Tell Nestlé to pay farmers a fair minimum price on cocoa

How far would you go for a cheap chocolate treat?

Would you deny cocoa farmers a living wage, leaving them with little choice but to pull their children out of school to work the fields so their family can survive?

Ask Nestlé and Pladis ... Along with French sugar and cocoa trader giant SucDen, the makers of KitKat bars, Godiva chocolates, and McVitie's biscuits won’t support a new policy that would lift millions of farmers out of extreme poverty.

All cocoa farmers worldwide deserve a fair shot and a living income. If this momentum fails, there probably won’t be another opportunity for decades to come. That’s why together, we need to act right now to name and shame the companies who’d rather hoard chocolate profits than ensure their workers are decently paid.

Tell Nestlé, Pladis, and SucDen to support a fair price for cocoa farmers in West Africa and around the world!

The governments of Ghana and Ivory Coast took the historic initiative to work together to raise the minimum cocoa price. If these West African nations that make up 63% of the globe’s cocoa supply succeed, other chocolate-producing countries will likely follow suit.

Farmers in Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Nigeria, Indonesia, Ecuador and a few other countries in Latin America produce almost all of the world’s cocoa, but corporations like Nestlé and Pladis in the 100 billion dollar a year chocolate industry want to get away with paying them pennies for their efforts.

The result of that cost-cutting? When asked this year, Nestlé couldn’t guarantee the chocolate in its KitKat and Aero bars was produced without child labour. This has to end NOW.

Tell Nestlé, Pladis, and SucDen to pay farmers their fair share: Support a fair minimum price on cocoa - worldwide!

This new West African cocoa price -- about $2600 per tonne, more fair for farmers than even Rainforest Alliance -- is a huge step towards keeping chocolate companies’ greed in check and ensuring farmers won’t have to put their kids to work.

Other chocolate giants like Uncommon Cacao and Valhrona have already come out with some support for a better global floor price. Why won’t Nestlé, Pladis, and SucDen do the same?

Chocolate should be a sweet reward to brighten up our day, not a bitter blight on our conscience. As consumers, we have the right to demand better. It worked for us last year, when SumOfUs members like you helped get major chocolate companies to commit to progressive new anti-deforestation policies for cocoa. You helped defend forests from the chocolate industry’s greed. Now, it’s time to defend farmers, too — working for people and planet.

Tell Nestlé, Pladis, and SucDen to pay farmers their fair share: Support a fair minimum price on cocoa - worldwide!

More information

Industry doubts remain over Ivory Coast, Ghana cocoa floor price
Reuters. 3 July 2019.

Chocolate gold: Ivory Coast and Ghana set a fixed price for cocoa
Al Jazeera. 7 August 2019.

Companies Support Higher Cocoa Prices for Farmers

Don't let Nestle destroy the Santa Fe River

Petition to the Suwannee River Water Management District Board and Staff: "Reject the attempt by Nestle Waters to renew Seven Springs Water's consumptive use permit. Drawing 1.152 million gallons per day from the fragile and valuable ecosystem of the Santa Fe River and its springs is clearly not 'reasonable and beneficial and with the public interest.'" Add your name:

