NGOs file complaint in Germany accusing coffee giants of rights abuse

Arabica coffee beans harvested the previous year are stored at a coffee plantation in Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala, on May 22, 2014. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Several NGOs said Thursday they had filed a legal complaint in Germany accusing giant coffee companies of sourcing beans from suppliers that exploit workers and violate human rights.

The complaint alleges that Nestle, Starbucks, Dallmayr and the Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG) have all violated Germany’s Supply Chain Act, which requires companies to monitor human rights and environmental issues throughout their global supply chains.

“On coffee plantations that supply Nestle, Starbucks, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe and others, children toil, people are harassed, and rights are abused,” Etelle Higonnet, director of the advocacy organisation Coffee Watch, one of the NGOs behind the complaint, said in a statement.

The group cited several previous reports by NGOs that found alleged human rights and labour issues at coffee suppliers in China, Mexico, Brazil and Uganda.

AFP could not reach BAFA on Thursday to confirm receipt of the complaint.

Starbucks told Germany’s Spiegel magazine that it rejects the “unfounded” accusations in the complaint, and said that the company is committed “to sourcing coffee responsibly, including by promoting respect for human rights”.

Nestle told AFP in a statement that the company has “robust human rights due diligence processes” and has already “duly investigated each situation referred to by this NGO at the time each report was released”.

“We confirm that Nestle was either not directly linked to the farms in question or has since ended a relationship with a supplier due to a failure to meet our standards,” the company said.

In its statement, Coffee Watch referred to reports of “serious violations on coffee farms in China, Mexico, Brazil and Uganda - including child labour and forced labour, massive violations of workplace safety standards and wage exploitation”.

“We believe the problems are serious, systematic, and widespread,” said Higonnet, the group’s leader. “The German authorities must act to ensure that the named companies finally take responsibility.”

The Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, meanwhile, said that the company launched a “thorough review” of Kaweri Coffee Plantation in Uganda after becoming aware of the allegations.

The review could not rule out “isolated cases” of misconduct, but found that “systems and processes” at Kaweri meet or exceed legal standards.

“NKG does not tolerate any form of human rights abuse, including forced labor, human trafficking, or exploitative labor practices,” the Neumann Kaffee Gruppe said in a statement.

Controversy has surrounded Germany’s supply chain law since it went into effect in 2023.

Supporters contend it is a vital measure to stop German firms from profiting from labour and environmental abuses abroad.

But some industry groups contend it puts an excessive and unfair burden on businesses.

Germany’s current coalition government has agreed to significantly relax the law’s requirements, and eventually replace it with a European Union regulation passed last year.