"Slave labor found at second Starbucks-certified Brazilian coffee farm" 3 May 2019

Eight months after slave labor was discovered at the Cedro II farm in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, Starbucks and Nestlé-controlled brand Nespresso...said they would stop sourcing coffee there.

The decision by the two transnational companies came after the publication of the government’s April “Dirty List” of employers — those caught with labor conditions analogous to slavery...

The April Dirty List includes 48 new employers. One of them is coffee producer Helvécio Sebastião Batista, who had been certified with Nespresso and Starbucks quality seals...

Nespresso responded: “In the light of the last report of the Ministry of Labor, we immediately suspended business with the producer in question and we will investigate the case. Farms providing coffee to the company are rigorously evaluated and inspected every year to meet the program’s criteria. We will not accept otherwise and there will be no exception.”

Starbucks responded, saying it will look into the incident and that it has suspended the farm from its supplier list...The company...says the farm’s practices previously complied with the C.A.F.E. certification seal, which follows “ethical and sustainable standards”...The next evaluation of the farm included in the Dirty List is expected to take place in September 2019.

The operation carried out by labor inspectors at the Cedro II farm in July 2018 found six employees in dire working conditions. Some were forced to work 17-hour shifts, from 6am to 11pm, and slept in substandard unhygienic housing, according to the government inspectors who rescued them.

Cedro II farm owner and manager, Helvécio Sebastião Batista, claims the charges filed against him are unfounded...

...at Cedro II and other properties managed by Batista, labor inspectors have found 19 more workers in slavery-like conditions...Those properties lacked proper toilets and had no kitchen facilities. The workers also reported working exhaustive hours, in some cases until 11pm, often without their mandatory weekly day off.

In addition to holding Nespresso and Starbucks seals of good practice, Batista said that his farm was certified by Rainforest Alliance, which in turn informed Repórter Brasil that it would suspend its certification...