In November last year, Nestlé ranked as one of the best companies to work for in South Africa. 

Things aren’t looking too rosy in Guatemala, though.

A Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, due to air next week, took a look at the coffee farms in Guatemala, that allegedly supply Nespresso, which is part of Nestlé.

Nespresso advertises its coffee as ethically sourced, and George Clooney approved, so these allegations could be devastating for the company.

Per The Guardian:

[Nespresso] has launched a “thorough investigation” into its farms in Guatemala and suspended all purchases from the problem plantations.

“Nespresso has zero tolerance of child labour,” said Guillaume Le Cunff, the Nespresso CEO, in a statement.

“It is unacceptable. Where there are claims that our high standards are not met, we act immediately.

He goes on to say that any issues uncovered will be dealt with immediately, and that “firm action will be taken”.

“We work with Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade International to reinforce good working practices and fair treatment of workers, including education on the dangers of child labour.

“We will continue to do all we can to stamp child labour out. It has no place in our supply chain.”

Except that, if all of this is true, it has been part of the Nespresso supply chain, which means that it can’t have been keeping a very close eye on where its coffee was coming from.

Despite numerous corporate-led and third-party audit visits to Nespresso’s coffee farms in Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Uganda and other supplying countries, only two cases of child labour were reported in 2019, according to Nespresso. Fifteen cases were reported over the past four years, although none of them were in Guatemala, and each one was “effectively resolved”, the company said.

However, Le Cunff admitted that its coffee suppliers are given “a day or two days” advanced notice when spot checks take place.

George Clooney, the brand ambassador for Nespresso, who also sits on its advisory board, responded to the allegations with a statement.

Clooney…said he was “enormously proud of the success of [Nespresso’s] efforts” in “improv[ing] the lives and livelihoods of farmers all around the world”.

But he admitted that investigative journalism played an “imperative” role in pointing out Nespresso’s failures and that more needed to be done to bring the company in line with its ethical standards.

We’ll have to wait for the documentary to get the full story.

In the interim, Nespresso has some serious PR work to do over the next few weeks, as journalists keep a close eye on their suppliers.

[source:guardian]