FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Coffee Watch and other NGOs Name Nestlé, Amrest/Starbucks, and NKG/Dallmayr, Alleging Potential Violations of German Supply Chain Law in Coffee Supply Chains
Berlin, October 30, 2025: The organizations Coffee Watch, International Rights Advocates, and other NGOs, have filed reports under the German Supply Chain Act against Nestlé, AmRest/Starbucks, and Dallmayr. These reports document serious human rights violations along the companies' supply chains on coffee farms in China, Mexico, Brazil, and Uganda – including child and forced labor, massive violations of labor protection standards, and wage exploitation. AmRest is the company that operates Starbucks’ coffee shops in Germany. Dallmayr buys Neumann Kaffee Gruppe’s Ugandan coffee. NKG also sells Ugandan coffee to Lavazza, which supplies Edeka/Netto, Rewe/Penny/Lekkerland, Metro, and Lidl, all of which should also be bound by the Supply Chain Act.
"Our reports reveal serious human rights violations in global coffee supply chains. On coffee plantations that supply Nestlé, Starbucks, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe and others, children toil, people are harassed, and rights are abused. We believe the problems are serious, systematic, and widespread. The German authorities must act to ensure that the named companies finally take responsibility," demanded Etelle Higonnet, Director of Coffee Watch. “Indeed, the German authorities should be ensuring that all Germans can quietly drink their morning cup of coffee without fueling modern slavery, child labor, or other abuses – it’s crazy that NGOs are the ones ringing the alarm instead of the government.”
The organization sharply criticized the CDU/CSU and SPD's planned weakening of the German Supply Chain Act: "Anyone who weakens the Supply Chain Act deprives workers in their countries of origin of perhaps their only chance for justice – this often affects minors who have no voice, no rights, and no lobby behind them. Denying abused children and enslaved people justice, is simply immoral."
The CDU/CSU and SPD agreed in their coalition agreement to repeal the so-called Supply Chain Due Diligence Act. It has been in effect since the beginning of 2023 and obliges large companies in Germany with more than 1,000 employees to ensure compliance with human rights and environmental standards along their entire supply chain. If companies violate their due diligence obligations, fines can be imposed – up to eight million euros or up to two percent of global annual turnover. The Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) is responsible for oversight, and the organizations have now filed their official brief there.
"Anyone who ignores human rights and environmental violations in their supply chains should expect severe consequences – only if the law is enforced will voluntary sustainability commitments finally be taken seriously by companies," says Etelle Higonnet.
Violations on coffee plantations worldwide
The reports that Coffee Watch filed today with the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control document numerous violations – for example:
The report "Ghost Farms and Coffee Laundering" by China Labor Watch and Coffee Watch shows child labor, lack of protective clothing, discrimination, and wage cuts on farms in China – some certified according to "C.A.F.E. Practices," a Starbucks sourcing program. Children as young as twelve were observed picking coffee cherries, school obligations were ignored, and protective regulations were ignored.
In Mexico, a report by Coffee Watch, Empower, and ProDESC documents widespread labor abuses, and coffee farmers facing systemic exploitation, with Indigenous farmers hit hardest by unfair prices and monopolistic markets that trap them in debt.
In Brazil, several reports – including a lawsuit in US courts – document human trafficking and slave-like working conditions on farms that supply the Cooxupé cooperative, a major supplier to Starbucks, Nestlé and other well-known coffee brands.
At the Kaweri Coffee Plantation in Uganda, 28 workers report child labor, sexual harassment, a lack of protective clothing, dangerous working conditions, and wages of less than two euros a day. This plantation is a direct supplier of Dallmayr and Lavazza via Neumann Kaffee Gruppe.
Press contact & inquiries: Etelle Higonnet, info@coffeewatch.org, www.coffeewatch.org