"Behind the Canned Tomatoes: Labour exploitation in the production in the production of canned tomatoes sold in Danish supermarkets", Nov 2014

[I]t has been estimated that 400.000 immigrant are picking vegetables in Italy without a contract or work permit...This places the workers in a situation where they are vulnerable to the gangmasters, i Caporali, whom the workers have to pay in order to get a job, food, housing, transport, and protection...DanWatch has investigated 13 brands of canned tomatoes, sold in Danish supermarkets owned by Dansk Supermarked, Coop Danmark, Dagrofa and LIDL. Only one of these 13 brands, Bioitalia, takes the full responsibility for the labour conditions throughout their supply chain. Four of the companies behind canned tomatoes in Denmark do not take any responsibility for the tomato pickers’ working conditions. The supplier has the full responsibility for any labour right issues in the supply chain. The four companies own the brands Irma Hverdag, Coop x-tra, La Campagna, Monte Rey, First Price, Grøn Balance, and Smagens Køkken...Agrigenus and Mutti are the only two of the companies in this survey, who can guarantee that their tomatoes are not handpicked by illegally employed seasonal workers. Agrigenus does not hire seasonal workers, and Mutti only hires students for the harvest in Northern Italy if mechanical harvest is impossible. Seven of the companies in the survey cannot guarantee, that their subcontractor do not exploit migrant workers.