The Hidden Cost of Coffee Production on Workers and Communities
Recently a BBC article reported on a study that said coffee pods might actually be more carbon-neutral than other kinds of prepared coffee, which could encourage a lot of people to double down on their Nespresso and Dolce Gusto capsules, which sell more than 6.6 billion dollars per year.
This non-peer-reviewed article, however, chooses to focus on an aspect of coffee production that is not as impactful as one might think.
The carbon footprint of the entire coffee sector is not nearly as large as the dairy and meat industry, making the conversation about incrementally more carbon-positive coffee habits very redundant.
There are, however, accounts of other issues that plague the industry.
In this industry deep dive, we’ll learn how your favorite coffee is made, as well as the violations reported throughout some of the stages of production.
How big is the coffee industry?
Statista’s coffee industry report showed that last year it globally grossed a staggering 540 billion dollars in revenue. This number has been steadily growing year over year, with the average consumption per person growing as well.
The data also showed that in the past 10 years, the amount of coffee consumed at home has been on a steady decline.
This means people are drinking more and more coffee in shops and restaurants.
Who are the big players?
When looking at the big picture, the first thing we see are the biggest players.
Like in any global industry, there are a lot of major coffee companies in the world, and most of us know them. Let’s list some out, as well as the coffee brand they own:
- The Coca-Cola Company: Costa Coffee
- Nestle: Nescafe, Nespresso, Dolce Gusto, Starbucks (The sub-brand for home coffee, not the chain itself)
- Starbucks Coffee Company
- JAB Holding Company: Jacobs, Espresso House
The list goes on, but one thing remains certain: if you have seen a coffee brand in your local supermarket, most likely it belongs to a multi-billion dollar corporation.
Where does my coffee come from?
Coffee requires a very specific climate to thrive in, and the climate regions on Earth that enable this process are a part of the so-called “Bean Belt.”
The most developed coffee production is in South America.
However, most large-scale coffee manufacturing countries have incredibly low living standards and many of their citizens are living below the poverty line, especially those working in agriculture.
Most of the global coffee companies have a favorite country to buy fresh coffee from, and that’s Brazil. It has by far the highest national output of coffee per year. This makes it a prime supplier for megacorporations, which need an enormous amount of coffee to fuel their enormous global output.
What violations have been reported in the industry?
There have been multiple reports regarding workplace abuse and human rights violations in different big plantations. The victims of abuse are agriculture workers, hired to harvest, sort, and collect raw coffee and prepare it for shipping.
In the past, investigations into some of the biggest plantations revealed “slave-like conditions” for their workers. These plantations, as discussed above, are filled with people living in poverty, making them potential victims of abuse.
There have also been instances of children as young as 8 years old working at these places.
Most companies claim that they are cutting ties with the farms currently under fire. However, there seems to be no end to the news stories about how another farm that supplies coffee for the big brands has slave-like working conditions.
In 2019, one of the biggest plantations in Brazil that supplied coffee to Starbucks and Nespresso was audited by labor officials. When interviewing workers, they admitted they were aware they were abused, but one of them admitted that “there is no other way.”
Huge coffee-selling companies require their coffee to taste the same in order to attract buyers with consistent taste.
Coffee, on the other hand, has completely different flavors depending on the region and process it’s grown in.
This means that coffee needs to come from largely the same place and in large quantities, making the corporations dependent on abusive plantations, as they are the ones with the largest output.
How can this situation be changed?
It is impossible to predict how an issue deeply rooted in politics, culture, and money can be solved. However, in the past, a small step towards better conditions for workers has been the enforcement of labor laws and inspections. These laws can hold accountable plantations for their abusive practices and employ fines if they fail to comply.
As for actions that can be done by end consumers is to buy coffee with certifications like Fair Trade. These certifications are usually given to medium and small-sized plantations that pledge to follow certain guidelines on labor practices and coffee quality.
