidl and Aldi won 5/5

Still searching for non US dry cat food to support kidney function though and any decent dry dog food too. So many are US owned

Isn’t the mumsnet site hosted by Amazon Web Services which is US owned?

Does that mean all the people wanting to boycott American products need to stay off mumsnet?

It's really not weird and I'm certainly not a bot. It's just a genuinely pointless boycott, it might make you feel like you're doing something. But laugh away. Canada removing the American alcohol from their shelves is a proper boycott. Dave from Croydon swapping to a British Easter Egg because fucking TikTok told him to do so is pointless.

Thanks for sharing!

Re Heinz beans.

I’ve found M&S beans are just as good if that helps. We are not buying Californian wine. Looking at the list we have unconsciously been ‘boycotting’ some of the US goods just through what we have actually chosen but anyway so result for us.

We feed our dog dry food from Essentials dog food. Think it’s Scandinavian / European. You can buy direct from them and delivery is pretty quick too

ETA they do cat food too