NO TO NESTLÉ: The Global Vegans Campaign Against Unethical Cocoa

Recognising that veganism is no longer just about the protection of non-human animals against suffering and exploitation is central to the future of the movement. For veganism to progress with kindness and compassion at the forefront, the vegan community must also acknowledge and evaluate its influence on human suffering and environmental devastation. Ultimately, veganism must become an intersectional movement. This motion is at the heart of Global Vegans’ No to Nestlé campaign.

In March 2021, Global Vegans, a UK-based vegan activist group, launched a petition urging The Vegan Society to withdraw its prestigious Vegan Trademark from Nestlé’s new vegan KitKat. The KitKat V, which is due to be released later this year, received widespread publicity when it was first confirmed by the confectionary conglomerate, with an image of its wrapper displaying the instantly recognisable Vegan Trademark shared across plant-based news outlets and social media.

However, just a few days before Nestlé confirmed that it would be releasing a vegan KitKat, it was announced that the chocolate manufacturer was facing legal action in the USA. International Rights Advocates (IRA), a human rights firm operating in Washington, D.C, had filed a lawsuit on behalf of eight former child labourers who claimed they were illegally forced to work on the Ivory Coast plantations where the world’s largest chocolate companies, including Nestlé, Mars and Mondelēz, sourced their cocoa.

Dismayed by The Vegan Society’s decision to endorse a product from a corporation with a long and well-documented history of sourcing unethical and illegal cocoa, Global Vegans decided it was time to take action. They began by writing and launching a petition, which called The Vegan Society to support past and current cocoa plantation slaves by withdrawing its Vegan Trademark from the KitKat V. Global Vegans stipulated that by doing so, The Vegan Society would set a clear precedent to corporations like Nestlé: until manufacturers operate ethically and legally, they do not have the support of the animal rights movement.

After sharing the petition amongst the Global Vegans community, founder John decided to contact The Vegan Society directly by submitting a written question to its upcoming AGM. Asking The Vegan Society why it continues to support Nestlé despite its unethical, illegal and anti-vegan practices, Global Ve- gans hit home the importance of creating an intersectional movement that considers the rights and wellbeing of both animals and humans.

The Vegan Society is yet to directly comment on the petition and its objectives, but it has confirmed that it will be monitoring the progression of the lawsuit against Nestlé. It is expected that a decision on the Nestlé USA, Inc vs John Doe case will be reached by the end of June, at which point The Vegan Society will need to consider how its relationship with Nestlé will progress.

Of course, how The Vegan Society chooses to proceed will greatly influence the future of veganism. It is hoped by the Global Vegans community that veganism will evolve into an all-encompassing ethical motion, but this relies on the support of the movement’s most powerful organisations.

For now, Global Vegans awaits the outcome of the lawsuit and The Vegan Society’s decision, and continues to lend its support to many other animal and human rights injustices.

www.globalvegans.com