Archived link
Independent field investigations in China’s Yunnan Province found labor violations at coffee farms that supply coffees purchased and certified as sustainable by coffee giants Starbucks and Nestlé, according to a new report from two labor watchdog groups.
A joint effort from the New York-based nonprofit China Labor Watch and a new Danish nonprofit called Coffee Watch, the report alleges a pattern of “ghost farms” and “coffee laundering,” through which larger coffee producer groups, or certified estates, avoid detailed contractual relationships with the smaller farms supplying them.
[...]
China Labor Watch’s three separate investigations into coffee farms that allegedly supply Starbucks and Nestlé included interviews with 66 individuals, including coffee farmers, their families and teachers from local schools.
The investigations found “substantial abuses” in Starbucks’ and Nestlé’s supply chains, especially among indigenous farming communities.
“These abuses violated the terms of both companies’ certification schemes, namely C.A.F.E. Practices that is run by Conservation International for Starbucks, and 4C which Nestlé uses,” the report states.
[...]