Market mechanisms have proven completely unreliable at stopping such things, given how few actually give a damn about nestle’s long time child labor and slavery problem.
It's odd how we blame the market mechanism but not the people that "don't give a damn".
Ironically, it's almost as if you (the person complaining about the market mechanism) don't want to boycot those people that don't give a damn. It's inconvenient isn't it? Imagine having to shun your friend, kick out your tenant or fire your employee because they wore a slave-labour Nike shoe. It's much easier to blame a market mechanism.
Maybe not (by some measures at least) but that is the point. They are still the largest food company in the world and one of the largest companies of any kind. Are you sure you aren't buying anything from them? They have a large number of brands and are always buying more. You can't always tell by looking at the package. Not that long ago a website error that mentioned Nestlé tipped me off that a supplement brand I was considering was owned by them and it turns out they now own several very popular supplement brands. I still think it is important to do your best to avoid such companies but it seems not enough people do this to have much effect even in the worst cases.
Reasonably sure, yeah. Not only am I somewhat sure that you can indeed always tell by the packaging (at least here in Germany), I also check the list of companies every 6 to 12 months.
And yeah, the most boycotted company (assuming it is true) means there is barely any effect. People don't boycott, many people don't even care enough to talk, far fewer want to walk.
I'm glad it is easier to tell there. In the US there are no such requirements :(. I've noticed looking at web sites of various companies that there seems to be some basic disclosure requirements in some EU countries that are helpful (like a contact address, which many companies don't have on their website in most of the world).
