Oreo-maker Mondelez, Nestle, PepsiCo face pressure from European employees over Russia
New York
OREO-MAKER Mondelez, Nestle and PepsiCo face pushback from workers in Ukraine and eastern Europe angered by the companies' decisions to maintain some business in Russia, according to internal corporate communications reviewed by Reuters and interviews with six workers.
The emerging employee activism comes on top of Ukraine's repeated appeals to Western companies to go beyond current sanctions and cut all commercial ties with Russia, with the mayor of Kyiv calling such payments to Moscow "bloody money".
To be sure, the employees speaking out, or even resigning in some cases, over the companies' response to Russia's invasion are mainly based in Ukraine, Poland or Eastern Europe and are a small fraction of the hundreds of thousands of workers the food makers employ.
An internal memo seen by Reuters shows Nestle has seen an unspecified number of Ukraine employees quit and others bullied on social media for remaining with a company doing business with Russia.
Roughly 130 employees at Mondelez in the Baltics region encompassing Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia sent a petition in March to CEO Dirk Van de Put to stop all business in Russia, an action not previously reported.
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One Ukraine employee of Mondelez interviewed by Reuters expressed shock and dismay that their company was still promoting The Batman Oreo cookies in Russia and offering chances to win up to 500,000 roubles (S$8,186 ) on an Oreo website. The website showed cinema tickets and hats being awarded as recently as last Wednesday to winners whose phone numbers start with the Russian country code.
Another website promoting Milka chocolates offered Russian residents up to 20 per cent cash back on purchases and prizes in a promotion that started Mar 15, three weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Batman movie was pulled from release in Russia one week before it was scheduled to reach theatres. Warner Bros Discovery Inc, which owns the movie studio that made The Batman, communicated the move to its partners, such as Mondelez, but had no influence over whether The Batman-branded product is removed from shelves, a source said.
Mondelez did not respond directly to questions about the The Batman Oreos or Milka promotions but said it has no advertising on air in Russia. The company said it would suspend advertising media spending Mar 9.
Consumer goods companies, including Unilever and P&G, have said they are continuing business in Russia because some of their items are necessities, like diapers or milk, that everyday Russians need. They also are supporting humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
Nestle, PepsiCo and Mondelez, three of the world's biggest packaged food makers by market capitalisation, have not disclosed which brands are still sold in Russia, or what they consider to be essential.
The Mondelez petition said workers "strongly oppose" the company's decision to remain in Russia, according to screenshots of an internal social media posting shared with Reuters by an employee. The employee declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
"Each Russian rouble paid to the state budget in the form of taxes and salaries (helps the) aggressor supply its army and kill even more Ukrainian people, among which there are children, women, elderly people," the employee petition states, according to the screenshots.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory and denies targeting civilians.
Mondelez European president Vinzenz Gruber responded to the post, saying that "our culture (at Mondelez) includes everyone who shares our values and calls for peace", according to the screenshot. "We stand by our colleagues and not by their governments/country decisions," Gruber wrote.
"We appreciate that our employees are speaking up and are sharing their voice on this heartbreaking and senseless war," Chicago-based Mondelez said in a statement. "We have heard a range of different voices from colleagues around the world, and our leaders are in active dialogue with their teams as we manage day-to-day operations."
In addition to 19 posts on internal corporate message boards, one worker at PepsiCo, two at Mondelez and three at Nestle separately told Reuters that they want to see their employers take a stronger stand against Russia.
Although Pepsi suspended sales of soda in Russia, it continues to sell what it calls "daily essentials," including snacks and dairy products. Pepsi declined to comment. The company, which had more than 3,100 employees in Ukraine, is using its headquarters in Poland to offer shelter to those leaving Ukraine.
The head of Nestle's European business, Marco Settembri, in an internal email seen by Reuters said in March that he was "saddened to hear that employees are resigning" and "deeply concerned to hear of employees being bullied and threatened" on social media. REUTERS
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