The latest analysis of the world’s largest food and beverage companies reveals an industry dangerously unprepared to confront climate-exacerbated forced labour risks across its supply chains - falling woefully short in delivering a just transition. The 2026 food and beverage benchmark finds that companies scored an average of just 15 out of 100 for efforts to prevent and address forced labour – a decline since the last assessment and a stark warning sign for workers, regulators and investors alike.

Published by KnowTheChain, a project of the Business and Human Rights Centre, the benchmark assessed 45 of the sector’s largest companies. Nearly half scored below 10/100, and only two – Australian supermarkets Coles and Woolworths – scored above 50. A small group of companies continue to dominate the top of the ranking, but even the highest performers fall far short of the action needed to tackle the systemic drivers of forced labour in global food systems.

While most companies now publish high-level commitments and supplier codes of conduct, the research finds that these “paper promises” are not translating into meaningful change for workers. Companies performed best on desk-based measures, such as policies and governance structures, but scored extremely poorly on the practices that matter most on the ground: responsible purchasing practices (3/100), access to remedy (5/100), freedom of association (6/100) and monitoring conditions for supply chain workers (7/10). Just one in five companies disclosed engaging directly with rightsholders or their legitimate representatives in forced labour efforts.

Áine Clarke, Head of Labour Rights in Supply Chains & Investor Strategy, Business and Human Rights Centre, said: “The agrifood sector sustains the lives of millions of people worldwide and plays a vital role in food security, making it an essential part of a just transition. But as the climate crisis exacerbates forced labour risks, current business models are driving the industry’s most marginalised – workers, peasant and smallholder farmers – deeper into vulnerability. Climate breakdown is shrinking cultivable land, destabilising harvests and displacing millions – and it’s the most vulnerable workers, particularly migrants, women and precarious workers, who are bearing the brunt of the crisis. Growing market power, rising input costs, opaque supply chains and a total disengagement from rightsholders has left companies dangerously ill-equipped to confront these escalating forced labour risks driven by the climate crisis.” 

Meanwhile, governments across Europe, the Americas and Asia are rolling out mandatory human rights due diligence laws and forced-labour import bans. The benchmark finds that companies headquartered in jurisdictions with stronger regulation perform better, underlining the growing legal and commercial consequences of inaction.

Isobel Archer, Business and Human Rights Centre, said: “Paper promises to tackle forced labour are now wholly inadequate. Governments are introducing laws that require companies to prevent and remedy forced labour in their supply chains, not just make commitments. Our findings show many food and beverage companies simply are not prepared for that level of scrutiny. Worse still, we see companies entirely disengaged from the rightsholders in their own supply chains – leaving workers dangerously exposed and companies increasingly vulnerable to enforcement action, import bans and litigation. Unless companies urgently move beyond compliance-driven approaches and centre workers in their due diligence processes, the industry will remain fundamentally unprepared for both the human and business risks ahead.”

Workers’ reality: forced labour risks on Brazilian coffee plantations

The benchmark is accompanied by field research, undertaken by ADERE-MG, in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, one of the world’s most important coffee-producing regions. Interviews with 24 workers revealed multiple indicators of forced labour, exposing how gaps in corporate policy and practice translate into exploitation on the ground. 

Every interview revealed multiple indicators of forced labour. Workers, most of them migrants, described deceptive recruitment, recruitment-related debt, excessive working hours, and overcrowded, unsafe and isolated accommodation. Some reported working up to 91 hours a week. Many said they did not know which companies ultimately profited from the coffee they harvested, leaving them with little chance of seeking remedy.

Despite 62% of benchmarked companies disclosing coffee sourcing, many from Brazil, workers’ experiences demonstrate that voluntary schemes and auditing regimes are failing to detect and prevent abuse. 

Marina Novaes, Brazil Researcher & Representative, Business and Human Rights Centre, said: “Brazil supplies around one third of the world’s coffee, and Minas Gerais produces about half of the national total – and workers are being subjected to slave-like conditions on these plantations. Our investigation shows these abuses are not isolated; they are structural. Behind every cup of coffee sourced from Brazil, there are real people enduring fear, exhaustion and injustice. As the climate crisis exacerbates forced labour risks, current business models are driving the industry's most marginalised into deeper vulnerability. It is time for urgent, enforceable action by businesses and their investors to ensure that the workers toiling on coffee plantation are not exploited in the quest to fill our coffee mugs.”  

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Notes to editors:

• Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRC) is a global organisation working at the intersection of business and human rights. With partners and allies worldwide, we seek to put human rights at the heart of business to deliver a just economy, climate justice, and end abuse. Find out more about our approach here.
• KnowTheChain, a project from the Business and Human Rights Centre, assesses companies across three high-risk sectors (apparel & footwear, food & beverage and information communications & technology) on how they are addressing forced labour risks within their global supply chains.

Media contact: Priyanka Mogul, Senior Media Officer, Business and Human Rights Centre, [email protected]