The campaign was launched after JBS SA outlined in a note to shareholders that the business intended to reappoint the Batista brothers to its board of directors.
The Batista brothers stepped down from executive positions at JBS in 2018 when they both spent several months in jail following allegations of bribery and insider trading. However, they have maintained control as owners of JBS’s holding company, J&F Investimentos.
Their reappointment will be voted on at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in São Paulo on 26 April 2024.
Ahead of the vote, Ban the Batistas has encouraged consumers to boycott JBS brands in the run up to the vote in order to “protect farmers, ranchers, consumers and investors from the threat of JBS and its corrupt owners Joesley and Wesley Batista”.
Explaining the calls for a boycott, Ban the Batistas executive director Kimberly Spell said that consumers around the world could help “reject the corrupt Batista brothers' brazen attempt to trade previously sleeping on concrete bunks in a Brazilian prison with new, cosy seats on the JBS Board”.
Spell added: "With a notorious legacy of lies, bribery, slave labour, deforestation and a host of other malevolent illegalities, we’re employing the motivator the Batistas care about most – cash – and are calling on consumers worldwide to vote with their dollar and boycott products fuelling their illicit conduct.”
“Giving the Batista brothers a seat at the table on the JBS Board will only fuel their ability to further pillage and plunder America’s financial, agricultural, and consumer communities. We hope the people make their voices heard by boycotting their products, and implore our financial, regulatory, and legislative leaders to follow suit and ban the Batistas for good.”
Last month (March 2024), a greenwashing lawsuit was filed against JBS in New York, where attorney general Letitia James alleged that JBS USA possesses “no viable plan” to meet its stated ‘Net Zero by 2040’ commitment.
Food Manufacture has reached out to JBS for comment.
In other news, pre-tax profits at Tesco approached £2.3bn during the 12 months to 24 February 2024, its preliminary results have revealed.
