Nestlé S.A.

Who owns it

No filing-sourced ownership yet. That means we haven’t found a filing — not that the company has no owners.

2 further ownership links are recorded, but not from a filing we can point you to, so they are not shown here.

What’s documented

• 2026-06-10environmentalNestle went on trial before a criminal court in Nancy, France, over allegations of illegally dumping hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of plastic bottles in the Vosges region, contaminating soils and water resources. The company acknowledged seven of nine dump sites have been cleaned but said remaining sites require extensive environmental studies. This is one of Europe's most high-profile corporate environmental cases.source →
• 2026-06-10otherIndependent testing found Nestle's Perrier brand bottled water contained microplastic levels exceeding French health safety thresholds. The contamination affects multiple Nestle Waters brands sold globally. A June 2026 French criminal court proceeding addresses both the filtration fraud and potential public health consequences of selling contaminated water marketed as 'natural mineral water.'source →
• 2026-06-01otherTesting of Perrier water found microplastic contamination levels exceeding French safety limits. Consumer group Foodwatch estimates Nestle's use of unauthorized UV and carbon filtration on 'natural mineral water' products since the 1990s amounts to EUR 3 billion in consumer fraud over 15 years. Nestle Waters brands affected include Perrier, Vittel, and Contrex.source →
• 2026-06-01environmentalOn June 1, 2026, new footage exposed the scale of alleged plastic dumping by Nestlé Waters at its Contrex and Hépar drilling sites in France. Investigators found microplastic contamination up to 1.3 million times the levels found in the Seine River, with Hépar water samples containing approximately 2,096 microplastic particles per litre. The revelations threaten the planned sale of Nestlé's Waters unit and could trigger additional regulatory action. Nestlé Waters faces trial over the alleged large-scale environmental contamination.source →
• 2026-05-20environmentalFrench anti-fraud officers raided two Nestlé Waters sites on May 20, 2026: the Perrier bottling plant in Vergeze and a laboratory in the Vosges mountains. The raids were part of an investigation triggered by a complaint filed by consumer group FoodWatch with the Paris prosecutor, alleging Nestlé used illegal water treatment methods (UV, activated carbon, microfiltration) on its mineral water for decades while marketing it as 'natural mineral water.' Nestlé previously acknowledged the treatments and paid a €2 million fine.source →
• 2026-05-20environmentalFrench anti-fraud officers raided two Nestle Waters sites on May 20, 2026 (Perrier bottling in Vergeze, Vosges lab) as part of a fraud investigation. Nestle allegedly used unauthorized UV and carbon filtration on 'natural mineral water' since the 1990s. Consumer group FoodWatch filed a criminal complaint, alleging the practice constitutes EUR 3 billion in fraud over 15 years.source →
• 2026-04-01environmentalNestlé cannot rule out rainforest destruction for nearly a third of the palm oil it uses, according to Rainforest Rescue. Palm oil suppliers to Nestlé, Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, and Mondelēz destroyed an area of rainforest almost twice the size of Singapore in less than three years. An investigation found tens of thousands of hectares of tropical forest destroyed under firms supplying Nestlé in Papua New Guinea.source →
• 2026-04-01environmentalNestlé reported that only 96.7% of its primary supply chains were assessed as deforestation-free by end of 2025, missing its own 100% target. Rainforest Action Network documented that Nestlé's sourcing policy still lacks a firm deadline for ending forest destruction across its supply chains, and the company cannot rule out rainforest destruction for nearly a third of the palm oil it uses.source →
• 2026-03-23environmentalOn March 23, 2026, a criminal trial began at the judicial court in Nancy, France, prosecuting Nestlé Waters for maintaining four illegal dumps in the Vosges mountains near its bottling plants. Prosecutors allege the company illegally polluted soils and water for over a decade. Lab testing found Hépar water contained approximately 2,096 microplastic particles per litre and Contrex 515 particles per litre — contamination levels up to 1.3 million times higher than in surrounding rivers and lakes. The trial follows a 2024 settlement where Nestlé paid a EUR 2 million fine for using illegal water treatment methods on brands marketed as 'natural mineral water.'source →
• 2026-01-10lobbyingUnion leaders criticized Telus for receiving lucrative federal and provincial government contracts and subsidies while cutting thousands of jobs; USW and CUPE lobbied the federal government to attach job-preservation conditions to telecom subsidiessource →
• 2026-01-09laborRelationsTelus offered voluntary severance packages to approximately 700 more employees across Canada in January 2026, totaling nearly 1,400 severance offers in under a year; customer complaints to the CCTS rose 62% in 2025 compared to 2024source →
• 2026-01-01otherNestlé's self-imposed 2026 deadline to improve broiler chicken welfare standards across its European supply chain arrived with limited public reporting on compliance. The company committed to ending tail docking, dehorning without painkillers, and castration of piglets without anesthesia across its global supply chain covering over 90 countries, but independent audits of actual implementation remain sparse.source →
• 2025-10-01environmentalNestlé was identified as one of the world's top three corporate plastic polluters for the third consecutive year in Break Free From Plastic's global brand audit. The audit, which analyzed over 187,000 pieces of plastic trash across 55 countries, found Nestlé-branded packaging among the most frequently collected items.source →
• 2025-08-01regulatoryActionVanguard was ordered to pay a $19.5 million civil penalty by the SEC for disclosure failures related to adviser compensation. Between August 2020 and December 2023, Vanguard tied parts of advisers' performance evaluations and bonuses to client enrollment and retention metrics in its Personal Advisor Services program, while marketing content downplayed or misstated these conflicts of interest.source →
• 2025-06-01laborRelationsA Fair Labor Association investigation traced nearly 80% of Nestlé's cocoa supply in Côte d'Ivoire and found that child labor persists in the company's cocoa supply chain despite industry commitments. Nestlé, Mars, and Hershey had originally pledged to end child labor in cocoa supply chains by 2005, a deadline later extended to 2025.source →
