Multibillion-dollar retail giant Kroger Company defended its proposed takeover of rival Albertsons Companies, Inc. by highlighting its partnership with a blueberry grower that hired a labor contractor accused of orchestrating one of the largest human trafficking rings in modern U.S. history.

Though the blueberry grower in question, Southern Press and Packing, is one of many suppliers that work with the grocery giant, the situation spotlights merger opponents’ claims that Kroger has failed to guarantee minimum standards for workers in its supply chain — a situation they say could worsen if the company is allowed to grow exponentially larger. 

“As it is, Kroger is not doing what they should as a very powerful corporation,” said Lupe Gonzalo, a staff member for the farmworker-led human rights group the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), which has helped expose human trafficking cases involving more than 1,200 migrant workers. “Imagine them as an even more powerful company [and] not using that power to grant human rights to workers in their supply chain.”...

Kroger, including company CEO Rodney McMullen, did not respond to multiple emails and phone calls seeking comment. When reached by phone and asked about contracting with Patricio in 2020, a representative for Southern Press, office manager Amy Nimmer, said that its CEO “does not recognize that name at all,” and did not respond to a question about contracting with Patricio’s company, Rojas Avila Harvesting LLC. Southern Press also did not respond to a list of questions emailed by The Lever...

At least three other Kroger suppliers have also been accused of profiting from human trafficking and systemic wage theft since October 2021. One case has led to multiple criminal convictions; another involves more than $200,000 in fines and penalties for wage theft...

Critics say Kroger doesn’t have meaningful controls to disqualify abusive vendors and contractors. For years, the corporation has failed to join the Fair Food Program, an independent workplace standards compliance program founded by CIW, which requires suppliers to pay wage premiums and abide by a code of conduct with enforcement mechanisms like audits and whistleblower hotlines. Other major corporate retailers participate in the program, including Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and Walmart...

But Kroger has never disclosed information about the enforcement of its code, including information about in-person audits of suppliers, worker interviews, and grievance resolution mechanisms, according to Domini Impact Investments, an activist mutual fund. 

The fund, which uses shareholder advocacy as a tool to try to force corporations to be more socially responsible, made the allegations in a shareholder proposal from 2022, which called “modern-day slavery… a risk for Kroger.” The proposal cited the Patricio racketeering case, the Mastronardi incident, and a guilty plea in the case involving the watermelon supplier...