But Nestle wants to change all that. The water-hoarding corporate giant is trying to pump 1.1 million gallons a day out of the Santa Fe River area, even though the watershed is already listed as "in recovery" from earlier over-pumping.2 The blue waters of Florida's Santa Fe River and Ginnie Springs are home to 15 different species of turtles, including 11 native to the area, and a haven for those looking to respectfully enjoy the outdoors.1 The Suwannee River Water Management Board is currently investigating and taking public input. It could decide any day now whether to give Nestle the permit it needs. We have a short window to stand with locals who are speaking out against Nestle's disastrous plans. Tell the Suwannee River Water Management District: Don't let Nestle destroy the Santa Fe River. Click here to sign the petition. The 1.1 million gallons Nestle wants each day is more than four times the record high the previous permit-holder Seven Springs pumped from the watershed. Nestle admitted as much in its application to renew an expired pumping permit it purchased from Seven Springs.3 As the world’s leading bottled water producer and owner of the Perrier and San Pellegrino brands, Nestlé already has a dismal track record on water conservation and human rights. In 2013, Nestlé was forced to back down after fighting a decision in Ontario, Canada that would have limited its water-taking in times of severe drought. That same year, Nestlé’s CEO famously challenged the human right to water.4 The Santa Fe River and related Ginnie Springs are already listed as "in recovery" after earlier exploitation.But Nestle recklessly wants to plunge ahead with a plan to rip four times as much water out of the area. It appears to be trying to game the approval process as well. The company applied for a five-year permit, likely to dodge the stricter scientific study requirements of a 20-year permit. But it is pouring millions into refurbishing and expanding a nearby bottling plant, which it wouldn't do if it planned to leave after only five years.5,6 "The Santa Fe River is already in decline," Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, one of the leaders of Our Santa Fe River, told reporters, "there’s not enough water coming out of the aquifer itself to recharge these lovely, amazing springs that are iconic and culturally valued and important for natural systems and habitats."7 We need to stand alongside everyone fighting to protect waterways from corporate destruction for profit by speaking out against Nestle's move now. Tell the Suwannee River Water Management District: Don't let Nestle destroy the Santa Fe River. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/nestle-santa-fe?t=9&akid=33924%2E3130208%2EKqDSoa Heidi Hess, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Richard Luscomb, "Nestlé plan to take 1.1m gallons of water a day from natural springs sparks outcry," The Guardian, Aug. 26, 2019. Ibid. Ibid. Food & Water Watch, "Organizations Denounce Nestle’s New Human Rights Impact Assessment as a Public Relations Stunt," Dec. 19, 2013. Our Santa Fe River, "Nestle sets its sights on the Santa Fe River," Aug. 2, 2019. Luscomb, "Nestlé plan to take 1.1m gallons of water a day from natural springs sparks outcry." Ibid. More Information:  NESTLÉ WANTS 1.1M GALLONS OF WATER PER DAY FROM FLORIDA BUT CONSERVATIONISTS ARE FIGHTING BACK - Newsweek

Support the plastic protesters at Nestle's headquarters. Contact the company now!

Outside Nestlé’s United States corporate headquarters with your message AND a giant plastic monster!

Yesterday, Greenpeace activists showed up at other Nestlé offices all over the world. We need to strike while the iron is hot. Make your voice heard by calling Nestlé right now at 1-888-918-6672. Let’s make sure this is a day Nestlé executives never forget.

In 2018 alone, Nestlé was responsible for creating nearly 4 billion pounds of single-use plastic packaging that in many cases is not recyclable or reusable — instead it will end up as waste forever haunting our planet!

Will you help us tell Nestlé how dire the plastic pollution crisis truly is? Call Nestlé right this moment at 1-888-918-6672 and tell them they must phase out their reliance on single-use plastic packaging, and move to refillable and reusable options.

I cannot bear to see another headline about communities overrun by the global waste trade – or another dead whale with a gut full of plastic. So my friends and I called out Nestlé at its office with a giant monster made with discarded Nestlé packaging. If you feel like I do, please join us by calling out Nestlé over the phones.

Calling is easy, takes less than two minutes, and is one of the best ways to make sure Nestlé is listening. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Dial 1-888-918-6672.
2. Listen to a short message from Greenpeace. We’ll then patch you through to Nestlé’s customer service line.
3. When you’re connected, be polite and say what you think about Nestlé’s plastic packaging. Here is a suggested script:

Hi, my name is ___________and I’m calling from CITY, STATE. I’m very concerned by the massive amount of single-use plastic pollution and Nestlé is one of the largest global corporations that relies heavily on such packaging. I would like Nestlé to be an industry leader and phase out single-use plastic, while innovating bold, new solutions like refillable and reusable packaging. Thank you!

You can also send a message demanding an end to single-use plastic on Nestle's Facebook. 

Not on Facebook? No problem, you can send a message on Instagram or Twitter.

