Nestle threatens to leave Switzerland

[Libertas1776]

Source: France 24



The world's biggest food company Nestle could leave its homebase Switzerland if Bern imposes a cap on executives' salaries, the group's chairman said in remarks published Sunday.
"It would be the beginning of an end," Peter Brabeck told Swiss newspaper Sonntag, in reply to a question about calls for the federal government to impose salary ceilings.

<snip>

For Brabeck, Switzerland's most attractive characteristic has been the "legal certainty" that it offers. However, he said that this certainty, which was "like a granite block, has been dampened.""Recently, there has been external pressure on Switzerland and populist pressure from within.

<snip>

In a landmark out-of-court settlement with US authorities, major Swiss bank UBS agreed to reveal the identities of 4,450 American clients. For some, this meant that Switzerland's strict banking secrecy rules had been compromised.
Brabeck said the UBS case was not isolated, and cited pressure from the German Finance Minister Piers Steinbrueck on Swiss banking secrecy rules as another example.

Read more: http://www.france24.com/en/20090913-nestle-threatens-leave-switzerland

---

Those poor, poor execs; those huddled masses forced into exile, into the cold. Oh, whatever will they do? :sarcasm:

Meh, their chocolate is crap anyway.

[WriteDown]

1. So much for my Swiss Miss this winter. nt.

[1monster]

17. Land O Lakes hot chocolate is much better anyway... albeit more expensive. It is

well worth the extra it costs.

[gateley]

20. +1 nt

[WriteDown]

21. Thanks!

I'll try that. :)

[joeglow3]

46. Nestle doesn't make Swiss Miss.

ConAgra does.

[Wilms]

2. Nestle loves money, and hates babies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9_boycott

[stray cat]

3. Their european version of their chocolate is much better than what they sell in the US

[WriteDown]

Better is a relative term...

I like European-style coffee better too, but my girlfriend can't stand it. I'm also fond of European butter.

[Psephos]

24. Lurpak Danish butter has no equal. mmmmmmmmmmmmm nt

[Ghost Dog]

28. Oy vey Vevey.

Nespresso is great.

(You'd be surprised how many labels belong to Nestlé. One of the original marketing greats, a bit tarnished now).

The Swiss will have to hold a(nother) referendum on this.

Most corporate-friendly country in the world? USA. And we really don't want to go there...

[edwardian]

55. N(ot)espresso

is horrible when compared to proper espresso. And it uses tons of aluminum for the silly coffee packs. Good riddance to bad rubbish, may Nestle execs have to eat Euro-shopper discount brand caviar from now on.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

32. Didn't Nestle move plants to Mexico recently?

-->> 2007 http://www.blisstree.com/chocolatebytes/hersheys-move-to-mexico/

Their chocolate just don't taste the same anymore... must be something in the water.

[Brickbat]

34. That's Hershey's.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

45. Ooops

:blush:

[Brickbat]

47. 'Sokay...it's Hershey's, the AMERICAN brand, that's busting unions and sending production to Mexico.

I don't buy them anymore.

[hedgehog]

49. When the Chocolate Melted; Nestlé Factory Closing Leaves Town Reeling

The final blow came when Nestlé sold its bulk chocolate business to Cargill, which moved it to an existing facility in Pennsylvania, said Patricia Bowles, a spokeswoman for Nestlé USA, the American arm of the Swiss firm, which is based in Glendale, Calif.

Rather than spend a fortune renovating the Fulton plant, the company decided to move most of the production to another underutilized but younger plant in Wisconsin, she said. (A fraction of the Nestlé's Crunch business is going to Brazil.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/02/nyregion/when-the-chocolate-melted-nestle-factory-closing-leaves-town-reeling.html?pagewanted=all

[DeSwiss]

4. You can be boycotted from anywhere, asshole......

[alfredo]

5. Godiva is better.

[mopinko]

33. small local chocolatier is my fave-

to DIE FOR!!!! just a small independent shop.
http://www.belgchocpiron.com/

[alfredo]

36. State side suppliers?

[mopinko]

43. you mean of the chocolate itself?

i think he brings it in from belgium.

[alfredo]

44. I was wondering if I can find the brand in Kentucky

[mopinko]

48. not a big brand, just a little independent guy, but

there are other little guys like this in a lot of places. he is not the only one around here, his is just the smallest one i know. lots of ex-pat belgians, i guess.
or you can order from the website. trust me, you will not be sorry.

[alfredo]

50. Yeah, there are little gems in odd places. In a little town in the middle of

nowhere there's a gourmet restaurant hidden in the basement of an antique store. It's called "The Glitz." it's in the basement of Irish Acres Antiques" in Nonesuch Ky. It says Versailles Ky, but it is not in Versailes.

http://www.irishacresgallery.com/

[Cha]

51. Thanks, I'm sure there are a lot of Fair Trade and Local

Chocolates and Chocolate Beverages that surpass nestle's.


http://www.ghirardelli.com/foodservice/bev.aspx

[Cha]

52. Double Ghirardelli Chocolate~

[salguine]

6. Looks like Farfel has distemper.

[alfredo]

38. An egg noodle has distemper?

[salguine]

56. No, Farfel was the name of the

puppet dog in the Nestle commercials in the 1950s. The jingle would go, "N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestle's makes the very best—" and then Farfel the dog would drawl, "Chaaaaaaw-klit!"

[alfredo]

57. I used to love that show. You know that Kukla of Kukla Fran and Ollie

is the Turkish word for puppet?

