Nestlé and the International Labour Organization launched a two-year project to strengthen labor rights in coffee supply chains across Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Aligned with Nescafé Plan 2030, the initiative focuses on fair recruitment, social dialogue, and decent work — especially for seasonal and migrant workers. With coffee supporting 20–25 million families globally, persistent labor deficits remain critical. Nestlé’s score of less than 40 in a recent forced labor benchmark highlights industry-wide gaps. Supply chain professionals must prioritize verifiable labor due diligence and multi-stakeholder engagement in high-risk agricultural sourcing.
According to www.esgdive.com, Nestlé has partnered with the International Labour Organization (ILO) — a United Nations agency focused on advancing social justice, human rights and fair work standards — to launch a two-year social justice project aimed at promoting fair recruitment and labor rights in coffee supply chains across Latin America.
Country-Level Interventions in Key Sourcing Nations
The initiative will focus on three primary coffee-sourcing countries: Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Nestlé stated that the project will carry out targeted interventions at the country level to improve labor rights and work practices in these supply chains. Insights generated from these efforts are expected to support knowledge-sharing across the global coffee sector.
ILO’s Facilitative Role and Decent Work Goals
The ILO will serve as a facilitator, initiating social dialogue between governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations to identify the “key drivers” of labor-related risks and fair work standards deficits. According to Dan Rees, Director of ILO’s Priority Action Programme on Decent Work in Supply Chains, the program aims to “promote decent work and contribute to more sustainable supply chains.” He added:
“Coffee production sustains the livelihoods of approximately 20–25 million families worldwide, generating vital income and employment. However, decent work deficits in coffee supply chains persist, particularly among seasonal and migrant workers.”
Alignment with Nescafé Plan 2030
The project is backed by Nestlé’s Nescafé Plan 2030, the instant coffee brand’s global sustainability program, updated in 2022 to help farmers transition to sustainable practices that improve productivity, cut spending, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In 2024, Nestlé reported that 32% of its coffee was sourced from farmers implementing regenerative agriculture practices — surpassing its 2025 goal of 20%. The plan also includes social initiatives such as human rights monitoring and child protection across Nescafé’s supply chains.
Broader Industry Context for Supply Chain Professionals
This collaboration comes amid growing scrutiny of labor practices in agricultural commodity supply chains. A recent benchmark by the Business and Human Rights Centre — evaluating 45 of the world’s largest food and beverage companies — found that most lag significantly in preventing and addressing forced labor risks, especially those aggravated by climate change. Companies were scored out of 100; only Australian supermarkets Coles and Woolworths scored above 50. Nestlé scored less than 40, alongside Smucker’s, Mondelēz International, and the majority of peers. For supply chain professionals, this underscores the operational urgency of embedding third-party verification, worker voice mechanisms, and government-civil society coordination into sourcing governance — particularly in high-risk, labor-intensive segments like coffee, where seasonal and migrant labor remains structurally vulnerable and underprotected.
Source: www.esgdive.com
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
