Walmart-at-the-Crossroads-FINAL-06.04.15

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A. Supplier 1: Nestlé S.A. With more than 12 million tons of fresh milk equivalents, 250 from more than 30 countries, Nestlé is the largest milk company in the world in terms of sales value. 251 A German pharmacist living in Switzerland founded Nestlé in 1867 with one of the first prototypes of infant formula. 252 In 2014, Nestlé had $96.1 billion in global sales for all of its products, not just milk, with much of its operations occurring in the United States. 253 Although Nestlé sells a variety of dairy products, it is not a milk producer. The company only owns a few cows and typically buys milk and milk substitutes directly from farmers or suppliers before processing it into Nestlé products. Popular Nestlé products sold at Walmart include Coffee-mate, Nesquik, Carnation, Media Crema, Milo, Assorted Miniature, La Lechera, Butterfinger, Carlos V, and Wonka Mix-ups. Violations found in Nestlé’s food supply chain range from child labor abuse and mistreatment of its farmers to retaliation against workers for joining strikes, among many more. i. Labor Nestlé has traditionally had a relatively good relationship with the unions already representing a small number of its domestic workforce. 254 However, overall, Nestlé appears to be systemically involved in conflicts with unions, 255 despite its policy on freedom of association. This policy states that the company must refrain from “any action restricting the employee’s right to be, or not to be, affiliated with a union.” 256 In one example of Nestlé’s conflict with unions, in 2012, human rights activists from the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and the Colombian trade union, SINALTRAINAL, filed a lawsuit under the Swiss court system against Nestlé alleging the company´s involvement in the murder of a Colombian union leader. 257 In Indonesia, management at the Nescafé factory in Panjang fired 53 of the 87 members of SBNIP (Nestlé Panjang Workers Union) after the union took industrial action in support of their collective bargaining demands in 2011. 258 Page !55
Nestlé’s issues with labor do not only concern workers in its factories; it also includes small-scale farmers. The company’s focus on increasing its share of markets has created devastating consequences for small-scale farms. In Pakistan, Nestlé has practically established a monopoly of the Ultra High Temperature (UHT) milk 259 market, and in Peru, Nestlé controls around 80 percent of milk production. 260 This market control has allowed Nestlé and Parmalat to force at least 50,000 small-scale dairy farmers out of their supply chains. Many small farms went out of business as a result of Nestlé buying Brazil’s milk cooperatives during the 1990s. 261 Besides directly putting small farmers out of business, Nestlé has cut its own costs by increasing the cost burden on farmers. In Brazil, one way Nestlé increased farm costs is by demanding that farmers install milk refrigeration tanks on their property. The smallest tanks need at least 100 liters of milk per day to be filled, but the typical farm produces only 50 liters per day. Most small-scale farmers could not afford to install the coolers. The excluded producers attempted to market their milk to smaller processors and cooperatives and to use informal markets. However, the market dominance of Nestlé and other multinational corporations meant that smaller processors were quickly going out of business. This phenomenon, along with reduced farmer access to alternative milk marketing channels due to the rise in UHT consumption, led to many farmers losing their milk income altogether. 262 ii. Environment Although not directly related to dairy, Nestlé has recently come under criticism for its bottling of water in drought-stricken California. The company buys water at the same rate as California residents and then sells the bottled water “at one hundred times the profit.” 263 Nestlé denies, however, that its water bottling operations contribute to the drought. 264 However, bottled water has a negative impact on the environment beyond whether it is contributing to the drought in California or not. It takes 1.39 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water, in addition to the three liters of water required to produce the plastic for a half-liter bottle. 265 This is not the first time that Nestlé has faced opposition to its extraction of water in order to profit from selling bottled water, as, in the past 20 years, residents from Texas and Florida to Wisconsin and Michigan have fought against Nestlé obtaining water rights. 266 Page !56
Page 1 and 2:
Walmart at the Crossroads The Envir
Page 3 and 4:
Table of Contents I. Introduction:
Page 5 and 6:
B. Supplier 2: Pilgrim’s Pride/JB
Page 7 and 8:
supply chain practices have been re
Page 9 and 10: Labor II. Walmart’s Labor and Env
Page 11 and 12: • Handle, store and transport haz
Page 13 and 14: III. Overview of Walmart’s Record
Page 15 and 16: pay their workers unfair wages and
Page 17 and 18: energy consumption derived from ren
Page 19 and 20: V. Industry Reports Along with the
Page 21 and 22: A. Supplier 1: Monterey Mushrooms,
Page 23 and 24: C. Supplier 2: Giorgio Foods, Inc.
Page 25 and 26: 2. Blueberry Industry Blueberries a
Page 27 and 28: Table 2: Naturipe Facilities in the
Page 29 and 30: B. Profile: Wage Theft in the Blueb
Page 31 and 32: known for its devastating environme
Page 33 and 34: prominent supplier to Walmart, yet
Page 35 and 36: A. Supplier 1: Chiquita The United
Page 37 and 38: B. Supplier 2: Del Monte In additio
Page 39 and 40: iii. Environment In addition to hav
Page 41 and 42: 5. Packaged Salad Industry Packaged
Page 43 and 44: days even though he attributed this
Page 45 and 46: parts of their wages go to the empl
Page 47 and 48: Fred Penny is first vice chairman o
Page 49 and 50: product cost from wages if a distri
Page 51 and 52: A. Supplier 1: Cal-Maine Foods Cal-
Page 53 and 54: to roughly 10,000 cages in each bar
Page 55 and 56: no authority under the federal wate
Page 57 and 58: 8. Dairy Industry The dairy industr
Page 59: In 2010, the Obama administration d
Page 63 and 64: Walmart, including its subsidiaries
Page 65 and 66: United States. In fact, Joel was on
Page 67 and 68: cooperative joined the fluid milk b
Page 69 and 70: Another significant problem in the
Page 71 and 72: sectors. Common violations at poult
Page 73 and 74: during incidents at facilities in K
Page 75 and 76: the company in any of these cases.
Page 77 and 78: in getting the “Humanely Raised
Page 79 and 80: labor rights are violated. The adde
Page 81 and 82: chain. “Walmart has still failed
Page 83 and 84: B. Environment Besides troubling la
Page 85 and 86: dollars in yearly revenue, 407 Schn
Page 87 and 88: i. Labor In December 2012, UNFI was
Page 89 and 90: money to non-profits “committed t
Page 91 and 92: Former Walmart President and CEO Mi
Page 93 and 94: 4. Does the price they receive, aft
Page 95 and 96: VII. Conclusion and Recommendations
Page 97 and 98: fact, Walmart’s business model ha
Page 99 and 100: 4. Establish a 40-hour minimum for
Page 101 and 102: Endnotes and Citations 1 “Our Loc
Page 103 and 104: 46 Stacy Mitchell, “Walmart’s A
Page 105 and 106: 89 “Memoria Anual Hortifrut S.A.
Page 107 and 108: 135 “Fresh Del Monte Produce, Cor
Page 109 and 110: 182 “Flowers Foods Investor Fact
Page 111 and 112:
232 Ibid. 233 Ibid. 234 Ibid. 235
Page 113 and 114:
282 Ibid. 283 Dale Heberlig, “Off
Page 115 and 116:
332 “Tyson Fact Book,” Tyson Fo
Page 117 and 118:
377 “Seafood Statistics,”Statis
Page 119 and 120:
428 Ibid. 429 “United Natural Foo
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