24 Apr 2025
USA: 8 Brazilian workers sue Starbucks over alleged forced labour by company's supplier
Summary
Date Reported: 24 Apr 2025
Location: Brazil
Companies
Cooperativa dos Cafeicultores de Guaxupé (Cooxupé) - Supplier , Fazienda Piedade - Employer , Starbucks - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 2 - Brazil , Agriculture & livestock , Men , Documented migrants )Issues
Access to Non-Judicial Remedy , Intimidation , Human Trafficking , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Debt Bondage , Wage TheftResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: A Starbucks spokesperson said: “The cornerstone of our approach to buying coffee is Coffee and Farmer Equity (Cafe) Practices, one of the coffee industry’s first set of ethical sourcing standards when it launched in 2004 and is continuously improved. “Developed in collaboration with Conservation International, Cafe Practices is a verification program that measures farms against economic, social, and environmental criteria, all designed to promote transparent, profitable, and sustainable coffee growing practices while also protecting the well-being of coffee farmers and workers, their families, and their communities.”
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 24 Apr 2025
Location: Brazil
Companies
Cooperativa dos Cafeicultores de Guaxupé (Cooxupé) - Supplier , Corrego do Jacu Farm - Employer , Paquera Farm - Employer , Starbucks - BuyerOther
Not Reported ( Agriculture & livestock ) - EmployerAffected
Total individuals affected: 8
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 1 - Brazil , Agriculture & livestock , Men , Documented migrants )Issues
Human Trafficking , Forced Labour & Modern Slavery , Child labour , Heat exposure , Occupational Health & Safety , Reasonable Working Hours & Leisure Time , Access to Information , Access to Non-Judicial Remedy , Contract Substitution , Reasonable Working Hours & Leisure Time , Restricted mobility , Injuries , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Debt Bondage , Mental HealthResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: A Starbucks spokesperson said: “The cornerstone of our approach to buying coffee is Coffee and Farmer Equity (Cafe) Practices, one of the coffee industry’s first set of ethical sourcing standards when it launched in 2004 and is continuously improved. “Developed in collaboration with Conservation International, Cafe Practices is a verification program that measures farms against economic, social, and environmental criteria, all designed to promote transparent, profitable, and sustainable coffee growing practices while also protecting the well-being of coffee farmers and workers, their families, and their communities.”
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 24 Apr 2025
Location: Brazil
Companies
Cooperativa dos Cafeicultores de Guaxupé (Cooxupé) - Supplier , Coqueiros Farm - Employer , Starbucks - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Brazil , Agriculture & livestock , Men , Documented migrants )Issues
Intimidation , Wage Theft , Debt Bondage , Human Trafficking , Forced Labour & Modern Slavery , Restricted mobility , Access to Non-Judicial Remedy , Occupational Health & Safety , Heat exposure , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Reasonable Working Hours & Leisure TimeResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: The Ministry of Labor found that the coffee plantation was responsible for trafficking John Does II and III and forcing them to work under “slavery-like” conditions. ADERE publicly named Starbucks as largely responsible for the system of trafficking and forced labor in Brazil’s coffee sector. ADERE later received threats due to its report that exposed Starbucks. ADERE does not know specifically who made the threats, but they only occurred after ADERE exposed Starbucks. A Starbucks spokesperson said: “The cornerstone of our approach to buying coffee is Coffee and Farmer Equity (Cafe) Practices, one of the coffee industry’s first set of ethical sourcing standards when it launched in 2004 and is continuously improved. “Developed in collaboration with Conservation International, Cafe Practices is a verification program that measures farms against economic, social, and environmental criteria, all designed to promote transparent, profitable, and sustainable coffee growing practices while also protecting the well-being of coffee farmers and workers, their families, and their communities.”
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 24 Apr 2025
Location: Brazil
Companies
Facienda Boa Vista - Employer , Starbucks - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( 1 - Brazil , Agriculture & livestock , Men , Documented migrants )Issues
Human Trafficking , Forced Labour & Modern Slavery , Illness , Debt Bondage , Restricted access to medicines , Denial of leave , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Mental HealthResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: A Starbucks spokesperson said: “The cornerstone of our approach to buying coffee is Coffee and Farmer Equity (Cafe) Practices, one of the coffee industry’s first set of ethical sourcing standards when it launched in 2004 and is continuously improved. “Developed in collaboration with Conservation International, Cafe Practices is a verification program that measures farms against economic, social, and environmental criteria, all designed to promote transparent, profitable, and sustainable coffee growing practices while also protecting the well-being of coffee farmers and workers, their families, and their communities.”
