After pressure from the President of Ukraine, the largest consumer goods company on the planet decided pause the marketing of its non-essential products in Russia.
Volodymyr Zelensky had denounced that Nestlé had not joined the boycott of Vladimir Putin’s country after the invasion.
The decision is unprecedented for Nestlé, since it has always continued to operate in multiple armed conflicts and war zones around the world, describes Reuters.
Nestlé no longer sells most of its products in Russia
The company has suspended the sale of the “vast majority” of the brands in Russia, according to the company.
On the list are products with a high volume of consumption among Russians, such as KitKat chocolates (of which more than 20 varieties are sold) and Nesquik cocoa powder.
In that country, in 2021, Nestlé sold products for 1,800 million dollarsaccording to company data.
On Saturday, Zelensky criticized companies that continued to sell products in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. He especially mentioned Nestlé saying that he did not live up to his slogan: “Good food, good life”.
Before, the brand had already endured strong criticism from buyers, activists, investors and various political personalities from different parts of Europe.
Until before this decision, Nestlé had stopped the export and import of non-essential items to and from Russia, stopped advertising and suspended marketing actions.
“We support the people of Ukraine and our 5,900 workers in that country,” Nestle said in a statement, also clarifying that it will continue to pay employees’ salaries in Russia.
Nestlé is one of many Western companies with a presence in Russia trying to maintain a balance between the demands of Ukraine and its supporters and the Russian government and its people.
Nestle Категорически отказалась прекратить работу в россии и платить налоги в бюджет страны, которая убивает украинских Граждан. Считаю, необходимо бойкотировать в Украине покупку всей линейки товаров этой кровавой коми. Нет бизнесу на крови украинцев! #UkraineRussiaWar pic.twitter.com/MYz0fKWQ9K
— Taras Berezovets (@TarasBerezovets) March 17, 2022
So far, at least 390 companies have withdrawn in one way or another from Russia since Putin launched the invasion on February 24, 2022, a month ago.
Nestlé will continue to sell basic food and hygiene products, such as dairy products and diapers.
PepsiCo, Unilever and Procter & Gamble have also spoken before in the same sense.
On social media, Russians reacted to Nestlé’s decision, just as they did when McDonald’s closed its stores.
On Twitter, Facebook and TikTok you can see people buying the last KitKats that will be for sale since Nestlé will not restock the merchandise.
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