Nestlé needs to hear from you right now. You’ve already joined millions signing petitions demanding an end to its single-use plastic and spreading the word on social media. They know they’ve created a problem, but they don’t want to be the ones to solve it. The solution, however, is in their hands, and the time is now. Nestlé must make the switch to systems of reuse. 

- Kate Melges, Greenpeace USA

Sign the petition: Tell Nestlé to stop producing single-use plastic

Plastic pollution is jeopardizing human health and harming marine animals like whales and sea turtles at alarming rates.

We cannot recycle our way out of this crisis. Over 90% of plastics are not recycled. Communities in Southeast Asia are used as dumping ground through the global waste trade. We have to hold brands accountable and demand alternatives to cheap throwaway plastic packaging.

Recent cleanups and audits of plastic waste have revealed that Nestlé is one of the worst plastic polluters. Nestlé sells a billion products a day with 98% of them wrapped in single-use packaging.

Nestlé must stop endangering our oceans, communities, and wildlife around the world.

Sign the petition to tell Nestlé: Stop producing single-use plastic and immediately start shifting toward refillable and reusable products!

Thanks to pressure from the global Break Free From Plastic movement, Nestlé has finally acknowledged the plastic pollution crisis. But the company has yet to take meaningful action and continues to churn out throwaway plastics that will exist in our world for lifetimes. No material used for momentary convenience should have an impact that severe.

Now is the time to call for real action from Nestlé. Add your name to demand Nestlé immediately begin to phase out single-use plastics!

Our Message to U. Mark Schneider, CEO of Nestlé:

I am calling on you to take meaningful action to address the plastic pollution crisis and immediately start shifting toward systems of refill and reuse. Nestlé must do more than acknowledge the problem with vague plans to phase out single-use plastics in a minuscule portion of its product lines. As a leader in the industry it must move with the urgency and scale needed to protect communities, oceans and wildlife. We will no longer jeopardize our environment for the sake of packaging.

Participating Organizations:

Climate Hawks Vote

Climate Parents

Daily Kos

Friends of the Earth Action

GAIA

Greenpeace

Plastic Pollution Coalition

Stand

More Information:

These 5 Marine Animals Are Dying Because of Our Plastic Trash … Here’s How We Can Help

#CrushPlastic Movement

Tell Corporations: develop plans to phase out single-use plastic

Corporations have created a plastic monster that is destroying the planet. Over 90% of the plastics ever produced have not been recycled, yet corporations have plans to dramatically increase their production of plastic packaging. By 2050, it is predicted that there will be 12 billion tonnes of plastic waste in natural environments.

People living along rivers and coastlines in Southeast Asia and in other communities around the world are among the most impacted by plastic pollution—and they are often the ones blamed for the plastic pollution crisis even though they did not create the problem!

More than 3 million people around the world have joined Greenpeace to urge companies to stop polluting our planet with throwaway plastic. And it’s working. Because of mounting pressure from people like you, corporations are finally starting to admit that they are part of the problem, and they are talking about solutions. But we don’t need more talking—we need concrete, urgent action to stop plastic pollution at the source!

Tell Nestle, Unilever, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo., Colgate, Danone, Johnson & Johnson, and Mars to be transparent about exactly how much plastic packaging they are producing and make concrete plans to reduce that amount. It is time for these corporations to invest in alternative ways to deliver their products to us and phase out single-use plastic! These companies have created a monster, and we are not willing to allow the plastic monster to grow any more. We need concrete plans for reduction, and we need them now!

Add your name to ask the CEOs of these companies to do their part to end the plastic pollution crisis by making concrete plans to reduce the amount of plastic packaging they are producing!

Click here to send the following message:

To the CEOs of Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Mars, Kraft Heinz, Mondelez, Colgate-Palmolive, Johnson and Johnson, Danone:

Make concrete plans to reduce your plastic footprint now! I urge you to work with Greenpeace and develop concrete plans to phase out single-use plastic packaging and invest in alternative ways to deliver your products that will not endanger our oceans or communities around the world. Slay the plastic monster you have created!