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 24 Apr 2025
Location: Brazil
Companies
Cooperativa dos Cafeicultores de Guaxupé (Cooxupé) - Supplier , São João Farm - Employer , Starbucks - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Brazil , Agriculture & livestock , Gender not reported , Documented migrants )Issues
Poverty Wages , Denial of permanent contracts , Debt Bondage , Restricted mobility , Wage Theft , Right to Food , Reasonable Working Hours & Leisure Time , Precarious/Unsuitable Living Conditions , Access to Water , Human Trafficking , Forced Labour & Modern Slavery , Occupational Health & Safety , Mental HealthResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: A Starbucks spokesperson said: “The cornerstone of our approach to buying coffee is Coffee and Farmer Equity (Cafe) Practices, one of the coffee industry’s first set of ethical sourcing standards when it launched in 2004 and is continuously improved. “Developed in collaboration with Conservation International, Cafe Practices is a verification program that measures farms against economic, social, and environmental criteria, all designed to promote transparent, profitable, and sustainable coffee growing practices while also protecting the well-being of coffee farmers and workers, their families, and their communities.”
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 24 Apr 2025
Location: Brazil
Companies
Cooperativa dos Cafeicultores de Guaxupé (Cooxupé) - Supplier , Facenda de Serra - Employer , Starbucks - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Brazil , Agriculture & livestock , Gender not reported , Documented migrants )Issues
Contract Substitution , Poverty Wages , Reasonable Working Hours & Leisure Time , Restricted mobility , Reasonable Working Hours & Leisure Time , Wage Theft , Access to Non-Judicial Remedy , Human Trafficking , Forced Labour & Modern Slavery , Denial of permanent contracts , Social Security , Recruitment Fees , Occupational Health & Safety , Restricted access to medicines , Access to Water , Right to Food , Mental HealthResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: the Ministry ordered the farmer to pay back wages to John Does VI, VII, and VIII and provide them with bus fare back to their home. A Starbucks spokesperson said: “The cornerstone of our approach to buying coffee is Coffee and Farmer Equity (Cafe) Practices, one of the coffee industry’s first set of ethical sourcing standards when it launched in 2004 and is continuously improved. “Developed in collaboration with Conservation International, Cafe Practices is a verification program that measures farms against economic, social, and environmental criteria, all designed to promote transparent, profitable, and sustainable coffee growing practices while also protecting the well-being of coffee farmers and workers, their families, and their communities.”
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 24 Apr 2025
Location: Brazil
Companies
Cooperativa dos Cafeicultores de Guaxupé (Cooxupé) - Supplier , Sitio da Illha - Employer , Starbucks - BuyerAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Migrant & immigrant workers: ( Number unknown - Brazil , Agriculture & livestock , Gender not reported , Documented migrants )Issues
Work & ConditionsResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Action taken: A Starbucks spokesperson said: “The cornerstone of our approach to buying coffee is Coffee and Farmer Equity (Cafe) Practices, one of the coffee industry’s first set of ethical sourcing standards when it launched in 2004 and is continuously improved. “Developed in collaboration with Conservation International, Cafe Practices is a verification program that measures farms against economic, social, and environmental criteria, all designed to promote transparent, profitable, and sustainable coffee growing practices while also protecting the well-being of coffee farmers and workers, their families, and their communities.”
Source type: News outlet
Maria Kray, Canva Pro
“‘Morally repugnant’: Brazilian workers sue coffee supplier to Starbucks over ‘slavery-like conditions’”, 24 April 2025
“John” was just days from turning 16 when he was allegedly recruited to work on a Brazilian coffee farm that supplies the global coffeehouse chain Starbucks…
Unpaid and without protective equipment such as boots and gloves, he worked under a scorching sun from 5.30am to 6pm with only a 20-minute lunch break, until he was rescued in a raid by Brazilian authorities in June 2024.
The official report from that operation concluded that John had been subjected to “child labour in hazardous conditions”, and that he and other workers had been “trafficked and subjected to slavery-like conditions”.
This week, John and seven other Brazilian workers… filed a civil lawsuit in the US against Starbucks, with the support of International Rights Advocates (IRA), seeking financial compensation for the harm they allege to have suffered.
On Thursday, the NGO Coffee Watch also filed a complaint with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seeking to “exclude coffee and coffee products produced ‘wholly or in part’ with forced labour in Brazil” from being imported by Starbucks and other major companies such as Nestlé, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Dunkin’, Illy and McDonald’s.
In Brazil, coffee farming is the economic sector with the highest number of workers rescued from conditions analogous to slavery…
A Starbucks spokesperson said: “The cornerstone of our approach to buying coffee is Coffee and Farmer Equity (Cafe) Practices, one of the coffee industry’s first set of ethical sourcing standards when it launched in 2004 and is continuously improved.
“Developed in collaboration with Conservation International, Cafe Practices is a verification program that measures farms against economic, social, and environmental criteria, all designed to promote transparent, profitable, and sustainable coffee growing practices while also protecting the well-being of coffee farmers and workers, their families, and their communities.”