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Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle

nytimes.com

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Re: Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle

#11

Post by fourstar »

diogenescynic wrote: post #2

That's a major bummer. Nestle is one of the most evil companies there is--their CEO once said water isn't a human right. Nestle uses cocoa from slave labor and bottle water in drought stricken communities and national forests on expired permits, and do shady stuff like hiring the regulator who gave them their water license. Very few companies are as vile and amoral as Nestle. Unfortunately, this will taint Blue Bottl…

I don't know how you think Philz is any different. They're a chain with the same desired path to global domination in the coffee space as any other business. And their coffee is awful.

Re: Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle

#12

Post by mrleiter »

As this thread will ultimately will end up discussing the corporate evil that Nestlé apparently is, I want to, for the sake of the discussion, point out the reasonableness of the CEOs statement regarding water as a human right:

He argues water should have a market value so that it is treated more like a resource that should be well managed. Of course a state can also do this and in my opinion should, but of course as a company they want to fill this role. If water is treated as a market asset then more investment will happen (which can also happen through a state entity) - a good thing. In a later video, after the 2005 video was a total PR disaster, he tries to clarify his argument by saying that water should be a human right to humans who need it for living, but not for gardening or washing a car. To me that seems like a valid case.

Re: Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle

#14

Post by cortesoft »

ceejayoz wrote: post #3
diogenescynic wrote: post #2

That's a major bummer. Nestle is one of the most evil companies there is--their CEO once said water isn't a human right. Nestle uses cocoa from slave labor and bottle water in drought stricken communities and national forests on expired permits, and do shady stuff like hiring the regulator who gave them their water license. Very few companies are as vile and amoral as Nestle. Unfortunately, this will taint Blue Bottl…

Don't forget pushing "free" baby formula on new mothers in developing countries, so their milk supply dries up.

Yeah, that was pretty awful. They pushed formula as being more healthy, which it isn't, and it was made extra bad because they did so in countries that didn't have clean water. Adults in those countries have built up somewhat of an immunity to the diseases in the water, but infants don't have that (they get it from their mother's milk!)

So parents mixed the water with the formula, giving their infants diseases they didn't have any protection against because they didn't get any antibodies from their mother's milk

Re: Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle

#15

Post by acchow »

diogenescynic wrote: post #2

That's a major bummer. Nestle is one of the most evil companies there is--their CEO once said water isn't a human right. Nestle uses cocoa from slave labor and bottle water in drought stricken communities and national forests on expired permits, and do shady stuff like hiring the regulator who gave them their water license. Very few companies are as vile and amoral as Nestle. Unfortunately, this will taint Blue Bottl…

Philz is not really an alternative to Blue Bottle - they don't roast their own beans, they don't make espresso.

Re: Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle

#16

Post by dkhenry »

diogenescynic wrote: post #2

That's a major bummer. Nestle is one of the most evil companies there is--their CEO once said water isn't a human right. Nestle uses cocoa from slave labor and bottle water in drought stricken communities and national forests on expired permits, and do shady stuff like hiring the regulator who gave them their water license. Very few companies are as vile and amoral as Nestle. Unfortunately, this will taint Blue Bottl…

You can do much better the Philz, depending on where you are at there are lots of good options. In you're in the bay area look up Four Barrel, they roast great beans and their SF coffee shop is really nice.

Re: Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle

#17

Post by saint_fiasco »

mrleiter wrote: post #12

As this thread will ultimately will end up discussing the corporate evil that Nestlé apparently is, I want to, for the sake of the discussion, point out the reasonableness of the CEOs statement regarding water as a human right: He argues water should have a market value so that it is treated more like a resource that should be well managed. Of course a state can also do this and in my opinion should, but of course as…

That sounds fair. After all, you can't use food stamps to feed your cattle so why should government subsidize the water for agriculture?

Re: Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle

#19

Post by throwaway0255 »

diogenescynic wrote: post #2

That's a major bummer. Nestle is one of the most evil companies there is--their CEO once said water isn't a human right. Nestle uses cocoa from slave labor and bottle water in drought stricken communities and national forests on expired permits, and do shady stuff like hiring the regulator who gave them their water license. Very few companies are as vile and amoral as Nestle. Unfortunately, this will taint Blue Bottl…

Counterpoint:

Saying water isn't a human right is different than saying not everyone should have access to water.

I generally agree that water isn't a right. I think it's a misuse of the word "right" and a misapplication of the concept of a "right".

Rights define what you're free to do for yourself, and the various ways in which those freedoms can't be infringed upon by others. For example, you have a right to free speech and people can't infringe on that. You have a right to not be tortured and people can't infringe on that. In the US, if the government is going to take your property or jail you as punishment for a crime, you have a right to a fair trial first before they can do that to you.

There's a distinction between that and things like water and healthcare. One is a list of rights, and the other is a list of things people generally need to live a happy and healthy life. If we're going to dilute the definition of "right" down to that degree, why don't we just throw in housing and free trips for vacation and a loving partner while we're at it?

South Africa has housing as a right in their constitution. They also have 200,000 homeless people. So who's infringing on their rights? Every citizen of South Africa?

The UN General Assembly declared water a human right. The world also has close to a billion people who don't have access to clean drinking water. Who's infringing on their rights? Are you?

Rights aren't about what resources (time, money, commodities, services, etc) you're free to take from others. When you start defining rights that way, rights all start contradicting each other. What about a doctor's freedom to choose who they perform surgery on? What about your freedom to live a life not solely dedicated to plumbing in Gabon?

Re: Nestlé Takes Majority Stake in Blue Bottle

#20

Post by blhack »

diogenescynic wrote: post #2

That's a major bummer. Nestle is one of the most evil companies there is--their CEO once said water isn't a human right. Nestle uses cocoa from slave labor and bottle water in drought stricken communities and national forests on expired permits, and do shady stuff like hiring the regulator who gave them their water license. Very few companies are as vile and amoral as Nestle. Unfortunately, this will taint Blue Bottl…

Just for completeness, this is what the CEO of nestle believes regarding water being a human right: http://www.nestle.com/ask-nestle/human-rights/answers/nestle...
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