Editor’s Note
This report from NGOs Coffee Watch and Empower alleges serious, systemic issues within the supply chains of major coffee brands in Mexico. The claims of exploitation, child labor, and deforestation demand urgent attention and transparency from the global industry.
On February 14, 2025, NGOs Coffee Watch and Empower unveiled a report on the hidden side of the Mexican supply chains for Nestlé and Starbucks coffee. Exploitation, child labor, deforestation, and opacity are routine.
In the mountains of the states of Chiapas and Veracruz in southern Mexico, forests have given way to coffee plantations. This is where the majority of Mexican beans are produced. The country is the world’s tenth-largest coffee producer according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. During the harvest season, entire families migrate to these orchards and set up temporary camps.
testifies a producer interviewed by the NGOs Coffee Watch, Empower, and ProDESC.
These organizations reveal in a report made public on February 14 that the supply chain for certified Mexican coffee for Starbucks and Nestlé is marred by human rights violations, negative environmental impacts, and exploitative practices
While Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol receives a monthly salary of $10 million and travels from his home to his office by private jet, these farmers live on just $106 per month. Just above the extreme poverty line, set in Mexico at $98.80.
The investigation conducted by NGOs Coffee Watch and Empower lifts the veil on a system of labor exploitation, child labor, and deforestation. On its website, Starbucks claims to have “reached the milestone of 99% ethically sourced coffee in 2025.” Starbucks and Nestlé are both environmentally and socially certified, by the C.A.F.E. Practices program for the former and 4C for the latter. These are supposed to guarantee an ethical and sustainable coffee supply, respecting the rights of workers, communities, and the environment. So, how to explain the Mexican deviations?
The two certifications were actually created in collaboration with Starbucks and Nestlé. Thus, close relationships between these companies and the bodies responsible for oversight foster a form of collusion. This allows
the report notes, while ensuring they work for social and ecological good.
Coffee prices in Mexico are largely determined by these two multinationals: Nestlé buys a quarter of Mexican production. However, the two companies do not deal directly with producers. They delegate this task to intermediary trading companies: Ecom Agroindustrial based in Switzerland, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe in Germany, and Louis Dreyfus Company B.V. in the Netherlands. These companies, along with Olam (Singapore) and Volcafe (Switzerland), together negotiate half of the world’s coffee production.
These intermediaries do not just link farmers and multinationals. Dominating a significant share of the market, they determine the purchase price based on their stock market value. This purchase price is then often well below the cost of production. In 2023, the price of a kilo of beans thus fell to $0.25, far from the $1.2 needed to grow them. The trading companies thus dictate production conditions and shape the economic and social structures of the states of Chiapas and Veracruz.
The consequences of this system are profound for small producers. In the end, they only get a small percentage of the price of the final product, sold around the world. The workers they hire are paid by the task and lengthen their days to earn more money. And to supplement their parents’ insufficient income,
These certifications also do not ensure more ecological practices. Cases of deforestation and excessive use of agrochemicals have been reported on farms certified by C.A.F.E. On the 4C side, Nescafé has promoted the expansion of robusta coffee cultivation. A more resistant, cheaper, and lower-quality variety, which has serious ecological consequences. It must be planted in full sun and requires abundant irrigation. Its expansion therefore contributes to deforestation, depletion of water resources, and the disappearance of traditionally cultivated varieties.
Nestlé has distributed nearly 14.6 million coffee plants to Mexican producers since 2010. Among them was slipped genetically modified coffee, designed to resist drought and disease.
In order
