5 ms·

Now so much food is a brand in a portfolio of a multi-national I don't think boycotts really work. How many tens of thousands need to join a boycott for Nestle

Now so much food is a brand in a portfolio of a multi-national I don't think boycotts really work. How many tens of thousands need to join a boycott for Nestle to even notice? How many more for them to care enough to change? Back in the days of national companies, most making just a few fairly closely related products, seems like a boycott could achieve much more.

jeromegv 9y ago
Each brand within a portfolio still has a team of people for marketing, sales, etc including analysts that can surely tell if the brand is selling more or less. P&G has a huge portfolio of products but they still have people dedicated to Head & Shoulder, this isn't just bundled up all together where nobody knows what's happening with each product line. As for how many people need to join a boycott to make it worthwhile, well this is the same argument as voting. One at at time might not seem huge but once more people know and change their habits, this does have an effect on the market. See organic food, that did start very small but there has been a slow but gradual switch in consumer behaviors.
WalterSear 9y ago
FYI: Palm oil is, in my experience, a bigger deal for vegans - a group that has grown from 1 to 6% since 2014. https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4959853/top-trends-in-prepared-foods-2017-exploring-trends-in-meat-fish-and-seafood-pasta-noodles-and-rice-prepared-meals-savory-deli-food-soup-and-meat-substitutes.html https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4959853/top-trends-in-pr... So, I'd argue there are already tens of thousands of people boycotting palm products and palm using companies, and a bunch more will be arriving soon. Even disregarding the network effect that cause beliefs held by minority larger than 10% to rapidly get adopted by the majority https://phys.org/news/2011-07-minority-scientists-ideas.html https://phys.org/news/2011-07-minority-scientists-ideas.html , it's only a matter of a short while before the group starts weilding actual power for social change. The rate of growth is already dominating food marketing and packaging news and research.
- gepi79 9y ago
  If you are vegan, you aim for a whole food plant based diet. Palm oil and any other refined oil or food has no important place in this diet. Anyway, people must eat something. Replacing one crop by another does not change enough. It is time for efficient food production (indoor, GMO,...) that does not waste air, water, land, plants, insects and other animals like traditional outdoor agriculture. E.g. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4863106/The-hi-tech-future-farming-Netherlands.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4863106/The-h... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/future-will-we-be-growing-fruit-home-bioreactors-180968133/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/future-will-we-be-... https://www.wired.com/story/lab-grown-meat/ https://www.wired.com/story/lab-grown-meat/
  - sitkack 9y ago
    > If you are vegan, you aim for a whole food plant based diet. I know lots of vegans that eat junk. You are making things up.
    - gepi79 9y ago
      I have never heard about a vegan who does not care to eat healthy. Besides I wrote "aim". Maybe a vegan junk food based diet including large amounts of refined oils, sugar and candy is common among vegans and I do not know about it.
      - WalterSear 9y ago
        I know plenty. Fwiw, contrary to popular stereotypes, vegans don't tend to have that much in common other than the ethical choice they've made. It makes for really subpar meetups and online groups, I"m sad to say. No one has all that much in common, other than food - the preferences and priorities of which, as we are discussing, vary from person to person. Well that, and generic, somewhere-left-of-center outrage at the current administration.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]

jeromegv 9y ago

Each brand within a portfolio still has a team of people for marketing, sales, etc including analysts that can surely tell if the brand is selling more or less. P&G has a huge portfolio of products but they still have people dedicated to Head & Shoulder, this isn't just bundled up all together where nobody knows what's happening with each product line. As for how many people need to join a boycott to make it worthwhile, well this is the same argument as voting. One at at time might not seem huge but once more people know and change their habits, this does have an effect on the market. See organic food, that did start very small but there has been a slow but gradual switch in consumer behaviors.

WalterSear 9y ago

FYI: Palm oil is, in my experience, a bigger deal for vegans - a group that has grown from 1 to 6% since 2014. https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4959853/top-trends-in-prepared-foods-2017-exploring-trends-in-meat-fish-and-seafood-pasta-noodles-and-rice-prepared-meals-savory-deli-food-soup-and-meat-substitutes.html https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4959853/top-trends-in-pr... So, I'd argue there are already tens of thousands of people boycotting palm products and palm using companies, and a bunch more will be arriving soon. Even disregarding the network effect that cause beliefs held by minority larger than 10% to rapidly get adopted by the majority https://phys.org/news/2011-07-minority-scientists-ideas.html https://phys.org/news/2011-07-minority-scientists-ideas.html , it's only a matter of a short while before the group starts weilding actual power for social change. The rate of growth is already dominating food marketing and packaging news and research.

gepi79 9y ago
If you are vegan, you aim for a whole food plant based diet. Palm oil and any other refined oil or food has no important place in this diet. Anyway, people must eat something. Replacing one crop by another does not change enough. It is time for efficient food production (indoor, GMO,...) that does not waste air, water, land, plants, insects and other animals like traditional outdoor agriculture. E.g. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4863106/The-hi-tech-future-farming-Netherlands.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4863106/The-h... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/future-will-we-be-growing-fruit-home-bioreactors-180968133/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/future-will-we-be-... https://www.wired.com/story/lab-grown-meat/ https://www.wired.com/story/lab-grown-meat/
- sitkack 9y ago
  > If you are vegan, you aim for a whole food plant based diet. I know lots of vegans that eat junk. You are making things up.
  - gepi79 9y ago
    I have never heard about a vegan who does not care to eat healthy. Besides I wrote "aim". Maybe a vegan junk food based diet including large amounts of refined oils, sugar and candy is common among vegans and I do not know about it.
    - WalterSear 9y ago
      I know plenty. Fwiw, contrary to popular stereotypes, vegans don't tend to have that much in common other than the ethical choice they've made. It makes for really subpar meetups and online groups, I"m sad to say. No one has all that much in common, other than food - the preferences and priorities of which, as we are discussing, vary from person to person. Well that, and generic, somewhere-left-of-center outrage at the current administration.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]