[ladywnch]

7. so if all the major countries put a cap on exec pay....will they close?

somehow I don' think the shareholders will take to kindly of moving and rebuilding a major factory just so the exec can get a better pay scale.

[WriteDown]

9. The problem is....

Some country looking for a factory for its workers will offer them some sort of "sweet" deal to move.

[Deja Q]

10. So let's keep a record of names. And countries moved to. With some countries' track records,

I wouldn't eat anything with certain names on them...

[aquart]

11. They'll love Viet Nam. And Mexico. Thailand. Cambodia. Pakistan.

I expect they'll come here. They know our laws are a complete joke.

[Deja Q]

12. Corporations might think twice before going into unstable areas.

Pakistan is something of a hotbed right now. Companies operating out of Israel - all I know is, the poor tech support has people absconding those companies... nobody in their right mind would go to Mexico right now... Thailand and Cambodia, however...

[aquart]

14. Nestle is quite used to Swiss stability.

And there's no reason to believe unrest will occur elsewhere. Especially if they lighten the economic woes of the recession by employing locals.

Oh, dear. I just imagined newly-relocated Nestle execs being held for ransom in some distant land. And I cruelly smiled.

But I think they'd look hardest at eastern Europe. Okay, not Georgia. What about Romania? Estonia? Hungary? Poland is a simply lovely place. The Swiss are too practical to be bothered by ghosts.

[Deja Q]

37. Poland, good point! I forgot about Poland...

[Deja Q]

8. Waaaah, widdle babies lose their incentives. Welcome to the real world, which they helped make, BTW.

[aquart]

13. Greedy parasites, bleeding nations dry.

If only executive greed were made the capital crime it really is.

[47of74]

23. Me to executives

[paulsby]

25. how are they bleeding anybody

if people don't like their products, or feel they are too expensive compared to other products, one can... wait for it... use one's discretion NOT to purchase their stuff.

nestle isn't like a utility or something. there's plenty of competition etc.

[aquart]

31. NO concept of modern business organization?

The problem isn't "too expensive" although the executives are. They keep the price down and attractive by using cheap foreign labor. Because jobs are then more scarce and money also, the cheap price attracts buyers which enhances company profits which outsources more work until there isn't a job or a dime left in the nation they are sucking dry.

We are trying to buy goods manufactured elsewhere while we manufacture nothing ourselves. That's how you bleed a nation to death.

[Deja Q]

40. Exactly. Charts upon charts show that CEO wealth skyrocketed only 1500%

(making once 40x their workers to ~600~800x. Partly by devaluing the labor, which makes it APPEAR there are increased profits. Next comes offshoring to other economies with lower costs of living and wages. It's by and large ABUSE. ).

People are told part of the story and can't be bothered to look at other facets.

Never mind corporate lobbying to government officials... why aren't they responsible for the national debt if they are lobbying for their benefits at the expense of every other American?

[Deja Q]

39. Please don't parrot Ayn Rand...

The system is too large for boycotts to work. Assuming you tried and got one to work...

That's why laws are created. You see, when people cannot govern themselves, someone has to step in and make some laws.

BTW: Plenty of competition can be found; it might not be deemed profitable either... http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/14/news/economy/health_care_doctors_quitting/?postversion=2009091404

Just some examples and loose associations. Maybe you'll be able to start seeing laterally. I can't do that for you, no matter how many laws anyone makes. :)

[DCKit]

53. Nestle is one of the worst corporate actors on the planet.

They've got tentacles of abuse everywhere.

[no_hypocrisy]

15. Easy, they'll relocate here.

[closeupready]

16. Fine. Pack up your crap and move to China.

See how long you like it there.

[DBoon]

18. Fine. Pack up your crap and move to the USA

See how long you like it here.

[closeupready]

19. LOL - Oh, no you don't!

:mad: :rofl:

[thelordofhell]

22. Looks like the Cayman Islands are preparing another mailbox

Greedy.....corporate.....scum.

[LeftyMom]

26. I already don't buy their shit.

Fuck them.

[BrklynLiberal]

27. Considering some of the crap that company has pulled...especially in Third World Countries..

they should not be allowed anywhere!!!!!

[defendandprotect]

29. Secret bank accounts are a threat to all of us -- and to democracy . . .

Though it's clear that capitalists prefer no rules, no regulations, no laws --

for "profiting-making" -- and executive salaries!

[vanlassie]

30. I've boycotted them for 30 years.

[Robb]

42. Same here. Greedy bastards and their dried milk to mothers. Screw them. nt

[zogofzorkon]

35. I am not concerned

let the chips fall where they may.

[HughBeaumont]

41. Them bastards ruined Sno-Caps.

Blumenthal Sno-Caps are the only Sno-Caps.

[fujiyama]

54. Nestle has not only been accused for their bad formula they sold

but also using cocoa harvested from child labor in African countries. Here's a quick link and just go ahead and google Nestle Child labor and more will show up. I'm sure others are guilty as well.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/fair_trade/slavechocolate060414.cfm

They're not a great company.

[TankLV]

58. Their Choc Chips are the BEST!!!

Geredelli's makes HORRIBLE toll house cookies...

Hershey's is the ONLY chocolate to use for Smoores...

Some things are just that way...

but I gotta say, the absolute BEST chocolate in the World is from HAWAI'I!!!

If you haven't had Hawai'ian grown/harvested/processed chocolate, you're REALLY missing out!!!