A recent check-up of chinese coffee farms that work with Starbucks and Nestlé shows big problems in how they treat workers. China Labor Watch (a new-york based group) looked at 26 different places where coffee grows and found some not-so-good stuff going on
The farms dont follow basic work rules: kids doing farm work‚ people working way-too-long hours‚ and safety rules that nobody really follows. These coffee-growing spots are part of mega-sized supply chains that feed into the worlds biggest coffee sellers
The whole thing shows how hard it is for big-name companies to keep track of whats happening at far-away farms: especially in places where work rules are kind of loose. Its pretty much a wake-up call for these coffee giants — they say they care about doing things right but their partner farms in China arent playing by the same rule-book
This kind of check-up (done by outside people who know what to look for) points out some real issues that need fixing; these problems are happening right under the nose of companies that promise to be all about doing good business