• 2025-04-22environmentalThe U.S. Plastics Pact, including signatories Coca-Cola and Nestlé, formally moved its 2025 plastic reduction goals to 2030, citing supply-chain and infrastructure limitations.source →
• 2025-02-01laborRelationsTelus offered voluntary severance packages to approximately 700 employees nationwide across network operations, engineering, and business solutions, continuing a restructuring that has eliminated roughly 3,300 jobs since 2023source →
• 2025-01-17regulatoryActionVanguard agreed to pay $106.41 million to settle SEC charges for misleading statements about capital gains distributions and tax consequences for retail investors holding Vanguard Investor Target Retirement Funds in taxable accounts. The SEC found Vanguard lowered minimum investment for Institutional TRFs from $100 million to $5 million in December 2020, triggering mass redemptions that generated unexpected taxable capital gains for remaining Investor TRF holders.source →
• 2025-01-09environmentalBlackRock withdrew from the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative on January 9, 2025, causing NZAM to temporarily suspend its activities pending a review. BlackRock stated that its participation in climate-focused groups had caused confusion about its investment practices and subjected the firm to legal inquiries from state officials. BlackRock had been among the founding members of NZAM and managed over $11 trillion in assets at the time of withdrawal.source →
• 2024-12-31lobbyingNestlé SA spent $1,014,763 on U.S. federal lobbying in 2024, an increase of approximately 20% from $848,000 spent in 2023. Disclosures filed with the U.S. Senate Office of Public Records.source →
• 2024-12-31lobbyingBlackRock Inc. spent $2.88 million on US federal lobbying in 2024 and made approximately $2.6 million in political contributions during the 2024 election cycle, according to disclosure data filed with the US Senate and recorded by OpenSecrets.source →
• 2024-12-31lobbyingVanguard Group spent $2,650,000 on federal lobbying in 2024. The company's PAC made $502,046 in political contributions during the 2024 election cycle, including $382,500 to federal candidates.source →
• 2024-11-01legalProceedingTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit in November 2024 against Vanguard Group, BlackRock Inc., and State Street Corporation, alleging the three asset managers conspired through ESG-aligned investment practices and climate coalitions to restrict coal production in violation of federal antitrust law.source →
• 2024-11-01legalProceedingTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit in November 2024 against BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group, and State Street Corporation, alleging that the three asset managers conspired through ESG-aligned investment practices and climate coalitions to restrict coal production in violation of federal antitrust law.source →
• 2024-09-01environmentalVanguard supported zero environmental and social shareholder proposals during the 2024 proxy season, including declining to support any of the resolutions flagged by Climate Action 100+ investors. Vanguard also supported none of ten votes against company directors flagged by the initiative. Vanguard stated proposals were either financially immaterial, overly prescriptive, or that the companies receiving them already had adequate governance practices.source →
• 2024-06-01environmentalAccording to urgewald's 2024 'Investing in Climate Chaos' report, BlackRock held approximately $263 billion in fossil fuel company bonds and shares, making it one of the two largest institutional fossil fuel investors worldwide. BlackRock's holdings included over $75 billion in tar sands producers, over $11 billion in companies building new coal power capacity, and approximately $37 billion in ExxonMobil alone.source →
• 2024-06-01environmentalUrgewald's 2024 'Investing in Climate Chaos' report identified Vanguard as the world's single largest institutional investor in fossil fuels, with approximately $413 billion in fossil fuel company bonds and shares. Vanguard declined to adopt any fossil fuel exclusion policy and consistently voted against climate-related resolutions at portfolio companies.source →
• 2024-02-13environmentalIn February 2024, BlackRock transferred its Climate Action 100+ membership from its US arm to BlackRock International, significantly reducing its participation in the investor initiative targeting major greenhouse gas emitters. During the 2024 proxy season, BlackRock voted in favour of only 2 of 20 shareholder resolutions flagged by Climate Action 100+ members.source →
• 2023-09-01laborRelationsThe Fair Labor Association published findings from an extensive investigation of Nestlé's cocoa supply chain identifying violations of its code of conduct related to child labor, forced labour, and health and safety risks. The Corporate Accountability Lab submitted a petition to U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2023 under Section 307 of the Tariff Act requesting a withhold release order on Nestlé cocoa products from Côte d'Ivoire on the basis of documented child labor.source →
• 2023-06-01regulatoryActionVanguard was fined $800,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for problems with account statements related to money market funds in 2019 and 2020.source →
• 2022-12-07environmentalVanguard announced its withdrawal from the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative in December 2022, stating that membership had caused 'confusion about the views of individual investment firms.' Vanguard cited its index fund model — in which approximately 80% of client assets are invested passively in benchmark indices — as a key factor, and stated it would pursue its climate disclosure positions independently.source →
• 2021-04-23environmentalThe California State Water Resources Control Board issued a Report of Investigation and Draft Cease and Desist Order on April 23, 2021, directing Nestlé Waters North America (operating as BlueTriton Brands) to cease unauthorized water diversions from springs in the San Bernardino National Forest. The investigation found the company extracted approximately 58 million gallons annually while holding valid rights for approximately 2.3 million gallons per year. The diversion permit had expired in 1988.source →

What we’ve classified so far

• environmental damage16
• political influence4
• worker exploitation4
• monopoly abuse2
• misleading claims2

4 further documented actions have not been classified yet. These counts show what we have got to, not a total.