Nestlé's AGM has broken up and, while shareholders feasted on cup-a-soups and instant noodles (I kid you not), I spoke to Ian and Pat, two of our campaigners who spent all afternoon in the meeting.
According to Ian, the moment our banners popped down was perfectly timed. Nestlé's chair, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, was explaining how well the company had performed over the last fiscal year when noises were heard up in the roof and leaflets began raining down, not at all unlike a shower of cash. The shrieks from those of a nervous disposition as the two banners were unfurled only added to the excitement.
Not long after this, it was Pat who had the honour of addressing the shareholders. Apparently, there wasn't much of a reaction from the crowd apart from a few boos and some heckles, and unfortunately the orang-utan finger from our Kit Kat video got stuck in his pocket so couldn't be used as a prop.
But all of the questions Pat asked - such as when Nestlé is going to cut deforestation out of its supply chain - -went unanswered. Also side-stepped was the suggestion that ignoring over 200,000 emails and 1.3 million video views was perhaps not the best strategy for a consumer company.
Mr Brabeck-Letmathe did, however, say two things. Two quite astonishing things.
Apparently, according to Mr Brabeck-Letmathe, Nestlé isn't the problem; instead it's the increasing use of biofuels which pose the threat to Indonesia's rainforests. True, biofuels are a problem - but passing the buck doesn't address Nestlé's role.
Mr Brabeck-Letmathe then suggested that Greenpeace should join Nestlé in a coalition calling for a moratorium on deforestation for palm oil. Now I may be splitting hairs, but didn't we ask him to do that two years ago when we launched our campaign for a moratorium?
So, as Nestlé shareholders leave Lausanne with your messages ringing in their ears (which are still coming as the US, Asia and Australasia wake up), it has become apparent that something of a reality gapexists in the higher echelons of Nestlé. A gap between what they think and what hundreds of thousands of their customers think; and as the saying goes, the customer is always right.
